Lawrence William Dempsey

Dempsey, Lawrence William (Larry). The family of Larry Dempsey announces his peaceful passing on September 5th at Camp Hill Veterans Home. He is lovingly remembered by his children Debora (Michael), Stephen (Linda), Robert (Krista) and Eric. His grandchildren: Lauren, Amanda, Jonathan, Ryan, Katelyn, Matthew, Teddy, Elizabeth, Michael, Ashley, Laura and great grandson Easton (Lauren). Larry was predeceased by his loving wife of 63 years Noreen and his son Mark.

Larry was born in Herring Cove in 1925 to Carlton and Elsie (Brackett) and was the eldest of 8 boys. He was predeceased by brothers Phillip and Andrew who died in infancy and brothers Paul, David and Keith. He is survived by brothers Peter (Lorraine) and Murray (Lucie). As the oldest child Larry helped support his family when in 1940 his father died in the Hebridean pilot boat disaster. In 1944 he joined the RCAF as a Morse Code operator. After leaving the Air Force he began a career with CN Rail where he worked for over 40 years. In his retirement Larry became an avid gardener who grew hundreds of varieties of flowers, vegetables and herbs. He also had a passion for playing Bridge with other Herring Covers. In later years Larry and Noreen became snowbirds and spent many happy winters in Florida enjoying the visits from their children, grandchildren and many friends. The family would like to thank the nurses and staff at V4 East, Camp Hill Veterans Home as well as Dr Chris MacKnight for the wonderful care provided over the past 3 years. Special thanks to care-giver Val Croft for her love and care provided to Larry. There will be no visitation. Cremation has taken place under the care of Snow’s funeral home. Funeral mass at St Paul’s Roman Catholic Church, Herring Cove on Monday September 10, 2018 at 10am. Reception to follow in the church hall. Private family internment in St Paul’s cemetery to follow the service. Family flowers only. In lieu of flowers donations can be made to Hope Cottage in Larry’s memory.

Eulogy for Lawrence William Dempsey – 02/27/1925–09/5/18

On behalf of my sister Debbie, brothers Robert and Eric I would like to thank you all for coming here this morning to celebrate the life of our father Larry Dempsey, baptized in this church 93 years ago and now being put to rest in a community of faith and love at St. Paul’s Church in Herring Cove.

I would like to take a few moments now to share with you a little of our fathers’ story told in 3 chapters.

Chapter 1 – Getting Started

Larry was the eldest of 8 boys born to Carleton and Elsie Dempsey, and enjoyed the company of many other ‘Dempsey Cousins‘ in the Cove. With his father he learned all the skills necessary for small village life such as hunting, fishing, carpentry, and spent time with his father on several boats including the Halifax Harbour pilot boat where many of the men in the cove became Harbour Pilots.

By all accounts Dad was an excellent student and attended St. Mary’s Boys school in Halifax. Life in a small fishing community was good with many relatives to lend a hand, spin a yarn or tip a glass (yes we do hail originally from Ireland of course)…everyone was connected and not on the Internet – it was a time of telling stories, sharing remembrances and dealing with the challenges of living during the Great Depression.

I will never forget Dad telling me how he had mistakenly left the gate open at home and the pig that they were ‘getting ready’ so to speak for thanksgiving dinner the next day - escaped and ran down to Powers pond to make its get away on the water.

Dad had to run get his punt, rowing quickly and only caught up to the pig when it had almost made it to the other side of the pond – Dad saving his own hide and pride and temporarily that of pig as well! As Dad said - we all know that pigs can’t fly but they sure can swim!

The most momentous event in his life occurred on March 29th, 1940 - the Hebridean Pilot Boat disaster where 9 brave men including his father Carleton lost their lives in service to their country. Thirty three children lost a father that night and the Cove was never to be the same…

Dad’s school studies were cut short, and at the age of 15 like some other boys in the Cove he had to leave high school to work to support his mother and brothers – childhood came to an abrupt end.

Chapter 2 – Married with Children

Dad joined the airforce and studied to be an air crew radio operator. He suffered an injury and illness and so he was not able to continue with his airforce career and subsequently joined CNR where he spend 43 years in logistics and scheduling. Having only taken 3 sick days in the entire time employed with CN - I guess you could say he was committed to making the trains run on time!

