Though my soul may set in darkness,
It will rise in wondrous light;
I have loved the stars too fondly
To be fearful of the night.

Bernard died peacefully in hospital on August 3, 2023, aged 90, after a brief illness.
Dearly loved husband of the late Brenda, much loved and loving father of Kathleen (Simon), Diane (Charles), and Martin (Sara), and devoted grandpa of Cora, Matthew, Keira, Anna, and Isla.

Gone to visit the undiscovered country from which no traveller returns.

Friends and family may call at the Turner & Porter Neweduk-Erin Mills Chapel, 1981 Dundas St. West, Mississauga on Wednesday 23rd August from 6:00 to 8:30 p.m.

Service and committal on Thursday, August 24th at 3:30 p.m. Reception to follow.

Donations in memory if desired may be made to the Canadian Diabetes Association or the Kidney Foundation of Canada.
____________________

Our Dad Bernard, Bernie to some, was born on October 2, 1932 to Alice Smith and Joseph Pendlebury, the eldest of four children. His beloved sister Rita passed away three years ago; his younger brother Joseph lives today in Westhoughton, Lancashire. His youngest sister Margaret died an infant in 1939. The family lived in Radcliffe, an industrial town in northwest England. His father was an iron moulder and his mother was a seamstress who took in laundry to make ends meet. Life for the family was hard … as it was for most.

Dad made several life-long friends growing up in Radcliffe. His best friend his entire life – truly, they were like brothers – was also named Bernard. The two Bernards were born in the same hospital ten days apart and grew up together in Radcliffe. Knowing our “uncle” Bernard I can imagine the mischief they got up to.

In 1943, at the age of 11, our Dad’s life took an unexpected turn. Many children took the “eleven plus exam” to determine their fate in adolescence: further schooling of some description or a more direct path to full-time work. Dad did very well on the exam and earned a scholarship to attend De La Salle Grammar School, a semi-private school in Manchester known for academic excellence and strict discipline. There he studied alongside the sons of professionals and foreign diplomats. Only one boy in 20 came from a working-class background like our Dad.

At 18, our Dad hoped to attend university but he could only afford to study part-time while working a full-time job. He eventually graduated in 1954 with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of London with second class honours.

Young men in post-war Britain were required to complete two years of military service. Although his degree exempted him, Dad still fulfilled his obligation. In 1955 he was conscripted into the Royal Air Force as a technician working on aircraft radar equipment and was stationed in northern Germany. He told me he got off easy: our “uncle” Bernard was sent to Egypt at the time of the Suez crisis.

After demob in 1957, our Dad joined Metropolitan-Vickers, a prominent engineering company with a large facility at Trafford Park in Manchester. He completed his apprenticeship in 1959 and I expect his support for Manchester United F.C. began during this period. Between 1959 and 1964 he taught part-time at the Royal Technical College, Salford.

During the 1950s, our Dad was a member of the St. Mary’s A.F.C. in Radcliffe with whom he won several cups and league titles. He enjoyed fixing cars and motorcycles with his brother Joseph, and hiking, especially in the Lake District where he was a member of a climbing club in Wasdale. On some weekends he would make the 180-mile round trip journey, either by cycling and hitching a lift or with his uncle Ronnie in his Morris Minor car, which he illegally ran on tractor oil because petrol was rationed.

Our Mum and Dad met at a dance at Bolton Town Hall in 1959 and married in June 1963. They made a good life for themselves but conditions in the UK in the 1960s were difficult. By 1967 they made the courageous decision to emigrate to Canada, a country where they knew no one and next to nothing about. They sacrificed so much for their future family.

Our Dad arrived in Toronto in September 1967 – the Leafs had recently won the Cup. Our Mum arrived a few months later and they soon started a family, welcoming Kathleen into the world in December 1968, Diane in January 1970 and Martin in July 1973. They always lived in Mississauga, first in an apartment and then in a house in which they lived for the rest of their lives. They returned to England every summer to connect with family and friends, a tradition that profoundly influenced their children.

