HAROLD MURRAY LORD

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HAROLD MURRAY LORD March 27, 1918 - May 14, 2018 With great sadness, we announce the peaceful passing of H. Murray Lord, at the De Salaberry District Health Centre, in St. Pierre-Jolys, following a short illness. Dad just celebrated his 100th birthday, last March. The Family Patriarch, known as Bop to his numerous descendants, was predeceased by his parents, Richard and Clara Lord (nee Johnston), his wife Elizabeth (Betty) Merle Lord (nee Crawford) in 1994, his daughter Elizabeth (Liz) McGuire in 2018, and his brother Ken in 1968. He is survived by his three children, Rick (Gloria), Alison and Peter (Linda), and by his sister-in-law, Dorothy Lord, as well as two nieces and three nephews, two grandnephews, one grandniece and one great-nephew. He is also survived by 12 grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren and seven great-great-grandchildren. Quite the legacy! Both Mom and Dad graduated from the University of Manitoba in 1939, and were married in 1942. He retired at 57 and they both promptly moved to Antigua in the West Indies, where they lived for 13 years, becoming dual Canadian and Antiguan citizens. In Antigua, they ran their own picture-framing business out of their house. In his 43 years of retirement, he travelled widely, sampling rum punch and horticulture on numerous Caribbean islands. He became a serious sports fan, and loved curling, the Blue Jays, the Green Bay Packers and the Blue Bombers. He was also fond of inter-university football and introduced us to the fun of the Vanier Cup. His "all-men" Super Bowl Parties were legend. He was an Educator all of his life, having taught or administered in Oak River, MB, Hugh John MacDonald, Kelvin, Greenway, Mulvey and Harrow schools. He was trilingual, fluent in English, French and Latin. He could quote lines from Keats, Milton, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Shelley and the Bible, to name only a few. Forever correcting us on our grammar, and making sure that we were well-spoken and well-read. He encouraged us to "put down all your manuals and read more fiction". His literary journey started as a young lad when he first read Treasure Island by Stevenson. He was hooked. "So this is fiction!", he said, and embarked on a life of Literature and the Arts. He loved tales of the sea, and especially submarine movies. Our mom was an Architect, and together they built many custom homes for their family. Tulgey Wood in St. Norbert, Moonraker in Antigua, Stonehenge at Granite Lake, ON, and Mirkwood in St. Pierre-Jolys. All the kids became amateur carpenters, painters, plumbers, electricians and picked-up a host of other skills along the way. At Granite Lake, generations of outdoors-persons, naturalists, scuba divers, boaters and small engine mechanics were produced and perfected. Music was one of his passions. As a young man, he played the piano to get enough cash to take Mom on a date. He played in various amateur bands and continued to jam with his buddies into his senior years. He was a fan of the "Big Bands", such as Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman. In Antigua, Mom and Dad started the Antigua and Barbuda Symphony, and Dad was the Secretary for the music and played the chimes. He wanted to remind us of a line by Omar Khayyam. "The moving finger writes; and having writ, moves on: nor all thy piety nor wit shall lure it back to cancel half a line, nor all thy tears wash out a word of it." The family would like to thank Kay and Gary Lally for their enduring friendship, and the caring and compassionate staff at the Bethesda Regional Health Centre in Steinbach and the De Salaberry District Health Centre in St. Pierre-Jolys, as well as their paramedics. Cremation has taken place, and Dad's ashes will be scattered later this year at a private ceremony. A Celebration of Life will be held at 2:00 p.m., Friday, June 22, at the St. Pierre Bible Fellowship Church, Lavoie Avenue, in St. Pierre-Jolys.

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on May 26, 2018