Bill Johnstone
Jan. 30, 1949  – Jan 14, 2001

Dad’s obituary as it appeared in the Globe and Mail: globeandmail.com – Charles William Johnstone

Some of my memories of that week:

Visitation was held at a local funeral home for three evenings prior to the funeral. Even though it was a cold January, there were hundreds of people lined up across the parking lot and down the street waiting to pay their respects. Seeing this, Carla Newbould, wife of the President of Mount Allison University, inquired as to our plans for the funeral service. We had planned to have the funeral at the church we attended, Main Street Baptist Church, which could seat 300-500 people with overflow and closed circuit TV to other parts of the church. Mrs. Newbould began to make inquiries on our behalf, and President Ian Newbould offered use of the University’s 1,500 seat Convocation Hall.

The day of the funeral, most businesses in town were closed.

The members of the local Fire Department had shown up in their dress uniforms and were seated down near the front on one side of the family. At the end of the funeral service, something happened that I thought was odd.  The firefighters all left before any of the any of the family.

The funeral director began leading the family out of the auditorium. As my mother and I stood up to leave, he told us to turn around look up at those gathered to remember, and be proud. It was quite moving to turn and look at the full auditorium, with extra people standing at the back.

As we left the auditorium and made our way through the foyer, I saw why the firefighters had left. Most of them were now standing at attention in rows on either side of the exit. As we drove through town following the hearse, there was a police officer directing traffic at our town’s one stop light. He saluted as we drove by. Passing the Fire Department Station, I noticed firefighters saluting in the window of each of the bay doors.

The whole week was a celebration of dad’s life, his love of family, friends, church, and community. The kind words and deeds of others made that time much easier for us as a family.