HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1994-10-12, Page 5Lifestyle
THE HURON EXPOSITOR, Oster 1!, 111S4-6
Seaforth man served as clerk, radio instructor
BY TIM CUMMING
Expositor Editor
One of Seaforth's true gentle-
men is Ernie Williams, who
served as the town's Clerk -
Treasurer for 10 years from
March of 1965 to March of
1975, when he retired. '
Although he is well-known as
a former Seaforth Clerk he has
done everything from working in
a rubber factfrry and cotton mill
to working as a wireless (radio)
instructor.
"I've done many things in my
life time," he acknowledged in
an interview at his James Street
home. The 84 -year-old former
radio instructor joked that "I
haven't got enough education to
worry about whether I can do
anything or not."
Ernie is an immigration suc-
cess story, having been born in
Birmingham, England and
coming to Canada when he was
three -years -old. He came to the
port of Montreal and then the
town of Welland with his mother
and two sisters.
As with many immigrant fam-
ilies the arrival was followed
with a realization that the streets
of Canada were not paved with
gold, after all.
Looking back at those humble
beginnings Ernie marvels at how
his mother, a widow with three
children, was able to make a life
for the family in Canada.
"I've often wondered, how on
earth did she ever do it?" he
said. "There was no safety net at
all."
He attended school in Welland
until the age of 14 when he
proceeded to work in a rubber
factory and two cotton mills.
"That wasn't unusual in those
days," he notes. "Not everybody
went to high school in those
days, very few of the ordinary
people went to university...if you
had a university education you
were almost guaranteed a good
life from them on."
Ernie married Pearl Schram in
1935. He had courted her since
1928, when he was 18 years old.
(She passed away in July of
1989).
During the Depression, Ernie
spent 212 years without a regular
job, working odd jobs to make
PLE
YOU KNOW'
ends meet. Finally, he got a job
working at a cotton mill until he
joined the armed forces.
Although short on formal
education Ernie had received his
Amateur Radio Operator's Certi-
ficate in 1938. In 1940, at the
age of 30, he joined the air
force. The government at that
time was inviting skilled radio
operators to join but Ernie was
unsure if he would be accepted
at that age...but he was.
During the war he spent eight
months training in Montreal and
went on to the Number 2 Wire-
less School in Calgary as an
instructor.
Ernie would later take an 18 -
week radar conversion course at
the Clinton base (now Vanastra)
in October of 1944. It wasn't
until about 1944 that the public
first found out about radar which
had been a top-secret undertak-
ing.
Ernie later went to Gander,
Newfoundland where, as a Flight
Sergeant, he was su )posed to
help operate a top -sec, et aircraft
identification unit. He ended up
in charge of a communications
site handling the aircraft and
ships in the North Atlantic for
five months.
He enjoyed his work at the
transmitter site so much he
actually declined to take week-
ends off. For fun, he would take
a correspondence course of the
side.
Ernie's career in the services
spanned about 23 years (includ-
ing wartime service) and it
would take him to Winnipeg, the
school at Clinton, the station at
Centralia, Station Rockcliffe in
Ottawa and the Canadian Arma-
ment Research and Development
establishment north of Quebec
City.
He worked on one of the
earliest air-to-air guided missile
concepts called the `Velvet
Glove.'
In 1948 Ernie worked with
some of the earliest television
technology in Canada with a
camera mounted on an aircraft,
TIM CUMMING piano
FAMILY CELEBRATION - Attending graduation ceremonies with
her grand -daughter Cheri Taylor at Seaforth District High School
was Jessie Boyd, of Seaforth, who recently celebrated her 90th
birthday.
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Ernie Williams has had many
occupations in his life.
transmitting pictures down to
receivers on the ground.
He wrote instructors' manuals
in everyday language that "even
the poorest of instructors would
have no difficulty understand-
ing."
For 11 years he was a Warrant
Officer, Class One. He was
approaching his 55th birthday
(retirement age in the air force)
in late 1964 and so he left the
service.
Sitting around was not to
Ernie's liking, and he soon went
to work at Gen. Steelwares, a
household appliance company in
London, as a technical writer.
Ernie had moved to Seaforth in
July of 1956 and eventually
became a town councillor. He
resigned from the council to
apply for the clerk's position.
It's obvious from talking with
Ernie that he is very content
looking back on his working
years.
"My life has been very inter-
esting for me," he said. "I found
the years I spent as town Clerk
were very interesting and par-
ticularly the years 1 spent in the
Air Force...I wouldn't have
missed them for anything."
Throughout his life, Ernie has
always been learning. He taught
himself algebra and trigonometry
and differential calculus (but he
is quick to note he didn't learn
integral calculus).
Today, his son Gary carries on
the interest in municipal admin-
istration as a member of London
city council. The former Seaforth
Clerk also has a daughter,
Arlene, who lives with her hus-
band Ken McCowan on a Stan-
ley Township farm.
"I'm very proud of my fam-
ily," said Ernie.
•Ernie Williams is one of
Seaforth's outstanding resi-
dents. If you have a suggestion
for a feature on one of
Seaforth's many other citizens
leading up to Homecoming '95,
please drop us a line. The
reunion celebration takes place
from August 3-6, 1995.
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