Dad worked the remainder of his career at Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (AECL) where he made several good friends, chiefly their sponsors in Canada, Elva and Jack Morcom. He started at AECL working on the uranium fuel handling systems for Douglas Point, Pickering A and B and several international installations of CANDU reactors. He went on to become a supervisor and then a manager of several groups. Later in his career he served on a dozen U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission inspection teams auditing nuclear reactors across the US. He retired from AECL in 1994.

In retirement he loved to go for long walks with our Mum, sometimes stopping halfway for a pint or a plate of fish and chips. They continued their annual tradition of visiting family and friends in England and revisited many of their favourite places. Dad was an avid follower of English and European soccer leagues, a frequent subject of our chats.

In his later years he was a devoted grandpa to Cora, Matthew, Keira, Anna and Isla. He took great interest and amusement in watching his grandkids play and grow. His eyes would light up when he saw them and he marvelled at how much they take in at so young an age. He once mused with an old friend whether kids today are smarter than when they were young.

Our beloved Mum died suddenly in December 2013 at the age of 79. It was a tremendous shock to our Dad who never expected to be a widower. But, with his memories to sustain him he carried on and adjusted to life on his own after more than 50 years of marriage. With the help of his family and kind and gracious neighbours he managed to live in his home until a few weeks before he died at the age of 90.

I marvel at the incredible changes he saw during his life. Born during the great depression, he grew up during World War II and the rationing that followed, earned a university degree, endured two years in the military, began his career in engineering, met and married his wife of 50 years, emigrated to Canada when the world was a much bigger place, helped to raise three children and contributed to the design and operation of one of the world’s safest nuclear reactors.

Our Dad had a wonderful sense of humour. He enjoyed recounting funny stories and found humour in everyday things. I have fond memories of us watching British comedies together. He had a lifelong love of music, reading and learning about many things, especially history, science and nature – interests he shared with our Mum.

Dad was a great believer in education, both through formal schooling and self-discovery. He believed greatly in the value of higher education, not chiefly for the knowledge gained but for broadening the mind and meeting and exchanging ideas with people with different ways of thinking. He expected us all to attend university and to pay for it ourselves so that we understood its value. He was, though, a patient and dedicated teacher. For example, he helped Kathleen during middle school for hours each evening with math concepts with which she was struggling.

He liked to pepper our family vacations with visits to sites of historical, natural or scientific significance: a castle in England, a steam engine museum, the Wright Brothers memorial in North Carolina, the Jodrell Bank telescope near Birmingham, the lift lock in Peterborough on the Trent-Severn Waterway – there were many others. I’m sure his example inspired all three of his children to pursue science-based careers.

Dad also insisted on taking us on every boat tour on the Great Lakes he could find: the 1,000 islands, the 30,000 islands, Flower Pot Island, the Trent-Severn and Mackinaw Island.

Dad was fiercely independent, believed in self-reliance and had a strong sense of duty and fairness. He was also a kind and gentle man who was calm, patient, generous and considerate of others. Our Mum and Dad provided comfort and advice to her cousin Victor and his family when they emigrated to Canada in the 1970s, just as Elva and Jack Morcom had done for them.

In closing, on behalf of my sisters Kathleen and Diane, we offer our family’s heartfelt thanks to Dr. Webster for conducting a memorable service. He has graciously conducted services for both our Mum and Dad.

Thank you to our families, both immediate and extended, for their enduring love and support. Thank you to friends and colleagues for their support and kindness.

We are grateful to the staff at Credit Valley Hospital for making our Dad’s last days as comfortable as possible. Finally, thank you to the staff at Turner and Porter for their valued assistance during this difficult time.

Our Dad claimed he reached the age of reason at 25 when he became aware of the beauty of the English language, particularly the works of William Shakespeare. Some of my favourite memories of my Dad in later years were our annual trips to Stratford to take in a play.

So, I leave you with a quotation from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, made between two comrades who are to part forever:

“If we do meet again, why, we shall smile; if not, why, then this parting was well made.”