George Ernest Hubbard

He was very proud of his heritage of being born in the East End of London, a Cockney at heart. When war broke out he tried to enlist at the age of 13, he was big for his age then. Determined to do his bit George became part of the ARP as a fire watcher during the blitz until he finally attained the age to join up. His wartime service was with the Special Commandos and on June 6, 1944 he followed Lord Lovet and his piper onto Sword Beach and was wounded. He wrote home telling his mum he was in hospital because he had a cold! George didn't talk about his wartime experiences other than when asked if he wanted to go back on any of the special D-day anniversaries his response was always the same "no been there once don't need to go again".

In 1971 he became the first initiate in a new Masonic Lodge, Latton Priory, in the UK. He served as Master and also received the honour of being a Grand Officer.

He and Kathleen travelled extensively in Europe on bus tours which they enjoyed. He loved his garden and spent many hours working there. George retired from his career as a plumber/heating engineer in 1989. Moving to Calgary in 1992 he joined the British Pensioners Club and became a crowd extra in the movie "Cool Runnings". In 2002 he moved to Vancouver Island where he continued to enjoy his hobby of gardening. In 2009 he returned to Calgary.

Family was important to him and he loved children. He spent many hours making up stories for his grandchildren when they were young and was looking forward to the birth of his first great grandchild.