Dad was a true stubborn Scotsman. He grew up with eight
brothers and sisters on a farm in the lowlands of Scotland,
just a "spit" from the ocean, as he used to say. He use to
race motorcycles on cinder and hill climb when he was younger,
before he joined the British army. He was in the Royal Engineers,
one of the most respected branches of the army. He talked of when
they were stationed in North Africa on peacekeeping duties ... it
was considered too hot to work in the afternoons, but for a lot
of the Brits and Scotsmen ... they were out playing soccer in the
sandbanks. Dad loved soccer and playing it is how he met one of
his long time friends, who also "happened" to be another Peter (King).
It was when he was stationed in North Korea that he was hit in the
arm by shrapnel and the injury forced him to be medically discharged.
This also is where he won one of his three medals, the
Korea Medal United Service medal, complete with Korean clasp.
This taste, this love of travel that he developed stayed
with him his whole life. He made the decision to move to what he
considered the "land of opportunity", Canada, crossing over on a six
week boat trip to a land that he fell in love with and chose to make
his home. That was back in 1956. In 1957, he met Mom through bowling and
they dated for almost five years before they got married. See, Mom never
wanted to get married. She grew up the middle child of thirteen and
had a lot of responsibility growing up. She saw how women were treated
in those days and did not want to lose her independence to a man. Of course,
that was before she met Dad and finally came to realize that he was different
from the others, and then she realized she could not imagine life without
him in it. Of course, along with Mom came a huge extended family and this
helped Dad not miss his as much, although of course he still did.
In due time, first one then a second child was born.
Both preemies, both girls. The decision was made to not try for a third;
the risk to Mom was too high. There were two natural children, but that
is not including all the "adopted" children they had. Neil, Laura,
Al & Dennis were among the many teenagers that considered our house a
second home. Often a parent would call asking if their child was there
and Dad would check downstairs in the pool room ... you never knew who or
how many were gathered at our house. They all accepted his advise,
and discipline where deserved, including one that stayed away for over
three months trying to avoid a lecture. He eventually returned and got
two lectures, one for the original and one for the avoidance of his punishment.
In later adult years, they would come to the house as friends, and to
maintain the bonds formed during those teenage years.
Dad was always into camping, traveling, exploring ... lets see
where this road goes, or, we have the time ... lets take the back roads.
We were fortunate that Dad loved to travel because it gave us the opportunity
to see how others lived, and also taught us to appreciate what we had. He
taught by example ... respect oneself first and be true to yourself. How to
treat others as you wanted to be treated even though they were different
from you ... to look beyond the obvious. Elders were always to be treated
with respect and listened to because you could learn wonderful things sitting
at their feet. This becomes all the more true as I get older and see how many
seniors seem to be forgotten by their families ... out of sight, out of mind?
Or perhaps we are just too busy to make the time?
He tried to teach us to love all things outdoors, to learn
baseball, Frisbee, darts, pool ... we could be anything we wanted to be
and you were never a failure if you gave it your best. Dad, your high
expectations made us who we are today. Thank you.
In the 70's and 80's Dad was in a CB radio club and the
Good Sam camping club. The CB club assisted police in helping find
missing persons, as well as other community work such as fundraising
and parades. The Good Sam club was a camping RVing club over North America
based on the Good Samaritan values. There were campouts all over the States
and Canada where fellow campers would discuss a variety of issues,
usually related to camping or specific community issues.
Dad was pretty smart too. So many of our friends use to
comment on how easy our parents were to talk to. During teenage years ...
for us ... this was not so easy, but as adults we grew to learn what
they meant and to appreciate them not just as parents, but as friends too.
It was on the mid-80's when Dad was driving as a courier
that he found out he was diabetic and needed to change his lifestyle
to stay healthy. Many other health issues followed and about 3 years ago,
again at Christmas, we almost lost him. If he was not so stubborn and
strong willed, we would have.
He was loyal and had unconditional love; otherwise he would
have given up on trying taking care of an Alzheimer's patient long ago,
as well as facing his own restrictions; loss of mobility due to an
artificial limb, and loss of license due to poor vision. He did not miss his
usual coffee time though; it just meant that Uncle Doug would come over to
pick him up instead of meeting him there, except for Fridays when we all
would go.
Just as things were stabilizing for him with Mom now in
the nursing home and his eyes in the final stages of correction to
get his license and independence back, he caught what was thought to
be twenty-four hour flu but thirty-six hours later he was with God.
Love You Dad,
Betty and Heather
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