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Bradford Witness Tom Gardner West Gwillimbury
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Brown, Frank Lewis obituary

Event Date : Friday, December 04, 1964
Event Type : Death

Description : A resident of West Gwillimbury Township since childhood, Mr. Frank L. Brown did not rally from a heart seizure after his return home from attending a meeting held by the congregation of Bradford United Church on the evening of Wednesday, December 2. He was moved to York County Hospital where he passed away on Friday, December 4, at the age of 79. Mr. Brown was born in Whitchurch Township, York County, coming to West Gwillimbury in boyhood. He attended White Rose School in Whitchurch Township and later Mount Pleasant School in West Gwillimbury and there began his life as a farmer, on Concession 10, later in 1931, purchasing the farm on Concession 5, in the Scotch Settlement, where he spent the rest of his life. In 1931 Mr. Brown married Agnes May Patience, in Toronto, who survives him, with their two sons, George and Stanley, both of R.R. 1, Bradford. Also surviving are two brothers, Walter E. Brown and Harry W. Brown, both of R.R. 2, Bradford, and two sisters, Ella (Mrs. Wesley Adair) of Newmarket and Jessie (Mrs. Ivan Metcalfe) of Bradford. He was predeceased by a daughter, Frances, and three sisters. Mr. Brown was a devout member of Bradford United Church and had been an elder of that church for the past twenty-three years. The funeral was held from the church on Monday, December 7, with interment in Mount Pleasant Cemetery. Rev. D. J. Lute conducted the services. The pallbearers were Murray Faris, Walter Lloyd, Clarence Brown, Lorne Metcalfe, Chas. T. S. Evans and Thos. Gardner.

Bradford Witness

Cook, Mrs. Sarah obituary

Event Date : Thursday, November 30, 1967
Event Type : Death

Description : Bradford's oldest resident, Mrs. Sarah Caroline Cook, died recently. She would have been 95 next month. Born Sarah Mills in West Gwillimbury in 1874, she married John Gibson Cook who operated a piano and music business in Bradford in partnership with John Gilheeney. She lived on Moore Street. Mrs. Cook leaves a sister, Reita; two sons, deputy-reeve Fred Cook and Jack F. Cook of Windsor; a daughter, Mrs. Tom Gardner; two grandsons, Don Gardner, a teacher at Simcoe District High School, and Jack Gardner, a lawyer in Toronto; and four great-grandchildren. The funeral service was held at the Lewis Funeral Chapel, conducted by Rev. W. H. Warnica. Pallbearers were Jack Gardner, Don Gardner, Gordon Bateman, Robert Brown, Ruston Folliott and Edward Gapp.

Bradford Witness

Gardner, Bertha Alice Kirby obituary

Event Date : Sunday, July 20, 1975
Event Type : Death

Description : Died at the Bestview Lodge, Newmarket, in her 99th year. Of Bradford, beloved wife of the late H. F. S. Gardner and dear mother of Tom and the late Ada, loving grandmother of John of Toronto and Donald of Simcoe. Service was held from the Lathangue & Skwarchuk Funeral Home, 30 Simcoe St., Bradford, on Tuesday at 2 p.m. Interment Newmarket Cemetery.

Bradford Witness

Thomas Wells Opens School

Thomas Wells Opens School

Thomas Wells Opens School

The new Bradford District High School was officially opened by Education Minister Thomas Wells last Tuesday in a ceremony involving dignitaries from the province, the county, and the town of Bradford.

About 400 people braved the cold and blowing snow to attend the event, highlighted by a policy statement from the education minister, a tribute to Bradford resident Tom Gardner, and a key presentation from architects Adamson Associates and contractor C.A. Smith to principal Alex Taylor.

A moment of silence was also observed for Simcoe County Board of Education superintendent of planning Syd Owens who died the previous Sunday of a heart attack.

Trustee Sam Neilly said of Mr. Owens, "He was one of the most important men in the planning and design of this school. His sudden passing leaves us saddened."

Addresses followed by MPP George McCague (Dufferin-Simcoe), West Gwillimbury Reeve John Fennell, Bradford Mayor Roy Gordon, and York-Simcoe MPP Arthur Evans who introduced Mr. Wells.

Principal Alex Taylor gave a brief history of education in the Bradford area, which began in 1852 with the opening of a grammar school in Bond Head.

After the railway was opened to Bradford in 1859, Mr. Taylor said, the growth of Bradford warranted the establishment of a school there, and the grammar school was loaded onto wagons and moved to Bradford.

He joked that it was the first portable in the county.

Another school was built in 1890 which burned two years later, and a new brick school was built in 1893, but it too was destroyed by fire in 1923.

In 1923 Bradford District High School was constructed (now the Fred C. Cook Senior Public School) which served as the high school until last year.

Bradford's 1976 citizen of the year Tom Gardner, a long-time member of the school board before his retirement, was honored by the chairman of the Simcoe County Board of Education, C.W. Brown.

Mr. Brown called Tom Gardner "Mr. Education," and described his life-long efforts on behalf of education in the country.

He then presented Mr. Gardner with a plaque naming the resource centre in the school "The T.H. Gardner Resource Centre."

Mr. Gardner received a standing ovation from the assembly, and called the tribute "the highlight of my life."

Director of Education Jack Ramsay pointed out to Mr. Wells that the pressure would soon be on for the go-ahead to an extension for the new school next year.

He laughed, "We are optimistic that there will be no delay for that since Mr. Wells is present here."

Trustee Sam Neilly told the audience that today was Mr. Ramsay's birthday, and everyone promptly broke into a rendition of Happy Birthday.

The program concluded with a guided tour of the new high school.

Bradford Witness