by Connie Tabbert
Editor
COBDEN — Archie Eady enjoyed spending time with family and friends.
When he died Monday morning, April 20, he was preparing coffee for neighbours who were coming over for a visit.
On Saturday, a testament to his career as an OPP officer was shown when retired OPP officers, and three current officers, created an honourary guard as the casket with Mr. Eady was carried into and out of Whitewater Wesleyan Community Church.
The church was packed with family and friends, a testament to how much Mr. Eady meant to so many people. The mourners travelled from near and far to offer comfort and support to Mr. Eady’s partner Isabel Johnston, his two children, Sandra and Kevin, his three grandchildren, Rachel, Josh and Erin, as well as Ms. Johnston’s family.
Mr. Eady was predeceased by brothers Irwin and George.
“Family and friends we gather here today to seek God’s presence and comfort as we face the reality of death and affirm the gift of life,” noted Pastor Kevin Moratz of Trinity United Church in Foresters Falls. “We are gathered here to remember, honour and celebrate the life of Archie Thomas Eady, beloved spouse of the late Norma Stevenson, caring partner to Isabel, loving father to Sandra and Kevin, dear brother to Beth and Velma, and grandfather to Rachel, Josh and Erin. May love, memories and faith draw us together and into God’s presence.”
Mr. Eady enjoyed spending time with his family and friends, at home and at the family cottage, Pastor Moratz said.
“The cottage was a happy gathering place for everyone,” he noted.
He was speaking for the family to the mourners during Saturday’s funeral service. It was held at the Wesleyan Church, because Trinity church could not hold all the mourners.
Through his career as an OPP officer and his hobbies, Mr. Eady made “incredible life-long friends along the way,” Pastor Moratz said. Mr. Eady built boats, trained black Labs, loved hunting and fishing, story-telling and woodworking and collecting knives and pens.
“Archie always had something on the go,” Pastor Moratz said. “He was one of the most interesting and energetic persons that we know.”
Looking back at Mr. Eady’s life, the pastor said, he was born in Foresters Falls to Thomas Harvey and Minnie (Bennett) Eady. As a matter of fact, he grew up in the house just across the bridge, where he survived the depression years with his siblings Irwin, George, Beth and Velma. He attended Foresters Falls High School for one year and then it closed, forcing him to attend Cobden High School, which is where he met Norma Stevenson, his future wife.
He attended Queens University for a year before enlisting in the airforce where he was accepted into pilot training. However, the war ended before he could be sent overseas, Pastor Moratz said.
After being discharged, he went to work in construction with his dad.
“I wonder if it was his willing attitude to sign up and fight and his humility and understanding that he did not have to suffer the hardship of some of his comrades, that infused in him a sense of responsibility that was reflected in his character,” Pastor Moratz said.
In 1947, Mr. Eady received his first posting as an OPP officer, which was in Red Lake. He eventually served in Campbellford, Peterborough and Toronto, working his way up through the ranks until he reached Chief Superintendent of the OPP.
Mr. Eady was able to take control of any situation where decisions had to be made, he said.
However, no matter where he was, to Mr. Eady, the Ottawa Valley was always home.
“I think the rural setting of the Falls held a special place in Archie’s heart, as over the years the call of the Valley drew he and his family back time and time again,” he said.
Following a long and distinguished career in the OPP, Mr. Eady and wife Norma moved back to the Valley. And throughout the next 30-plus years, Mr. Eady was quite comfortable sitting on the deck, fishing on the river, trampling around in the backwoods in search of wild game, which is something that most Valley boys and girls can relate to, Pastor Moratz said.
“I think it was this closeness to nature and his old time friends where Archie felt the most at home, and where Archie’s hospitality made others feel at home as well.”
While everyone has their special memories of Mr. Eady, Pastor Moratz noted, he always had a special way of making people laugh. Many will remember his special saying “Holy bald-headed,” Pastor Moratz said, which was funny because Archie wasn’t bald.
Pastor Moratz recalled meeting Mr. Eady 18 months ago at St. Andrew’s United Church’s community barbecue. Mr. Eady found out Pastor Moratz was the new minister and began a “running gag” of offering him a hamburger so he would have the strength “to put up with the lot of them,” he recalled with a laugh.
