The Calder Family, January 1940
Item
Title
The Calder Family, January 1940
Description
In 1939 when we gather for Christmas, Jack requests that we take a group portrait that he and his brothers can carry in their breast pockets when they go to war.
Philip (front row, left) is just finishing high school at age 18. Jake (front row, right) is nagging him to enlist in the army as soon as he graduates. Marjorie, 19, (beside Philip) is working in Toronto at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. Mary, 20, (middle row) is training as a nurse at St. Joseph’s Hospital in London. Jake, 27, (front row, right) is an instructor of army recruits in Toronto.
Jack, 25, (back row, right) has built a reputation as a sports journalist. In 1934, writing for the Chatham Daily News he helped increase the fan base of the Chatham Coloured All-Stars baseball team, and they won the Ontario Baseball Amateur League Championship. In 1936, he left the paper to become an editor with Canadian Press, working the sports scene in Ontario and Quebec until 1939.
Jack enlists in the Air Force, and is about to be deployed in January 1940.
My husband, the Reverend A.C. Calder, (I call him Archie) (at the back, left) is 60 this year. He is an inspired preacher. In 1934, he ended his second term as a Member of Provincial Parliament for Chatham Kent. He has recently been moved by the Anglican Bishop from Goderich to Owen Sound, St. George’s Church.
That’s me, beside Jake, Agnes Calder, 50, adjusting to a new home and parish, finding my purpose in war time as the mother of three sons who will soon all be overseas.
Gerald, the son who is absent from the photograph, died two years ago in a tragic car accident in Montreal. Jack was working in Montreal at the time; Gerald was visiting his older brother when the accident occurred. Gerald wrote poetry and kept a journal. Thank Heaven he left something of himself behind. We all miss him.
Philip (front row, left) is just finishing high school at age 18. Jake (front row, right) is nagging him to enlist in the army as soon as he graduates. Marjorie, 19, (beside Philip) is working in Toronto at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. Mary, 20, (middle row) is training as a nurse at St. Joseph’s Hospital in London. Jake, 27, (front row, right) is an instructor of army recruits in Toronto.
Jack, 25, (back row, right) has built a reputation as a sports journalist. In 1934, writing for the Chatham Daily News he helped increase the fan base of the Chatham Coloured All-Stars baseball team, and they won the Ontario Baseball Amateur League Championship. In 1936, he left the paper to become an editor with Canadian Press, working the sports scene in Ontario and Quebec until 1939.
Jack enlists in the Air Force, and is about to be deployed in January 1940.
My husband, the Reverend A.C. Calder, (I call him Archie) (at the back, left) is 60 this year. He is an inspired preacher. In 1934, he ended his second term as a Member of Provincial Parliament for Chatham Kent. He has recently been moved by the Anglican Bishop from Goderich to Owen Sound, St. George’s Church.
That’s me, beside Jake, Agnes Calder, 50, adjusting to a new home and parish, finding my purpose in war time as the mother of three sons who will soon all be overseas.
Gerald, the son who is absent from the photograph, died two years ago in a tragic car accident in Montreal. Jack was working in Montreal at the time; Gerald was visiting his older brother when the accident occurred. Gerald wrote poetry and kept a journal. Thank Heaven he left something of himself behind. We all miss him.