Dad met our soon to be mother - Noreen Murphy and not long thereafter began planning their life together - Dad started building our house on St. Pauls’ Ave with the assistance of our great Uncle Bill Brackett, and I can recall lending a hand myself, being lowered down into the hand dug well at the age of 5 to assist in removing some ‘critters’ that had gotten in to have a drink!

Dad taught all of his children the value of hard work, education, saving and generosity, by both example and advice. I think that Dad was one of the very earliest members of the Foster Parents Plan, where over the years he financially supported many African children less fortunate than us.

It probably was a bit unique for the times, but our father cooked all of the meals for the family dinner table. Along with a non-negotiable start time of 5:30pm and a non-discretionary menu – the only thing not determined was who would be the first to finish their meal and have the privilege of selecting the first piece of desert – unfortunately even that too appeared pre-determined with our sister Debbie claiming the honors most nights!

And for me, I had an almost insurmountable obstacle to overcome – I hated cooked carrots and those were the days when you had to eat everything on your plate. I can still hear Dad telling me to ‘eat every Carrot and Pea (Pee) on your plate’ - believe me many’s a night I was tempted to do so!

Dad was a man of few words, but when he spoke you listened as there was always an important message to be delivered. He was also very determined with most things he put his mind to - I am sure all of us got our stubborn streak from our father. I think the following story best illustrates that trait.

I can still recall on many occasions coming home and finding the phone book lying on the kitchen table open to C’s pages – Dad had been calling CBC to complain about the Tommy Hunter show which was broadcast every Friday night. Tommy was Canada’s ‘country music gentleman’ and Dads’ taste ran more to O’Danny Boy.

Well, Dads stubborn streak meant that he would keep calling the CBC to voice his displeasure with their Friday night programming, and Tommy kept singing, and we all know how that finally turned out – The Tommy Hunter show went on to be one of the longest running CBC shows of all time and Dad …well he had to wait ten years or more but he got his revenge - when cable TV arrived in the Cove he changed the channel!

Dad also made sure that we kids (and a few others on the St Paul’s – hi Mikie) got away on a summer camping trip every year. In the time before seatbelts and car seats, the most important seating plan was to see who would claim the space under the rear window of our 1965 Pontiac Parisian Fast back sedan. There was enough area under that glass for 3 kids to stretch out on and get a head start on the summer tan before arriving in PEI.

I can recall waiting in the car line up to board the ferry and seeing Dad running back from the washroom as they announced our line was to board the boat. What do I see but Dad with a long piece of toilet paper dragging ominously behind him, - now that was a paper trail that no one wanted to follow!

Unfortunately the worst memory of summer holidays was the ‘summer hair cut’ day when soon after the last day of school the four boys (Deb you don’t know how often we wished it were five girls in the family) experienced Larry’s self-taught barber skills – thank god for baseball caps!

Chapter 3 – Peace and Contentment

Mom and Dad had a good retirement together; gone were the hectic days of work, kids and house chores - in its place came winters in Florida, visiting their children and 9 grandchildren (Lauren, Amanda, Jonathan, Katelyn, Ryan, Matthew, Ted, Michael and Elizabeth and one great grandchild Easton).

Dad always an avid reader, expanded his collection of books and took a keen interest in gardening. Now it is fairly well known fact that the soil in Herring Cove runs about as deep as President Trump’s truth telling skills.

So it took focus, dedication, a greenhouse and thumb for Dad to always have the flowers blooming and the garden growing most of the year, until the time came for the annual winter sojourn to Largo, Florida – a good life indeed. Dad was blessed with good health, never having to spend any time in hospital, even right up to the end of his life.

After our mother Noreen passed, Dad moved into the Camp Hill Veterans home where he found himself directly across the hall from his long time CNR colleague – Jonny Biddle. He was very well taken care of by the staff and volunteers and had a steady flow of regular visitors.

All of his children and grandchildren spent time with him, but two people in particular stood out that I know our father would want acknowledged – our brother Eric was a consistent and dependable presence in our father’s life always putting Dad’s needs in front of his own, and our parent’s care giver Val Croft who acted like a delivery service, taxi company and restaurant guide all rolled into one.

Rest well now Dad - you are in the company of our mother, our dear brother Mark and countless friends and relatives and most importantly in the communion of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Lawrence Stephen Dempsey

09/10/18

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