KELLY DENISE BAKER
Henry Eldon Roberts was born in Strathroy, Ontario on Dec 28th, 1915 during World War I. His father was born in Londonary, Ireland and his mother was born in England. His parents migrated to Canada when they were just babies and met each other as teenagers. They lived on farmland and had to work hard for what they had. Henry's older sister, Ruth couldn't pronounce his name and referred to him as "Al," which became the name he was known for, for life.
Al was the only boy, therefore, his chores were endless. His father was very strict and enforced corporal punishment, mainly directed at Al, but the rest of the family fell victim to his aggressive nature as well. Al's mother became pregnant and when Al was thirteen, his mother gave birth. In 1928 the medical profession wasn't at its best and there were often complications during delivery. His mother endured a blood clot while giving birth and succumbed to these circumstances. His baby brother also passed away. At this point, Al felt that now without his mothers presence and the affect her death would have on his father, that the living conditions with his father would be unbearable and had no choice other than to leave home. Now, a thirteen year old boy, on his own, he had to find a way to survive. He went from family to family doing work for them and earning a place to stay.
He then met his wife, Marion Osmond. After a short courtship they were married. They purchased land in Toronto and built a home. The backyard was enormous in which he grew vegetables. He built a greenhouse where he grew plants and sold them for a small profit.
In 1939 he joined the Army. In 1941 he was sent off to fight in the war. He traveled from Toronto to Nova Scotia and left on the Alta Maria Ship. One week after the ship left it was struck by a torpedo. He telegraphed Marion and requested fifteen dollars to come home for a two week leave. He couldn't explain in the telegram what had happened as there were strict limitations on communication. He traveled back to Toronto and left again two weeks later.
His destination was England. Once he arrived in England he began to fight in World War II. He struggled through many hardships there besides actual battle. Sleeping conditions were rough and food was scarce. When Al fought on sea, his role (if attacked and the captain had to call out for Mayday) was to hand out the life jackets to each and every man. This meant Al would be the last to get a life jacket, if there were any left. One time in 1941, in England, Al and a fellow soldier fell asleep on the roof of a building. During the middle of the night the building was struck by a bomb. The bomb hit the other half of the roof. His friend later accounted that Al had been without sleep for so long that when the building was struck, Al simply grunted, rolled over and fell back asleep.
Eventually, Al was wounded. He was in his trench with nine other members of his troop when another bomb struck. Al was hit by the shrapnel in his leg. Four of his friends were killed. Al and the remaining five men were sent back to Nova Scotia to recover in the hospital. After seven months, Al was well enough to, yet again, return to England. Shortly after World War II ended, he arrived home, back in Toronto. He never spoke much about the war to his wife.
He obtained a job as a security guard and worked at The Exhibition (carnival and other events). He also dabbled in amateur boxing. After working with security for a few years, he began working as a postman. During this time, Al and Marion were trying to conceive a baby. The first two pregnancies ended in miscarriage. They began believing that they may not be meant to bear children of their own and fostered babies and children instead.
The third pregnancy was again touch and go. Nine months later, Marion delivered a stillborn baby. The doctors tried for several minutes to revive the baby, but to no avail. As the doctor opened the door to the room where Al had remained waiting to hear news on his wife and newborn, the doctor said, " Sorry " and was then interrupted by the screaming cries of his baby girl. They named her Heather Gale Roberts.
They still continued to foster children. A fourth pregnancy occurred and this time there weren't any complications. They named their baby Carolyn.
When Carolyn was a baby they fostered a young child with Inuit/Chinese background named Joanne. They bonded with this child beyond any other child they had fostered. Heather treated Joanne as if she were her own and used to push her around in the baby stroller and introduced Joanne to her friends as, "my baby".
Eventually Child Services came and told Al and Marion Roberts that they had to take Joanne to an adoptive family. Al and Marion fought to keep her, but Child Services proclaimed that Joanne should not be raised by a white family and Al and Marion Roberts lost their fight.
Not only that, but they weren't allowed any information as to where Joanne was or how she was doing. This was devastating to the entire family. Al was planning on having his father come to visit for one Christmas and to meet his children for the first time. Just prior to leaving for the long awaited visit, Al's father suffered a fatal heart attack. They were never to see each other again.
While Al's two daughters were growing up, Heather was pretty much well behaved. Carolyn, on the other hand, was rebellious. One evening, before Carolyn was old enough to earn a driver's license, she "borrowed" Al's car, without his knowledge. She picked up some friends and drove to a city hours away. In the middle of the night, Al and Marion received a phone call from the police suggesting they come pick up their daughter and their car.
They replied that their car was in the driveway and Carolyn was sleeping in her bed. It turned out untrue and Al had to take his truck to pick up Carolyn. This is just one incident of his unique fatherhood.
Eventually Heather and Carolyn married and became pregnant at the same time. Al's first grandchild was Jason Eagles. A month later his second grandchild was born on St. Patrick's Day, which made him very proud of his Irish heritage. He was even more ecstatic when his granddaughter was named Kelly.
