Thursday, November 7, 2024
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My condolences to Aunt Lorraine, my cousins Shari, Yvonne, and Miriam, and all of Uncle Jim and Aunt Lorraine’s family.
I am sorry to have learned just now of Uncle Jim’s passing.
Uncle Jim and Aunt Lorraine took me and my sister into their home and cared for us for 5 years in the mid-1970s when my father – Aunt Lorraine’s brother – and my mother were unable to do so. During that time – from age 8 to age 13, formative years indeed – I felt as though I was Uncle Jim’s and Aunt Lorraine’s son. So much so that when I became of age, it was Uncle Jim, not my father, who gave me “the talk”.
Uncle Jim valued hard work and perseverance and he instilled those values in me – he gave me the jobs of unlocking the church and turning on the heat every Sunday morning, of mowing the lawn, of shoveling snow, taking out the garbage, walking the dog, and working at the canteen at Thamesford camp, to name a few. And Uncle Jim was an intellectual man from whom I took inspiration – when he first met my wife Sharon, who is Jewish, at a family reunion in 2001, I was amazed to hear him speak to her in Hebrew! Many other aspects of my character that are integral to who I am today came from him.
I have many fond memories of Uncle Jim. In early fall 1974 he took me – age 9 – with him when he delivered a trailer full of motorcycles to a trade show at the Prince Hotel in Toronto. I remember him in his mechanic’s overalls, working on cars in the driveway while I watched and occasionally helped. I remember him, Aunt Lorraine and any one of their daughters singing together in church as “The Parsonage Trio”. There are many summer vacation memories, in particular I remember Uncle Jim hugging me from behind while we sat on the rocks in a waterfall at a provincial park (there is a slide of this moment). We spent a lot of time together at Thamesford family camp.
Uncle Jim was a good man and the epitome of a true Christian, and even though I had not seen or talked to him for many years, I loved him. He will be fondly remembered.
Rick Neilson
