The Rural Voice, 1994-12, Page 62People
Perth County farmer Carl McNeill did his bit
to fight the national deficit
Everybody talks about the problem
of the deficit but few people ever do
anything but complain. Carl McNeill, a
Fullarton resident, and retired farmer,
did something.
McNeill, who reached his goal of
living 'til age 100 on January 15 of this
year, died just over a month later in a
nursing home.
"Carl lived 'way below the poverty
line all his life," said his friend and
executor Walter MacDougall. "He did
not have much money. He virtually had
no money all his life."
Yet the bachelor was concerned
about the growing problem of the
national debt. A reader of several
weekly and daily newspapers, he was
concerned when he heard that every
Canadian would have to pay $18,000
to pay off the national debt. He decided
in his will to do his part, and then
some. In late October MacDougald
travelled to Ottawa to present a cheque
for $37,634.61 to Paul Martin,
Canadian Minister of Finance — his
share of the debt plus one other
person's. "This is how he has chosen to
voice his objections (to government
Carl McNeill:
Giving more than he got
overspending) and to pay his debt,"
MacDougald said.
Besides paying his share of the
debt, McNeill also wanted to make a
donation to University Hospital in
London which looked after him when
he began having heart problems and
had a pace maker installed. He left
$119,000 to the hospital.
All the proceeds came from the
sale of his Fullarton township farm
which he had taken over from his
father. He was an active man who
grew white beans in his back yard
until he was 97, and worked the land
himself until he was in his early 90s
when someone else took over the
heavy work. He walked to
Thamesview United Church every
Sunday.
McNeill spent many Christmases
with Walter and his wife Miriam.
Beginning in 1970, MacDougald
began to help McNeill file his
income tax and later was appointed
executor of his estate. MacDougald
said he missed his old friend. "He
comes to mind a number of times,
especially when I have a question."0
From small beginning to international giant
As a young man working in a
Seaforth flax processing plant, Harvey
Beaty suffered the kind of accident
that would have stopped many people
in their tracks. His injury left him a
paraplegic for the rest of his 78 years.
But Beaty, who died October 21,
turned his disability to an advantage,
concentrating on thinking things
through and working with other
people. He went from a small feed
store in London's Covent Garden
Market to buying a farm at
Thamesville which became Cold
Spring Farm, a fully -integrated
operation with annual sales of more
than $100 million.
The home farm is still the
headquarters for the huge operation
which also has branches in the U.S.
Cold Spring Farm focuses on
turkey and pork production from its
own land-based crop production
through feed milling to land
development and construction,
breeding and commercial growing and
processing of the birds and animals.
Beaty also founded Cold Spring Agri -
Service Ltd. which provides crop
requirements and elevator services to
the company's farms and the general
farm community.
"His real love was agricultural
production, creating things and making
them work," said Tom Cowan, Cold
Spring executive vice-president. "He
very strongly believed in integration. I
believe he had a vision for creating an
agricultural production unit that would
be on a world-wide basis."
He is survived by his wife and three
children.0
Bruce Saunders
returns to OMMB
Bruce Saunders was re-elected to
the Ontario Milk Marketing Board in
an election held November 8.
Saunders has served Region 11,
Bruce, Grey and Huron counties,
since 1987. With his wife Marg, he
operates a 400 -acre farm near
Holland Centre where they milk a
herd of 85 Holsteins. They have three
children.
He is also a member of Gay Lea
Co-operative and has been active in
the local milk committee, 4-H and
Junior Farmers. His current OMMB
term will be four years.
There are 12 members of the Milk
Marketing Board elected by milk
producers. The Ontario Ministry of
Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs
appoints one member.0