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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2010-04-15, Page 20PAGE 20. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 15, 2010. Business Directory D & J CONSTRUCTION Jim McDonald 519-887-9607 - COMPLETE MECHANICAL SERVICE - COMPUTERIZED TUNE-UPS - TIRES - BRAKES MUFFLERS - VEHICLE INSPECTION STATION DAN'S AUTO REPAIR Owned and Operated by Dan & Heather Snell RR 3, Blyth, Ont. N0M 1H0 (on the Westfield Rd.) DAN SNELL, Automotive Technician 519-523-4356 ELLIOTT NIXON INSURANCE BROKERS INC. BLYTH, ON N0M 1H0 519-523-4481 MEMBER OF HURON INSURANCE MANAGERS GROUP 5 Generations Since 1910 R. John Elliott Res. 519-523-4323 J. Richard Elliott Res. 519-523-9725 Randy Nixon Res. 519-523-4989 VANDRIEL Excavating Inc. Simon VanDriel 519-482-3783 We Dig For You Call us for... Excavators, Bobcats, Dozers, Trucking, etc. COMPLETE EXCAVATING CONTRACTOR Derrick VanDriel 519-522-0609 • Gravel • Sand • Stone We have solutions for your storage needs. Great for home, office & business. Ask for Ken at LAKESIDE 519-524-1740 Storage Solutions In stock used Pallet Racking, used decking steel & 4'x8' T&G fir plywood. Drop by and see our great selection of books. They make great gift ideas for any age! The Citizen 404 Queen St., Blyth 519-523-4792 541 Turnberry St., Brussels 519-887-9114 INSTANT FAX AS FAST AS A PHONE Send your paperwork by FAX instantly! eg. statements, contracts, auction ads, favourite recipes, obituaries, messages... The Citizen has a FAX machine in our Blyth office that lets you contact any other FAX machine in the world ... instantly. Our FAX number is also your number so if you want to be reached instantly — we will receive your messages as well. The Citizen Call Us Today For Details 519-523-4792 or 519-887-9114 Fax: 519-523-9140 “Locally owned & operated” P.O. Box 69 470 Turnberry Street Brussels, ON N0G 1H0 (519) 887-6100 Fax: (519) 887-6109 e-mail:dsholdice@himginsurance.com See histories and historic photographs on the Huron History section of our website www.northhuron.on.ca PAUL COOK ELECTRIC Home, Farm & Commercial Wiring BELGRAVE 519-357-1537 SUNSHINE COUNTRY CONSULTING ACCOUNTING & INCOME TAX SERVICES Ralph Watson 810 Turnberry St., Brussels, ON N0G 1H0 Bus.: 519-887-6011 sunctry@ezlink.ca ObituariesRespected Brussels businessman remembered fondly The area lost a true treasure and one of Brussels’ most respected businessmen, Max Oldfield, who passed away on April 1 in Wingham. Oldfield, founder of Oldfield Hardware, now Oldfield True Value Hardware and The Source, exemplified Huron County. He was a devoted family man, a hard worker and he liked to have a good time. Oldfield was in his 89th year. He was born in Corbetton, Ontario on Aug. 1, 1921. “You wouldn’t meet a kinder man,” said Oldfield’s son, Jim. Jim said that while his father understood business and people exceptionally well, he knew the customer was important and that they were the key to a good business. “It didn’t matter who you were, he looked after everyone,” Jim said. “He loved being in the shop and talking to people. He loved that an awful lot.” Jim said that much of what he has learned throughout his life can be traced back to his father and his teachings, even when he was young and working with him in the store over the summer. “When I would get short with people at times, he would take me aside and say, ‘you can’t do that, if they’re good enough to come in here, we need to treat them with respect,’” Jim said. “But he was just good to everybody and he was great to work with.” Nora Stephenson agreed after working with Oldfield for 23 years. “Max asked me to come and work for him because he knew I was a hard worker,” she said. “Max and I got along well. He was fair. He expected you to work hard and he expected you to be on time, but if you ever needed a day off, that was no problem.” Oldfield joined the Royal Canadian Air Force and served as a wireless operator in Newfoundland until he returned to Brussels and applied those skills to his hardware store. Oldfield opened his shop in 1947 after returning from the Air Force in the Second World War. He married Jeanne Madill a year later, a teacher at Brussels Public School. Oldfield, who juggled the hardware business with farming, had the distinction of being the first person to bring the television to the village of Brussels. By all accounts, Oldfield was an extremely hard worker, staying at the hardware store well into his 80s, but it was for his love of interaction that he stayed at the shop, his son said. “He said he never wanted to retire because he knew too many people who retired and then died the next day,” Jim said. “He loved the people at the store and he was really good to them.” Jim also said that Max was a terrific father, who always made time for his family, despite the large amount of time he had dedicated to the store, his farm and the several service clubs he was a member of, including the Brussels Lions, the Brussels Masons and the Brussels Legion. “He couldn’t do enough for us. He was always good to my sister [Anne] and me,” Jim said. “He would always make time for us.” Jim said that his father was a great fan of music and made sure that both of his children had piano lessons and that they continued on in school, always stressing the importance of an education. “Originally he wanted to be a veterinarian, but after the war, it just didn’t work out,” Jim said. “He always wanted us to have the things that he didn’t, that’s why piano lessons and schooling were always so important.” Anne is now a doctor and Jim has a degree in civil engineering technology, but came back to Brussels to help his father with the store when he was considering selling it. In addition to his involvement with several service clubs in Brussels, Oldfield was also on the regional hardware board and he was active with the Huron County Cattlemen as well. Jim said that his parents travelled all over the world with the cattlemen. After his wife died in 1995, Max found comfort in his farm, Jim said. He bought a new lawnmower and loved being on the property. “When dad couldn’t be on his own, we moved into the farm for about a year and he loved the orchard up there,” Jim said. “He always told me to make sure to keep the orchard growing. It’s so pretty this time of year with the blossoms coming out on the trees and he just loved it.” Another thing Max did in his spare time was dance. Jim said he loved to dance. He had taken ballroom dancing courses and attended barn dances on several occasions, even in his much later years. “This would have been last summer and I was outside of the farm with some friends and he drove up with the car and he said he was going to Durham for a barn dance,” Jim said. “Well it couldn’t have been any earlier than two or three in the morning until he got home.” By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen North St. West, Wingham Mac & Donna Anderson 519-357-1910 A cemetery is a history of people, a perpetual record of yesterday and a sanctuary of peace and quiet today. A cemetery exists because every life is worth loving and remembering - always Distinctive Memorials of Lasting Satisfaction BOX 158 WINGHAM ONT NOG 2W0 Max Oldfield Continued on page 21