A Sad Gap

Bernice Vivian (the first with neither name of family origin) was the last of the babies born at the Palermo farm, on April 25, 1899, and the move to the Bronte farm was made three weeks later. As had Russell, Bernice suffered from asthma from the beginning, and the lakefront was a bad location for her. As a child, she called the noisy breathing “bees” in her chest and when an east blow came off the lake these bees had to be “roasted out”. I remember sleeping with her at times when her laboured breathing shook the bed so that sleep was difficult.

Anger

I regret that I will not be able to do justice to Bernice’s story because she was predeceased by her husband and she had no children to help me with recall. So I have to rely on my hazy memory, although Evelyn Mary has been a big help because she was close to Bernice and Bill while she was growing up. I’ll do my best for her, because she was a very remarkable person, having a distinguished career and a very active life in spite of constant ill health. She had a very strong will and drive which compensated for her lack of physical well-being. I recall an incident when she was a teenager that illustrates her will. When the redoubtable Mr. Luscomb died all of his students past and present were to march in the funeral procession. I can still hear Bernice declaring, “I hated him; I’m glad he’s dead; and I will not honour him by going to his funeral.” And Mother’s best efforts failed to make her do so. But along with great determination and conviction there was a surprising insecurity. She was known as the “sensitive” one and Mother was constantly warning the rest of us to be careful what we said to Bernice because she was so easily hurt. This didn’t stop the boys from giving her the nickname “Pot” because she had an unfortunate habit of eating whatever was left in the dishes and pots when she was cleaning up after a meal. She loved to eat, I think partly because of nervousness. Thus she was frequently overweight. She was also rather timid in little things such as fear of the dark or an empty room. She wouldn’t go upstairs alone, and I would be bribed to accompany her there or to the outside john if a trip after dark was necessary. Bernice attended the same schools as we ail did, and worked on the farm as we all did. During the war she was a farmerette. Somewhere in the family archives is a picture of her in the uniform they all wore - khaki bloomers and top - the first time women wore pants, except for the voluminous bloomers that were part of the bathing suits then and with a hoe in her hand. She also attended Hamilton Normal School and, got her teaching certificate in about 1919, I think.

1918 Ful Makes a Mark

It was while there that she was gravely ill in the flu epidemic of 1918 that took so many lives. But she recovered and went to teach in a little one-roomed school at Greenwood, I think, in Wentworth County. I remember before her departure there was a flurry of sewing similar to the one for Evelyn’s wedding, but not on so grand a scale. The outfits were mostly skirts and blouses, as I recall. She had the usual problems of young girls starting out in country schools - great louts of boys bigger than and almost as old as she. But she weathered the storm and later in her career became acknowledged by the inspector as the best teacher in the county. After a year or two in Greenwood, Bernice moved to Lynden, still in Wentworth County, where as so many young lady teachers in that era, she met and married one of the local boys. He was William Leslie (Bill) Taylor, son of Mr. arid Mrs. Edwin Taylor who had a farm on the outskirts but within easy walking distance of the centre of the village. Bill had been overseas in the war and had been critically ill with pneumonia. He was proud that he had had the sane operation - the removal of some ribs to drain off the fluid - as King George V had had. On returning home he continued to operate the farm with his elderly father. Bernice lived in the village hotel of which the proprietor was a widow, Mrs. Ethel Rouse. The young people used to congregate there in the evenings and had many good times, partaking of root beer and ice cream, not beer or liquor. Bernice and Bill were married in the Bronte home in the Easter holidays, as Bernice was to continue teaching. I don’t remember the exact date of the month, but I’m sure it was 1923, the year I was thirteen. Amy was bridesmaid in a lovely green dress with paisley trim, made by Mother, of course. I don’t remember who bestman was; likely it was Bill’s brother. I must confess my chief memory is of the splendid pale pink crepe de chine dress I had, with a then fashionable bertha cellar outlined in pink rosebuds. I felt so elegant and grown up in it that I simply had to be allowed to go to the next Palermo dance to wear it. Thus began my experiences of the community dances which were the main gathering place for the entire families for many years. But here I am digressing again. After a traditional honeymoon in Niagara Falls and Buffalo, Bernice and Bill settled into the old low grey stone farmhouse and made it into a charming, cozy home. Bill’s parents retired into the new house they had built on the property. Some years later Bill built a modern brick house next door to the senior Taylors. Bernice had gone on teaching and was well known throughout the district; Bill was very popular and they had a wide circle of friends. They took an active pact in community and church affairs and had a happy social life. Ball worked up to the highest office in the Masonic Lodge and Bernice in the Eastern Star. During this time, in the early thirties, there was a brief interlude when Bill gave up farming because of ill health and got a job in Niagara Falls and Bernice gave up teaching. They lived in an apartment near the Rainbow Bridge. But this didn’t suit either of them and they were soon back in Lynden and Bill on the farm again. These were depression tines and Bernice had to use all her indomitable will to get into teaching again. After applying to nearly every board in Ontario, she finally got a position in Vinemont on the Niagara Escarpment above Stoney Creek and commuted to Lynden every weekend. There was a reason for her getting this position: the Wentworth County inspector had by this time decided that Bernice would be able to cope with any situation - and this was a dandy. There had been a young male teacher who had failed dismally; the children had run wild and had broken up most of the furnishings of the school. There had been no discipline and no learning during his brief tenure. Bernice decided that physical work and a pride in their surroundings were what they needed to get them back on track. So she used her agriculture certificate and experience to get them busy landscaping the grounds with flower and vegetable gardens. Her Household Science certificate and experience were used to get them to pretty up the interior and she took a course in Manual Training, keeping one step ahead of them in instructing how to repair the damaged desks and fittings and make new things such as lawn chairs and ornaments they could be proud of. When she had then tamed she caught up on the three R’s. She received the ultimate compliment when one of the older rowdies said to a trustee: “If that S.O.B. hadda been here sooner, I mighta learned somethin’.”

