James Macdonald is my great-grandfather; the father of my maternal grandmother. This obituary ran in the Halifax Chronical-Herald in June of 1950.
Well Known New Glasgow Man Passes
NEW GLASGOW, June 2 -- A highly regarded resident of New Glasgow, James W. MacDonald, passed away at his home, George Street, this morning. Mr. MacDonald was a valued employee of the C.N.R. for several years, serving in the stores department, Stellarton. He retired two months ago and for the past month had been confined to bed suffering from a heart ailment.
He served overseas with the original 85th Battalion, was severly wounded, and was invalidated home in 1918.
He was born in Westville 59 years ago, a son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Alex R. MacDonald.
Besides being prominent and well known in railway circles, Mr. Macdonald was a member of Keith Lodge A.F. and A.M., Stellarton. Bluenose Curling Club, New Glasgow, Normandy Branch, Canadian Legion and Trinity United Church.
Family survivors include his wife, the former Elsie Dewar, Charlottetown; two daughters, Mrs. Arthur Brown (Glen), Halifax; Mrs. Norman Howe (Helen), Vancouver; one brother, Major Alex MacDonald, New Glasgow, Pictou County Inspector for the Department of Fisheries, and a sister, Mrs. William Keveny (Beth), Yarmouth Port, Mass.
His eldest brother, Daniel L. and a sister, Marion, predeceased him some years ago.
The funeral service will be held at 2:30 o'clock Sunday from Trinity United Church, conducted by his pastor, Rev. Dr. C. R. MacLennan with members of the Mason Order in charge of the service. Interment will be in Lorne Street Cemetery.
Now, obituaries are lovely sources of all sorts of information, but they lack so much! What the obituary does not say is that my grandmother was heart-broken when he died. She always felt respected by him; he would never chastise his daughters in front of others but quiely speak to them privetly. Also James Macdonald was a gentle man, a well-liked man. And his love for curling seems understated (it's my understanding that he spent a lot of time at the club, although probably not always curling).
James was born in Westville, Pictou County, Nova Scotia on March 23, 1889. His father, Alex R. Macdonald, was a miner and had probably moved to the area for work. Westville was a mining town; in fact its name comes from its postition West of the Albion Mines. It was, of course, tough work and there were frequent accidents. When the alarm bell rang in town, those above ground would catch their breath until they knew who was hurt, or worse. James would have grown up knowing what that bell meant. His mother was Elizabeth Jane MacLeod and I'm afraid I don't know much about her. She had five children with Alex in Westville: Daniel L, James William, Marion, Alexander, and Elizabeth (Beth).
In the fall of 1915, James joined the war effort. After passing his medical examination in February of 1916, he was assigned to the 85th Battilion of the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force. The Nova Scotia Highlanders!
Jim Macdonald in uniform
And it's time to make dinner, so this will have to be continued!