Husband, father, engineer, sportsman, gardener. Born on June 17, 1926, in Ameliasburg, Ont.; died on April 20, 2015, in Burlington, Ont., of heart failure, aged 88.
Art's life presented him with challenges from the beginning to the end. The second-youngest of 10 siblings, he was only 2 when their father drowned in a lake near Bancroft, Ont. The eldest son, 15-year-old Everett, was left to run their small farm and look after the family. Two years later their home burned to the ground. And when Art was 8, their mother died.
Children's Aid wanted to place the younger children in foster homes, but Everett and sister Hazel, who at 22 was working as a telephone operator, refused to let this happen. With the help of her employer, Hazel was able to obtain the Mother's Allowance and the family managed to stay together. Everett instituted simple rules such as, "We all work, then we all play." They were a close family, and loved to play euchre together.
Art excelled at school, especially in mathematics. He rode 16 kilometres to high school in Belleville with a neighbour and sometimes had to hitchhike home because there was no bus. After graduating, 18-year-old Art joined the army in February, 1945, and was honourably discharged 18 months later. He spent most of his time at Camp Shilo in Manitoba, shovelling coal.
He used his Veterans Allowance, scholarships and a summer job at a cheese factory to attend Queen's University in Kingston, Ont., where he earned his engineering degree in 1951. He led his class until his final year but missed out on the gold medal because once that year's fees were covered, he decided to have some fun rather than focus solely on his studies. That year, he played on a Queen's intramural hockey team and although he scored only one goal all season, it was the one that gave his team the season title.
Art went to work for Sperry Gyroscope in Montreal, where he met me, an RCAF officer, on a blind date in 1953. We married six months later when I received my discharge. Sperry then sent him to Europe to advise the Royal Canadian Air Force on electronic gun sights for jet aircraft. We spent 18 months in England and another 18 months in France (complete with a furnished house and car).
In 1956, Art joined Westinghouse to design transformers and we moved to Hamilton, Ont., where we raised our two children. In 1984, the company presented him with an engineering award for his original design of a single-phase transformer that allowed Westinghouse to penetrate a new market. His 32 years with the company ended with his retirement in 1988.
Although Art suffered from heart arrhythmia since childhood, he never let it slow him down. An ardent Maple Leafs fan, he enjoyed curling and golf and brought home many trophies. He was devoted to family and spent time coaching son Ron's ball games, attending daughter Carole's ballet recitals, and teaching Sunday school.
In retirement, Art found joy in gardening; the ravine behind our home is filled with unusual native shrubs and flowers that he discovered through his volunteer work at Burlington's Royal Botanical Gardens. Above all he loved to drive his car, and each summer we visited botanical gardens across North America.
In his later years, Art had to give up curling and golf, but turned to playing bridge and walking in the mall with a group of seniors each morning. He had a smile for everyone. He never complained about an ache or pain and loved to play cribbage with me every afternoon. His life ended just as he was about to win our game.
Marie Nagloren Minaker is Art's wife.