Indomitable Spirit

Thus Bernice lived up to the reputation she had built up over the years, all this, remember, while she was gasping for breath much of the time. On one occasion she apologized to the inspector for sitting down while teaching. He said, “Don’t worry, at half your capacity, you do a better job than many with full health”. Just the fact of her having three certificates in addition to her basic one was unusual. She made excellent use of all three, especially the Household Science, teaching the girls cooking, sewing and homemaking. On one occasion she won a trip to Chicago for herself and her team of girls, and her pupils usually took most of the prizes in all departments at the local Fall Fairs. Her last position was as principal of the school at Strabane. There she had to teach spelling and grammar to the junior teacher! She did such a good job that that girl was inspired to go on and get her B.A. and is now teaching English in high school. In about 1945, Bill and Bernice sold the farm in Lynden and bought the general store and post office in Rockton and I think Bernice continued teaching in a nearby school. They both worked like beavers cleaning up and reorganizing the store and learning the post office routine. The store soon became a favourite gathering place and its proprietors again as popular a couple as they had been in Lynden. They had the good sense not to expect customers to buy all their goods there when competition with the prices of the big chain stores was impossible. I think they did quite well even though they were often too lax with credit. They continued their activities in their new church and community, and Bernice in addition in the Women’s Institute and the Rockton Fair, of which she was eventually made a life member of the Board of Directors. The store was cart of a huge nineteenth century stone house, which they made into an attractive ground floor apartment for themselves and one on the second floor while they rented. There was quite a large back yard, where they held one of the Cudmore family picnics. I don’t remember what year it was or whether it was the inaugural one, but it likely was. It seems like something Bernice would organize. After a few years they sold the store and built a modern bungalow at the east end of town. Bernice continued teaching and Bill became county assessor. It was an excellent job for him as he knew the district so well and was so well known and welcome in the homes and could work in his own time when he felt well enough. He had been ill with cancer for about five years when one afternoon in November of 1962 Bernice had the horrifying experience of returning from school to find him dead. He was lying on the bed with his glasses on and a book in his hand. Shortly after that, unable to live in the house alone, she sold it and moved in with Amy at 21 Dean Avenue in Guelph.

