Ontario

Mrs. Mary Casey of Ottawa, Ontario, was the 1953 National Memorial (Silver) Cross Mother. During the national Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa on November 11, 1953, she laid a wreath at the base of the National War Memorial on behalf of all mothers who have lost a child in military service to Canada.

On July 14, 1942, her son, Warrant Officer Class II Raymond Francis Casey, was killed while serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force.

On March 31, 1945, a second son, Flying Officer John Joseph Casey, was killed while serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Mrs. Margaret Heeney of Ottawa, Ontario, was the 1954 National Memorial (Silver) Cross Mother. During the national Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa on November 11, 1954, she laid a wreath at the base of the National War Memorial on behalf of all mothers who have lost a child in military service to Canada.

On December 29, 1941, her son, Corporal Cecil George Heeney, was killed in the line of duty while serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force.

On August 9, 1943, her second son, Flying Officer Robert Tilton Heeney, was killed in the line of duty while serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Mrs. Gertrude Edna Reynolds of Chatham, Ontario, was the 1956 National Memorial (Silver) Cross Mother. During the national Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa on November 11, 1956 she laid a wreath at the base of the National War Memorial on behalf of all mothers who have lost a child in military service to Canada.

On January 16, 1943, her son, Flying Officer Hugh Gordon Reynolds, was killed in a flying accident while on duty serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force.

On January 31, 1943, a second son, Warrant Officer Class II Arthur Mac Reynolds, was killed in action while serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force.

On April 15, 1944, a third son, Pilot Officer Douglas Glen Reynolds, was killed in action while serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Mrs. Helen Forestell of Coniston, Ontario, was the 1958 National Memorial (Silver) Cross Mother. During the national Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa on November 11, 1958, she laid a wreath at the base of the National War Memorial on behalf of all mothers who have lost a child in military service to Canada.

On April 5, 1943, her son, Warrant Officer Class II Daniel Arthur Forestell, was killed while on duty serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force.

On March 20, 1944, a second son, Warrant Officer Class II Thomas Bernard Forestell, was killed during a navigation exercise in Canada while serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force.

On August 8, 1944, a third son, Flying Officer Robert Samuel Forestell, was killed in action also while serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Mrs. Bernadette Rivait of Windsor, Ontario, was the 1964 National Memorial (Silver) Cross Mother. During the national Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa on November 11, 1964, she laid a wreath at the base of the National War Memorial on behalf of all mothers who have lost a child in military service to Canada.

On August 19, 1942, sons, Private Leon Maxime Rivait and Private Alphonse Cecil Rivait were killed in action during the battle of Dieppe while serving with the Essex Scottish Regiment.

On November 23, 1944, another of her sons, Private Lawrence Rivait was also killed in action while serving with the Essex Scottish Regiment.

Two other sons of Mrs. Rivait, Raymond and Edward, also served in the Second World War. Raymond was taken prisoner for three years. When Edward enlisted shortly after Lawrence was killed, Mrs. and Mr. Rivait drew up a petition to get him out of the service and while they succeeded in having him discharged, he rejoined a month later.

At the time of the National Remembrance ceremony in 1964, she expressed that she held the memory of her sons dear and found some consolation in her five married sons, five married daughters, 58 grandchildren and nine great grandchildren.

Mrs. Rivait enjoyed playing bingo while her husband was an avid gardener. Two of their grandchildren also joined the military; Raymond in the air force and Albert in the navy.

Mrs. Nora Wagner of Teeterville, Ontario, was the 1965 National Memorial (Silver) Cross Mother. During the national Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa on November 11, 1965, she laid a wreath at the base of the National War Memorial on behalf of all mothers who have lost a child in military service to Canada.

On July 18, 1944, her son, Private Ivan Samuel Wagner, was killed while on duty with the Royal Regiment of Canada.

On August 12, 1944, a second son, Corporal Harry Everett Wagner, died of wounds while serving with the Royal Regiment of Canada.

On January 31, 1945, a third son, Private Bruce Howard Wagner, was killed in action while serving with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada.

Three sons. All dead in barely six months. Survived by two sisters, Mary and Nora, and one brother, Jack who was not able to join the forces due to health reasons.

Mrs. Wagner, née Boswell, was born in 1890. She married Bruce Wagner and was widowed in 1961. She was a dignified and resolute woman. Even after the loss of her three sons she never complained about anyone or anything. She carried on for them.

One of her first acts as the National Memorial (Silver) Cross Mother in 1965 was to visit the Memorial Chamber in the Peace Tower, in Ottawa. Later that afternoon, she and her daughter were guests of the Ottawa branch of the Silver Cross Mothers. Mrs. Wagner died in 1980.

