Maxwell Longfield
Patriarch, pathologist, storyteller, collector. Born on Sept. 11, 1921, in Mount Brydges, Ont.; died on Jan. 23, 2015, in Brampton, Ont., of kidney failure, aged 93.
Throughout a long and accomplished life, Max Longfield was never afraid to be different, to rise to a challenge, or to defy conventional wisdom when his own well-honed instincts suggested a better path.
Max's first challenge came on the day he was born, in the rural community of Mount Brydges near London, Ont. The doctor who delivered him applied excessive use of forceps, leaving Max with permanent paralysis of his left shoulder and arm. Yet never did he acknowledge having a disability, nor did he let it prevent him from living life to the fullest. He went on to deliver more than 300 babies himself, including two sets of twins, after graduating from the University of Western Ontario Medical School and becoming the village doctor in Bethany, Ont.
By that time Max had married Grace Kennedy, a pediatrics nurse whom he met at Ottawa Civic Hospital while completing his medical residency. Grace became his indispensable partner, both in life and in their busy rural practice, where, like many of that era, the office was located in their home.
In 1957 Max's thirst for knowledge and new challenges led him and Grace, along with their young children, Randy and Ruth, to Flint, Mich, where he completed a four-year residency in pathology. It was here that the small-town doc discovered his passion for forensic science and medical sleuthing.
On his return to Ontario, Max became the first pathologist at Peel Memorial Hospital in Brampton, and was appointed forensic pathologist for Peel, Halton, Dufferin, Grey and York counties. Over the next 35 years he would perform more than 5,000 autopsies and help solve a number of perplexing deaths. Although the science of DNA identification was unknown at the time, on a hunch Max preserved extra swabs from the victim of a rape-murder in Caledon in the early 1970s. Despite exhaustive police efforts, the case went cold. Three decades later, they were able to use Max's preserved evidence to convict the murderer (the case was featured on the popular A&E television series Cold Case Files).
When he wasn't working or spending time with family at his beloved "pond" near Bethany (a 30-acre, dried-up mill pond that he restored and stocked with naturally spawning brook trout), Max was busy collecting. He had started as a child with postage stamps, then progressed to antique firearms, pre-First World War automobiles (many of which he restored himself, with son Randy's help), silver artifacts, and a variety of other treasures, becoming a recognized expert in many of these areas through his extensive research. Next to acquiring a new find, Max delighted in telling others about it, in detail, and his enthusiasm was infectious.
Fit and energetic for most of his life, as he progressed into his 90s Max's physical abilities slowed – but his mind never let him down. In January he told his family that he was tired of being ill. He also said that his life had been blessed and he was extremely grateful. He went to sleep in his own bed, at home, that afternoon and died quietly in the evening, exactly as he had wished. As usual, he did it his way.
Nancy Dorrance is Max's niece.