A Real Traveler

Travel was always an important part of Bernice’s scheme of things. She regarded each trip as a learning experience as well as recreation, which on her return she generously shared with pupils, family and friends through pictures and talks. She and Bill traveled extensively through out Canada. One interesting trip was the one to the west coast with Russell and Mary and Amy and Evelyn Mary that I mentioned earlier in Russell’s story. Bernice was the organizer and navigator of the trip, making sure all of them saw all of the things they should. A novel trip was a flight to Newfoundland and the way back by freighter to Hamilton, which they greatly enjoyed. Characteristically, on their return they entertained many of the English crew at their home. In the summer after ray first year of teaching they took me on a motor trip to the East coast, their second, I think. We saw the north shore of the St. Lawrence, much of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia and the thrilling Gaspe Peninsula. After Bill’s death Bernice and Amy accompanied Frank and Evelyn on a most enjoyable trip to the west coast, down tile scenic California coastal highway and across to Salt Lake City and Las Vegas. Bernice assuaged her guilt about gambling by donating the ill-gotten gain of $1.80 to the church on her return. Among Bernice’s trips abroad I can recall were Bermuda with Bill, Bermuda again with Amy, Jamaica, Barbados and Hawaii with Amy, and the British Isles and Europe with a friend. The biggest trip was around the world in the winter of 1966-67 with Amy and two friends of mine, Marjorie South and Doris Seebeck. Doris was an Australian widow who was working her way around the world and had been a year in Canada. The occasion of the trio was to accompany Doris borne. Marjorie, a seasoned traveler, arranged the trip, first by Norwegian freighter out of New York, through the Panama Canal, across the Pacific (where they went through a horrendous storm) to New Zealand, Australia and Tasmania and then on to Hong Kong and back to Europe by P. & 0. cruise ship. This was the winter that, unknown to Bernice and Amy, both Russell and Bill developed their terminal illnesses. As the trip was drawing to a close, I wrote the news to them, and then cabled to Naples and they flew hone from there, two weeks short of the finish of the trip. They arrived in time to see Russell a couple of days before his death. Also, unknown to them when they left, Marjorie South was suffering from terminal cancer and was frequently quite ill. She finished the trip, but was taken from the plane to hospital, where she died two weeks after Bill’s death. During her Christmas trip to Barbados with Amy and me, Bernice was seriously ill with pneumonia. Fortunately, we got a good native doctor to care for her and she recovered enough to travel home with us. She had intended to retire the following June but the doctor persuaded her to quit then, and thus her retirement was a few months early. The following winter she spent in Arizona, but did not like the cold nights. The next winter or two she rented an apartment in Dunedin, Florida, where Harold and Ruth were then living in the mobile home park. One evening in 1968, while out for a drive, she saw and fell in love with a charming furnished house in Clearwater on Idlewild Drive, a quiet residential street. She bought it immediately and moved in with the help of Harold and Ruth and her friends the Burrows, who lived next door to Amy in Guelph and a few houses away on Idlewild Drive in winter.

Great Living Arrangments

Many renovations, including central heating and air conditioning and wall-to-wall broadloom, outdoor landscaping and painting, and the shipping of much of her furniture, cutlery and china from Guelph brought the house up to her standards of comfort and appearance. She joined the local social club, mostly of retirees like herself, and a private bridge club, and made friends with several most agreeable neighbours, especially the Myers next door. She had a great time, along with the satisfaction of owning her own home again. Bernice and Amy had a convenient arrangement whereby they occupied Amy’s house in Guelph in the summer and Bernice’s in Florida in the winter. Cousin May Maynard of Moose Jaw also spent some winters with them before getting her own apartment nearby. On Amy’s death in 1975 Bernice moved in with Frank Beasley in Bronte for the summer months. As this was the year of my retirement, I was able to spend the next three winters in Clearwater with her. By 1978, as her health was failing, she no longer felt able to keep on with the house. In February she sold it furnished to Bert and Dorothy Beasley. This was a very happy arrangement as we didn’t have to have strangers trooping through and her belongings went to family members who would love and care for them as she had. She was very brave and left without a tear, saying she’d had ten good years and had no regrets.

A Proud Departure

We returned home early in March and by April 1 had her installed in the very attractive Central Park Lodge just a block from Bert and Dorothy in Weston. In no time she had a circle of friends - bridge players, of course - and was a member of the social committee. At a big social gathering, she had the honour of making the speech thanking the mayor for his presence and address. But by Christmas time, she was noticeably failing. I think she willed herself to stay alive till her eightieth birthday, April 25, and then to go while still alert mentally, her greatest wish. I arranged a little party with a cake for her and some of her close friends and she proudly wore the pantsuit I had made her. I don’t think she was dressed or out of her room again, and she died in Humber Memorial Hospital in Weston on July 19, 1979. She is buried with Bill and Evelyn in the Beasley - Taylor plot in Mount Zion cemetery in Copetown.