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35 | O akville B eaver | T hursday,June 25,2020 insidehalton.com We want to celebrate with you! 1-800-263-64801-800-263-6480 oror classifieds@metroland.com During this difficult time, it's hard to celebrate without family and friends. That's why we are offering *Offer valid until July 31, 2020 *Some restrictions apply To place your announcement or to get more information, contact us at: 50% discount on your When placing your ad online through your community website, please enter the code ANN2020 Anniversary, Birth, Birthday, Engagement, Graduation and Marriage announcements Hallford, Donald Gordon: Feb- ruary 26, 1927 to June 12, 2020, of Oakville, peacefully passed in his 94th year in the home of his daughter,daughterdaughter Pat, and his son-in-law Scott, in St. Cath- arines. Many thanks from the family to Pat and Scott. YourYYYYY sacrifice did not go unnoticed. Don was born in TorontoTTTTT , On- tario, to Frederick and Pauline Hallford, joining his older sis- ter Marion and brother Murray,MurrayMurrayMurrayMurrayMurray and followed four years later by the arrival of sister Eleanor.EleanorEleanorEleanorEleanorEleanor Don attended Allenby Pub- lic School, followed by North TorontoTTT Secondary School. The family attended Castle- field Baptist Church. It was during these years that they endured the Great Depression, then World War TwoTT . His older brother served in the RCAF as a fighter pilot, but the war end- ed before Don could enlist. The Hallfords had a cottage on the shores of Lake Simcoe, at Big Cedar Point, and many family memories were created there. The youngest sister,sistersistersister Eleanor,EleanorEleanorEleanorEleanorEleanor and her husband Al, own the cottage now, carrying on the tradition. Fred Hallford sold explosives for CIL for 48 years, often tak- ing Don on overnight sales trips. Don chose the University of TorontoTTTTT to continue his edu- cation, deciding to apply to the forestry department, as had his close friend, Frank. The office was closed for lunch, so Don went into the Architectural de- partment and was accepted to the six year program. He suc- cessfully earned his Bachelor's degree as an Architect. As a graduate, Don worked for sev- eral years in TorontoTTTTT under the mentorship of an experienced Architect, and was involved with establishing the archi- tectural program at Ryerson Institute of TechnologyTTT (now Ryerson University). Over the ensuing years, Don would be instrumental in designing many wonderful homes, as well as schools, offices, fire stations and much more. It was during this time that he met his future wife, Marianne Cunningham, who happened to work for the brother of his boss, in the office next door.doordoordoor Af- ter a courtship, as it was called, and meeting each other's fami- lies, Don proposed marriage to Marianne, but the answer was no! Three months later,laterlater he pro- posed again, and happily,happilyhappilyhappily this time the answer was yes. They married on June 19, 1953 in Richmond Hill, Ontario, and set out on life's journey together.togethertogethertogethertogethertogether And what a journey! YearsYYY later,laterlaterlaterlaterlater Don was asked in an interview by a grade seven class what he liked about his wife. He said, "I love everything about my wife. In my world, she is perfect". While living in TorontoTTT , their first son, Stephen John, arrived on May 17,1717 1954. It was during this time that Don decided to set up his own architectural firm in Oakville, Ontario, with a fellow architect named Don Wilson, forming Hallford & Wil- son Architects, at 139 Thomas Street, Oakville. Don and Mar- ianne purchased two acres of land bordering Appleby Col- lege on Birch Hill Lane and built their first house, designed by Don. On December 29, 1956, their second son, Bruce Charles, arrived, and on March 10, 1959, their third son, Ian Gordon, joined this busy family.familyfamilyfamilyfamilyfamily Several years later,laterlater the family would see one more important addition, the arrival of Patricia LynnLL on November 9, 1968. In the years 1957,19571957195719571957 1958 and 1959, Don and his father,fatherfatherfatherfatherfather Fred, searched the newly opened up lakes in Muskoka for Crown land, which was being sold for cottage properties. In 1959, Don and Marianne's bid for an island lot was accepted and they began building their fam- ily cottage in 1960. Go Home Lake became as important to the Hallford family as Oakville was. Don designed and built that first cottage with the will- ing help of family,familyfamilyfamilyfamilyfamily and over the years, the construction contin- ued and two more cabins were added. The cottage is still in the family to this day,daydayday now owned by Ian and Irene. The cottage was everyone's happy place, with boating, water sports and campfires being just a few of the many favourite activities. Everyone in the vicinity would hear Don when he went swim- ming, always going in back- wards, and making it sound like he was doing a polar plunge! Great fun for sure. His desig- nated assignment for water skiing was always driver and it brought him great joy.joyjoyjoy Don and Marianne were dedi- cated members of Central Bap- tist Church, located at Rebecca Street and Morden Road, since moving to Oakville. Don de- signed the original sanctuary and it was built in 1957.195719571957 The addition was also designed by Don, added in 1972. Don always served quietly in the background, never wanting at- tention for his contributions. So it was with most of his volunteer work, teaching Sunday School at Central, helping out at the Syl Apps Centre, sitting on the board of the VON or serving at the Kerr Street Mission, as well as the many church boards Don served on. The family grew over the years to include Steve (Nancy), Bruce (Ziggy), Ian (Irene) and Pat (Scott). Once again, as with Grandma's passing, we asked each of the grandchildren to use one word to capture Grand- pa. Here they are, in capitals. Grandpa was undoubtedly a WISE man, very DEVOTED to his wife of 67 years, as well as to his family and friends. He was a TRUE GENTLEMAN, qui- et in many ways but with the ability to surprise you by being RAMBUNCTIOUS while playing a board game, usually at the cottage. Because he was WISE, he was willing to share his wis- dom as our SAGE, with those desiring to become WISE. But he was HUMBLE and wouldn't have seen himself as one. Grandpa was a SOFTHEART-TTTTT ED and LOYALYY man, and as you can tell, WISE. He was our GEN- TLE GIANT.GIANTGIANT Grandpa was loved and ad- mired by his grandchildren, Emily (Albert), Erin (Stephen), Ryan (Ali), Andrea (Ashwin), Sandra (Ewen), Christopher,ChristopherChristopherChristopher Michael (Susan), Daniel, Nicole, Chandler (Erin), Jennelle (Ricky) and Leah (Hannah), and his great grandchildren, Callie, Isla, Joshua, Orion, Vivian, Griffin, Autumn, Aurora and Lionel. A celebration of life for Don and Marianne will taketaktaktaktaktak place as soon as circumstances permit. In lieu of flowers, donations to Central Baptist Church, Oakville, or KerrKK Street Mission, Oakville, would be greatly appreciated. On-line Condolences may be sent to www.kwwwwww oprivataylor.k.k.k .oprivatayloroprivatayloroprivataylor com HALLFORD, Donald Gordon ANNOUNCEMENTS OBITUARIES | REMEMBERING THE LIVES OF THOSE IN OUR COMMUNITY Honour life's milestones with a published announcement. Create a keepsake your baby will treasure one day - publish your birth announcement. A wonderful person, friend and aide, one who was better God never made; a wonderful worker, so loyal and true, one in a million - that person was you. Just in your judgment, always right; honest and liberal, ever upright; loved by your friends and all whom you knew. Our wonderful friend - that person was you. There is a link death cannot sever, love and remembrance last forever. 1-800-263-6480 classifieds@metroland.comCLASSIFIEDS OBITUARIES | ANNOUNCEMENTS | JOBS | MARKETPLACE SPECIAL OCCASIONS OBITUARIES