Obituary of Colin D. Wallace

Colin Douglas Wallace was a son, a brother, a husband, a father, a grandfather, and great-grandfather. He was a sailor, a friend, a handyman and a builder. Born in Sussex on April 25, 1925, the eldest son of Murray Calvin and Beulah Pearl (Loughery) Wallace, he grew up in a boisterous family, including three brothers: Carl (Jean), of Sudbury, Ont.; and Al (Linda) of Palm Springs, Calif.; and the late Alden (Lorraine). He was predeceased by his three sisters, Joyce (Chris) Fedderson, Doreen (Norm) Neri, and Claire Wallace. Colin’s family was his joy, especially his beloved Isabelle (Steele), his wife and partner of 66 years; John, his only child; Gillian (Steele), his daughter-in-law of 43 years; his three grandchildren, Kate (Richard Cassidy), Jackie, and Peter (Becky Melvin); and Gus Cassidy, his great-grandson with whom he shared many jokes and treats. There was nothing he wouldn’t do for his family. Colin left home at 18 to join the Royal Canadian Navy, and was deeply proud of his service on the HMCS Iroquois, a tribal destroyer that served on the notorious Murmansk, Russia run. He recently received the Arctic Star for his service north of the Arctic Circle. Colin took great pride and pleasure in work, for which he had a great, life-long capacity, starting as a boy, when he worked on Aunt Gussie and Uncle Crandall’s farm in Sussex and in the woods with his father, who ran logging camps near St. Martins. Later, after the war, Colin worked at the Saint John dry dock alongside a number of his Loughery uncles and cousins, and his father, the boss, who told him to call him Murray, not Dad. And so it was. He went on to a successful career in sales and real estate, eventually going into business for himself, developing Glen Park, a mobile home park in East Saint John where today more than 100 families live. A natural handyman and fixer, he loved building things, be it a boat, a garden, a house or a business. He loved Renforth, his home for more than 50 years. He loved giving back to his community as part of a team of neighbours who created the Renforth Boat Club and the community park near the wharf. But he was not all work – Colin excelled at having fun, too, be it boating with friends on the Kennebecasis, picking fiddleheads at the secret family spot, fishing, curling, golfing, home wine-making, and hosting the annual lobster boil at Black River, the family camp on the Bay of Fundy that the Wallaces have enjoyed for five generations (and counting). He and Isabelle loved to travel, and together they sailed many seas. On their cruises, as with everywhere he went, Colin made easy friends with his love of conversation and jokes. Colin will be deeply missed, and remembered lovingly and often for his tenacity, dedication, tenderness and humour. Here’s lookin’ up your address, Grampy. Resting at Brenan’s Funeral Home, 111 Paradise Row, Saint John, NB (634-7424) with visiting on Wednesday, April 8, 2015 from 2-4 and 6-8 pm. Interment will take place at Fernhill Cemetery at a later date. For those who wish, remembrances made to the Dialysis Unit at Saint John Regional Hospital or Loch Lomond Villa Foundation, would be appreciated by the family.