Vimy Ridge Vet Family Memories Of J.H. "Juney" Close 1896-- 1993 written by his daughter, Margaret Dad was a great teller of history, and into this account of his life, I've tried to weave his words. Close & Slack Ties Great Grandfather Wm. Close, 1820-1910, was a brickmaker, owning his own yard in Stratford, Ontario. When young, Wm. had played in a band. But, to his eight son's annoyance, he refused to teach them tomfoolery music! So, boys being no different then, off all eight went to join the Stratford Band. Later the boys formed their own 'Close Bro's Bass Band'. Wm. had married a Hagersville lass, Ann Slack, 1839-1914. When three of their eight boys visited their Slack relatives, naturally dances and music were top priorities. Peter, John and Will were attracted to three Garnet belles. Close & Cherry Ties Will married Alma Brock, daughter of Eleanor Rodgers and David Brock, an innkeeper and blacksmith at Garnet. Peter married Olive Cherry, and John married her older sister, Caroline, daughter of Adelaide and Samuel Cherry. Great Grandpa Cherry, 1841-1927, a farmer, a blacksmith and Orangeman, was severely critical of his two daughters marrying brickmakers not farmers! Mission, B.C. Dad was born July 4, 1896, to John and Caroline Close, in Mitchell, Ontario. Great Grandfather Wm. had directed four sons, Charles, Will, Peter and John to establish a brickyard at Mitchell in March 1894. Born to Olive and Peter Close, in Mitchell was Dad's double first cousin, Art. In 1899, the two Close brothers, Peter and John, took their young families by train to B.C. to farm on the West bank of the Fraser River near Mission City. Dad was not quite three years old and his brother Charlie was just three months. (Continued on Page 17) The Haldimand Press, March 10, 1993--Page-17 Family Memories Of Vimy Ridge Vet, J.H. "Juney" Close Taken fall of '37. Left to right: Dad holds Lorraine, Mom with Anne, Kathleen seated in front and Margaret at right. (Continued from Page 13) Olive and Peter's son, Art, was also three months. Art's sister, Winnie was born in 1901 in Mission. Grandmother Caroline was called Cherry Close while out West. She had been the organist in the Garnet Church and secretary of the Sunday School prior to her 1892 marriage, the Garnet Methodists had given her special privileges. Miss Cherry consented to be the organist and the elders allowed her to attend dances without censure. just last year, in 1992, when John Alec Hunter restored Caroline's violin, memories of his mother's fiddle claying came flooding back to Dad. In Mission, lively, youthful Cherry Close filled a very great appetite for pleasant company among her neighbours. The Garnet Family When Dad was nine, his parents returned to Ontario to live in Brantford. By 1913 they had both died, he brothers separated—Dad came to live with his Uncle Ham Cherry at Garnet, and Charlie moved in with Toronto relatives. Garnet relatives formed a strong amily unit for the young Closes. When Peter Close's wife, Olive, died n 1905 at Hatzic, B.C., he had brought Arthur (6) and Winnie (4) to his sister-in-law Bell Cherry of Garnet. Aunt Bell became a mother to them. So, Dad was living with Uncle Ham by 1913, while Art and Winnie by 1905 were living with Aunt Bell. Their Grandpa Sam Cherry and Grandma Cherry were just next door for the grandchildren too. Dad treasured a wooden writing box that belonged to Sam, as I do now. For as long as I can remember, that box has sent shivers of the past tingling through my fingers! WWI Dad said, "I was nineteen. On March 11, 1916, a recruiting meeting was held in the Garnet Church. Six of us enlisted. I don't think any of us wanted to go to war. We knew that men were needed and that, if we didn't go, somebody else would have to go in our place." He joined the Royal Canadian Regiment, a permanent force. Of the battles in northeastern France and Belgium, Dad said, "When I think back, I really did have a charmed life, because there were so many times just unbelievable escapes happened." Dad was wounded at Vimy on April 9, 1917. On October 10, 1918, he earned the Military Medal for Bravery in the Field at Arras. The Wrong Party Most of the Cherry family called Dad "Hamie". As he had returned in 1919 to work for Uncle Ham, the names Hamie was oft times confus- ing. The Cherry's hired man, an Englishman, Bob Sims, couldn't pronounce 'Junior' too well. He said June and soon Hamie became 'Juney'. At Dad's 90th birthday in 1986, at Dover, my daughter Charlene's two girls, Jessica and Lea Ann, were greeting visitors. Jessica was perplexed. The Garnet folks spoke of "Juney" but his Simcoe-Dover friends asked for "John". Jessica, rather upset, consulted me. Some people were at the wrong party! Juney's Farm Dad explained, "I worked for Uncle Ham Cherry for about S500 a year and board. I trapped muskrats and hunted coons, with the result that I never touched my wages for living expenses." In March of 1924 Dad purchased the 10th Concession farm from Harry Elliott, although oldtimers still called it the Ionson House. It had been in 1914 in this very same house that Dad had his first dancing lesson with Susie Phibbs, Amber Elliot and Ivan Parkinson. "The barn roof leaked so badly in '24 if it rained, I had to wear a raincoat to milk the cows." "About the summer of 1920, I got interested in bees. By 1924, I had a hundred hives." A Short Thirteen Years Dad sold a bull to J.J. Parsons for $90. When Parsons learned that he was getting married on January 4, 1925, J.J. gave him $100! Dad married Olive Brown Parkinson, the daughter of Jane Brown and Richard Parkinson. I really like the names Mom and Dad gave us—Margaret Jane 1930, Kathleen Olive 1933, Lorraine Caroline 1935 and Jean Anne 1936. Our mother died from cancer in May, 1938. Despite the sorrow that must have almost swamped Dad. he spoke often of Mom to us. His stories brought her alive. Just how tenderly Dad loved O.B., we girls learned by the tone of his voice and his patience with the legacy of four girls left in his care. For a time Miss Ella Lishman continued to keep house. We