Mr. Eady was always reaching out to people in the community, whether it was to pay for their meal at a local restaurant, or drop off a chicken or a dozen eggs.
“Archie would strike up a conversation and give you his utmost attention, whether you were a cadet, commissioner, president or peasant,” Pastor Eady said.
Sports was a large part of Mr. Eady’s life, he recalled. In his younger years he played hockey and softball in Foresters Falls while in his later years with the OPP it was hockey. When you went to Mr. Eady’s home, the chances of watching sports was pretty good, he added. In order of preference was hockey, tennis and either baseball or curling, he noted.
“I heard that he liked to verbalize his disappointment when his favourite team, the (Ottawa) Senators, were not responding, although I’m sure he was happy last night,” Pastor Moratz said, adding. “Should any fans of the opposing team get overly smug, Archie, who came from the same era as my mom, would say that a two-by-four upside the head would help that young lad adjust his attitude,” bringing laughter from the crowd.
Pastor Moratz said Mr. Eady, who went to Trinity United Church in Foresters Falls, always sat in the second row from the back, on the right hand side, right beside Kay Coleman. While the seat will be empty now, he said, “I know he will be there in spirit but I will miss his affirming comments about my sermon, even when I know I missed the mark.
“When I preached last week on a country and western theme, he told me I could have at least added some lyrics from Stompin’ Tom Connors.
“So I end with a verse from I Am The Wind: I am the wind, eternal wind; Around the door, between gods and men; And if you see how I go in; You’ll have the key, and know the wind
“Archie, you are the wind.”
Brothers Dale and Keith Black performed I Know Who Holds My Hand while Jim Savage performed another tune on the bag pipes.
Pastor Moratz said, “Not one of us is here this morning because we wish to be. We’re here because one who was to us a father, a grandfather, a brother, a neighbour, a friend, is now slipped away and we’ve gathered to share our sorrow.
“It’s good to share our sorrow together, because in times likes this we are able to support each other and help carry each other through. So, as we share together our sadness and tears and our sense of loss, such things are always easier to deal with when shared.
“We do not only share our sorrow, we also share our memories of happy times, of good things that happened, times of loving, and being loved.
“Those happy times are gifts to us and those memories will continue with us as gifts forever.
“Sadly, those good times with our loved one Archie have now ended, but the memories will live on. Hold on to those memories, share them, treasure them, celebrate them with each other, for truly isn’t that why we are here .. to remember how Archie touched each one of us, and so we gather, in sadness and also to celebrate the blessing of life.
“It sounds like a contradiction but it isn’t. Those two things can happen together, in fact need to happen together, in order for each of us to accept what has now become reality and eventually to move beyond it.
“So, as we share memories this morning and look to each other for comfort, I hope we may also be able to reach out to a God who has promised to help. We need a God who can offer us comfort and strength and peace. And often in moments like these we discover him anew, often we discover the God who loves us more than we can imagine.
“And who is able to bless us with his comfort and peace.
“It was Wednesday when I met with Isabel, Sandra and Kevin, and, as we shared a few special memories, it became apparent to me just what kind of a soul that Archie is.
“In their voices and in their stories, I began to undertand how Archie was loved and respected
“I could tell that what I was experiencing was a deep down love and admiration that Archie had earned over the 90 years of his life.
“I felt honoured to be on the receiving end of these stories.”
Ending the service with a prayer, Pastor Moratz shared these words:
“We thank you for the life of Archie, for the life he lived, for the work he accomplished, for all that he was to us. We are grateful that he is now experiencing the peace of Your eternal presence.”
CAPTION FOR PHOTO: Forming an honour guard for retired OPP Chief Superintendent are, from left, retired OPP officers Pat Patterson, Andy Tait, Terry Shapre (cannot be seen), Ray Laroque, Wayne Pratt, Sherwood Cavanaugh, Cecil Gilmore, John Bromilow, Mike Quilty and Bob Wilson. The two officers are Acting Inspector Mark Wolfe, Detachment Commander of the Upper Ottawa Valley OPP and Constable Kyle Mask of the Renfrew Detachment of the OPP (beside the hearse).