Six years later Heather had another baby named Danielle and a year after that Carolyn had another baby named Joshua. Al was a very good grandfather and taught them a great deal. What his grandchildren recount most about him was his teachings of morals. He insisted that his children and grandchildren befriend those of every culture, race and religion. His father was born an Irish protestant and his mother was a Christian. Al lived his life as a Christian and although he didn't attend church as often as his wife, he remained loyal to his God and his faith. He recounted many teachings of the bible to his children and grandchildren. Before Jason turned eighteen, he had two children (Jake and Janice) with his girlfriend Margaret.
In 1996 Al and Marion moved from Toronto to Keswick (about sixty-five miles north of Toronto). When he was seventy-nine years old he received devastating news, likely more devastating than anything he may have encountered in the war, but kept secret.
On the evening of August 15th, 1997 there was a knock at the door. It was 11 o'clock at night, which was Marion's bedtime. Al always went to bed around 7 P.M because he thought if he wasn't awake before the birds, that he had slept the entire day away. Marion opened the door to find their two granddaughters standing there. She greeted them, knowing something had to be terribly wrong for them to show up unannounced at this hour, but she pretended everything was alright.
Kelly asked her to sit down and informed her there was bad news. Marion offered tea. Kelly continued to state that there had been a bad accident. Marion behaved as if nothing had been said and kept offering tea. As Kelly kept urging her to listen, Marion finally silenced about the tea for a moment and was then told that Heather was in a serious car crash and didn't make it.
Marion dropped her head down into her hands and began crying. No one had ever seen her cry before. After consoling her grandmother for a few moments, Kelly went into Al's bedroom. He opened his eyes and when he saw her, he smiled. Normally he would've been slightly agitated for being disturbed at this time of night. She sat on his bed next to him and told him.
His face turned into something that she had never seen before. All the colour from his face drained. It was if he had died with his first born daughter. She fell down to him and embraced him. A dead arm embraced her back. When she sat up, Al was staring off into space and began speaking of his mother dying when he was only a thirteen year old boy. At the funeral he sat in the front row wearing a distinguished suit. As Kelly and Danielle read the eulogy, he began weeping. They had never seen tears in his eyes before and now they were streaming down his face. When he buried his daughter, a part of him was also never to be recovered again.
Within the next few years, both Al and his wife's health deteriorated. Al suffered a mild stroke and was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Al had a change of luck. He received a phone call from Child Services and was informed that a "Joanne Hayward" was interested in locating he and Marion. Just two months after losing his daughter, he was re-united with the child he had desired to raise as his own. she lived in British Columbia, but caught a flight to visit them for the first time in over four decades. They bonded almost as no time had passed. They kept in touch.
Al suffered a mild stroke and was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He was admitted to a nursing home across the river from his home. His family visited him often. The more that time passed, the less he spoke. The other residents of the nursing home voted him President of the Nursing Home Committee. He became an avid church goer and would be the first one seated to listen to the minister speak. One time Carolyn escorted Al to the church in the nursing home with a different minister. A few hours later she returned to have lunch with him and commented to him " You must have enjoyed that, you stayed the entire time. " Al grunted, " He's Catholic, they're all full of it! " Deteriorating health never weakened his firm belief in Christianity or distanced his knowledge of the ongoing battles in his fathers homeland between Catholics and Protestants.
On the morning of May 9th, 2002 Al developed pneumonia and by 7:30 P.M he had succumbed to his illness. The visitation was on May 12th. His family and friends gathered. On the wall, above his coffin was a picture of him and his troop mounted on the wall. A Canadian flag rested on the coffin. There were several bouquets of flowers with framed pictures of Al and his family. The funeral followed on May 13th. It was a beautiful ceremony with not just tears for the loss, but a celebration of his life. He chose to be cremated. Not many people leave such an imprint of their lives. His spirit, morals and beliefs lives on in his wife, remaining daughter, grandchildren and great grandchildren. A man such as this, could never be forgotten.
Some men give up on their beliefs, morals, destiny and most of all life after enduring hardship. Al endured a lifetime of struggles and devastation, but not once did he fail his family, his beliefs and most of all himself. Not once did he give up on life. Not once did he quiver. He left an enormous impact on many lives. Although he didn't receive a proper upbringing from his father, he somehow knew what a man is and displayed this through being a devoted husband father and grandfather. Everyone who knew Al, knew he was a man of substance and would never encounter another man such as him.
KELLY DENISE BAKER
Al
Whether it was in his youth
or more recent days,
there was a warmth about him...
there was always a warmth in his eyes.
Some of us have our last memories of him
with him looking back at us
barely having the energy to talk,
but having all the energy in the world
to form a big smile.
I know him to be the one in the family
who I would always seek knowledge from.
He was the one always ready
to take his children/grandchildren fishing,
to share with them his war stories,
to teach them boxing moves
and to educate them about humanity and equality.
He was so set in his ways
due to his years of experience
and sometimes harsh observation.
No one had the ability to shift his firm views and beliefs.
He was always truly devoted to his family,
to his work, to his hobbies, to his religious beliefs
and to his country.
There's a strength about a man who has eyes full of warmth,
loyalty, knowledge, experience, true patriotism
and love.
He wasn't ready to leave us until
he had his wife and youngest daughter at his bedside.
He wasn't ready to go until
his daughter assured him that it was alright
to now go be with his oldest daughter
and only then did his face fill with happiness and relief
with a single tear.
He was never afraid for himself,
he was afraid for our pain...
there's an amazing strength about a man like that.
- Kelly Denise Baker
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