must have been a trial to her! From the spring of '39, a succession of housekeepers followed. When the young daughter of Mabel and Dave Phillips, Dorothy, became our housekeeper, Daddy's girls were relieved to welcome her. Young was the operative word and she already had a boyfriend! We knew for a time Dad would be safe from husband-seeking women. Trees and Silos The home farm at Garnet truly deserved the name "Forest Lawn". Dad planted hundreds of young trees—elm, birch, maple, pine, spruce and cedar, through the years. In 1991, a granddaughter, Charlene and her husband planted approximately 4,000 trees—oak, ash, elm, pine and spruce on five acres of their property located on the Six Nations Reserve. From the day of planting this new woods has been called "Grandpa's Bush". Dad worked on the 10th Concession bridge west of Highway #6, when the old narrow bridge was replaced. Afterwards the township gave him the cribbing lumber. With this Dad made forms for a cement block silo. The silo that people claimed could not be built, he constructed in 1947. It still stands today as does its twin at Jack Phibbs'. At least seven other silos were built using the set of twenty forms that Dad rented out, $5 for the lot. he made enough to cover the cost of his own original one. Dad and Grace Madge Beck and Grace Ratcliff, the closest of friends, operated Beck-liffe Private Hospital from 1947-1963. In the fall of 1960, Dad started fencing at the 'girls" Beckliffe Farm, Dover. It was startling to realize just how romantic your Dad can become at 63! He was interested in courting Grace but because of the age different, hesitated. He told her, "I'm seventeen years older than you. I'm getting too fond of you". Grace replied, "I can't sleep nights thinking about you. Don't let your age stop you." So Dad asked his daughters' permission to court Grace—we all were married at the time! But he must have recalled how his four girls, aged 2, 3, 5 and 8, had actively guarded Daddy jealously from the interest of any housekeepers. Even resorted to sabotage a time or two! Kathleen's words were, "Get engaged, get married tomorrow. At your age, why wait? Why waste time?" Grace and Dad were married on June 1, 1962 and they had twenty-seven years together. She married into an instant family who loved her dearly. Madge married Virgil Dyer in 1969. The two friends continued to live together but now both had spouses. At cooking Grace was a master. Countless times we girls bragged about Dad's culinary expertise. So one Sunday Dad gave us a treat- two apple pies laced with both nostalgia and taste. In the mid "40's Dad had regularly prepared such delights—creamy rice puddings, deep apple pies, roly poly puddings, white cakes with whipped cream, pumpkin and lemon pies, tangy raisin pies plus all types of meat dishes cooked in the reliable Dutch oven. Dover 1962-1989 A kaleidoscope of scenes flash by—Dad farming, grandchildren spending busy happy summers there, family picnics at the lake and Hay Creek, the chinchillas, farm vacation guests, Grace and real estate, Grandpa Juney's bird houses, Grace going to pot (pottery), Dad learning bridge, Jack Willis building the new Beckliffe Acres house in 1978-79, and Dad's well-tended three-quarter acre garden. In September 1979, while pulling logs from the ravine, he backed the tractor to the edge. The stop block didn't prevent it from flipping, crashing down that steep twenty-foot embankment. Dad landed with his head directly beside a spinning tractor wheel! In the hospital a nurse taking details, puzzled what an eighty-three year old man was doing on a tractor in the first place. His diaries tell us that even in the summer of 84, he continued cutting down and pulling logs from the ravine. The same job—at eighty-eight—but minus the circus tricks! Really Retired In June 1989, they purchased a condominium apartment in Simcoe. Grace died on November 24, 1989, so Auntie Madge and Dad supported each other in friendship, living an independent life style together. Dad enjoyed a very active social life, was an avid Blue Jay fan, felt a special loyalty to Garnet and to the Hagersville Legion, Branch 164. He was a hero and guiding light in the lives of his four daughters, their husbands, his sixteen grandchildren and their partners, and his seventeen (soon to be nineteen) great-grandchildren. As Grandpa Juney's great-grand-children read this story, they should note that Wm. Close and Samuel Cherry were their great great great grandfathers, six generations in all. Vimy 1992 Dad always chuckled about still being around when his eldest daughter retired. This sixty-two year old girl can't find words to express her good fortune as she accompanied her father to France in April 1992. Veterans Affairs funded a Pilgrimage to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge. An intense emotional time! I treasure those early 5:30 wake-ups Dad gave me. His quiet voice told me of Mom, the farm, the war years, Garnet times, ancestors, his love for Grace, the cancer that took both wives, the richness of a good life, his approaching departure from this earth, and his love of family. Dad's high energy level, excellent memory and sense of humour sustained him throughout nine speeches about his WWI experiences and the Vimy Pilgrimage. A Celebration Of Life His last three social times in the local community were the speeches at Garnet and Jarvis United Churches, and a good visit with old friends on the occasion of Ruth King and Oscar Phillips' 40th wedding anniversary, all taking place this January. John Hamilton Close passed over February 6, 1993, in the Simcoe Hospital, a few minutes after Lorraine and Margaret had bidden him good night. This statement in Dad's handwriting was taken from one of his numerous log books and diaries. "Scripture is like good in that it is not the quantity, but how well we digest it, that we find light and strength to solve Life's problems." Sam Cherry holds Ham's son Gordon. Standing (I-r)--Art Close, John Close (my Dad), Uncle Ham Cherry with Dad's brother Charlie, seated in front.