Mrs. Josephine Stephens, formerly Colville, of Toronto, Ontario, was the 1966 National Memorial (Silver) Cross Mother. During the national Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa on November 11, 1966, she laid a wreath at the base of the National War Memorial on behalf of all mothers who have lost a child in military service to Canada.

On May 6, 1942, her son, Flight Sergeant William Freeborne Colville, was killed in an airplane crash in Newfoundland while serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force.

On March 16, 1944, a second son, Flying Officer Alexander Colborne Colville, went missing while serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force in a bombing raid.

On August 18, 1944, a third son, Flying Officer John Spencer Colville, was killed flying a typhoon fighter-bomber in France while serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Every Sunday, Mrs. Stephens (Colville) would make a big chicken dinner for her family and up to five servicemen, temporarily posted in her area. In the years following the war, she received hundreds of letters of gratitude from men who had survived and whom she had welcomed into her home. She remarried in 1949 to George Stephens.

Mrs. Elsie Adams of St. Catharines, Ontario, was the 1967 National Memorial (Silver) Cross Mother. During the national Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa on November 11, 1967, she laid a wreath at the base of the National War Memorial on behalf of all mothers who have lost a child in military service to Canada.

On August 15, 1944, her son, Lieutenant William George Adams, was killed in Normandy while serving with the Lincoln and Welland Regiment.

On September 27, 1944, a second son, Sergeant Allan Frederick Adams, also serving with the Lincoln and Welland Regiment, was killed near the Scheldt Estuary.

Mrs. Adams married William Charles Adams. They lived in St. Catharines, Ontario and had seven sons, William, Allan, Charles, Roy, Ernst, Norman and Colin—all of whom enlisted. Charles, Roy, Allan and William Adams served with the Lincoln and Welland Regiment and Ernst with the Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. The youngest of the seven brothers, Staff Sergeant Colin Adams went to Germany with the dental corps.

The family was very musical. Three of the children served as bandsmen in the army while Mr. Adams was the bandmaster with the 1^st infantry battalion in France during the First World War.

Mrs. Adams’ son, Captain Charles Adams, was the director of music for the Canadian guards at Petawawa and responsible for music at the National Remembrance ceremony. On November 11, 1967 when his mother laid the memorial, he led the band.

Mrs. Alta Wilkinson from Ottawa, Ontario, was the 1975 National Memorial (Silver) Cross Mother. During the national Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa on November 11, 1975, she laid a wreath at the base of the National War Memorial on behalf of all mothers who have lost a child in military service to Canada.

On July 18, 1944, her son, Private Arthur Campbell Wilkinson, was killed while on duty near River Orne, France. He was 24 years old and serving with The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada.

Mrs. Wilkinson, née Campbell, was born on March 30, 1898 in New Richmond, Quebec. She married Curt Lorne Wilkinson and together they raised five children, including Arthur, Dorothy, Richard and David.

She published two books, Ottawa to Caen: Letters from Arthur Campbell Wilkinson, a collection of letters received from her son while serving overseas and Remembrance Association, Silver Cross Women of Canada. Mrs. Wilkinson was the National President of the Silver Cross Women of Canada. She faithfully attended the national Remembrance Day ceremony from 1975 through 1982; missing only one to attend a funeral.

Mrs. Wilkinson died in September of 1990.

Mrs. Mary Boutilier, née Labelle, of Niagara Falls, Ontario, was the 1977 National Memorial (Silver) Cross Mother. During the national Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa on November 11, 1977, she laid a wreath at the base of the National War Memorial on behalf of all mothers who have lost a child in military service to Canada.

On August 29, 1944, her son, Private Douglas Albert Henry Boutilier, was killed while serving with the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry.

On September 10, 1944, a second son, Corporal William Charles Boutilier , was killed while serving with the Lincoln and Welland Regiment.

Mrs. Boutilier was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia on May 2, 1900. On August 14, 1917 she maried John James Boutilier and she remained in Halifax until 1923 when he returned from the First World War. She lived through the Halifax Explosion. In 1923, they moved to Niagara Falls, Ontario with their fours sons Gordon, Douglas, William and Fred. In Niagra Falls they has Jackie (died as infant), Grace, Shirley, Ken and Harry.

When the Second World War started her husband John enlisted. He was a Sergeant-major. In 1939, Gordon, Douglas and William enlisted with Fred following shortly after. They left their mom a note saying they wre signing up.

Mary was at home raising five children and involved in the Army Service Patrol, a home front war effort. She started the Ladies Auxillary at Legion branches 479 and 51, as well as Silver Cross mothers in the Niagara region. Two of her great grandsons joined the military.