Ontario

Mrs. Rose Alice Louise Bernst from Thunder Bay, Ontario, was selected 1985 National Memorial (Silver) Cross Mother. During the national Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa on November 11, 1985, 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, 1941, her son, Private Clarence Robert Bernst, died from injuries sustained while serving with the Lake Superior Regiment (Motor).

On November 24, 1944, a second son, Able Seaman Ronald William Bernst, was killed at sea while on duty with the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve.

Mrs. Bernst was born in London England on April 17, 1898. She immigrated to Canada as a child where she eventually met and married Edward Emil Bernst in Fort William, Ontario (now Thunder Bay). She and Edward moved to Nokomis, Saskatchewan in 1916 and had eight children together: seven boys and one girl. They eventually returned to Fort William in 1935 when the drought and the depression forced them to abandon their farm.

Mrs. Bernst has the distinction of having every male member of her immediate family serve in the Canadian forces. Her husband Edward served with the Forestry Corps in Scotland from 1942-45. Her son Clarence served with the Lake Superior Motor regiment. Charles served with the Lake Superior Motor regiment; Albert served with the British Columbia Dragoons; Harry with the Princess Patricia Light Infantry; Allan with the Thunder Bay Service Corps in Korea from 1954-57; and Earl served with the Royal Canadian Navy sailing on a Corvette in the North Atlantic from 1942-45.

Mrs. Mabel Bateman of Richmond Hill, Ontario, was the 1986 National Memorial (Silver) Cross Mother. During the national Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa on November 11, 1986, 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 25, 1944, her son, Private Russell Ernest Bateman, was killed while on duty with the Toronto Scottish Regiment.

Mrs. Elsie May Stewart Pearce from Trenton, Ontario, was the 1990 National Memorial (Silver) Cross Mother. During the national Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa on November 11, 1990, 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 12, 1942, a son, Flying Officer Stewart William Pearce, was killed while serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force when his spitfire went down while he was piloting it over the English Channel.

On July 27, 1944, a second son, Flight Sergeant Jack Gordon Pearce, was killed in a Lancaster over France while serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Mrs. Pearce was born in Toronto on April 20, 1898 and raised in the Rosedale area. She met William James Pearce of Scilly Isles off Wales, England and they married on October 17, 1916. Mrs. and Mr. Pearce had three children--Stewart, Jack and Ruth.

To help pay the mortgage, the Pearces rented rooms in their home to female pensioners. Mrs. Pearce would make and leave sandwiches for the homeless on her back step and donate worn shoes to the poor. She was a wonderful cook known for her pies and tarts and healthy meals of meat, potatoes and vegetables. When Bill worked night shifts for the Toronto Transit Corporation, she would send him to work with meatloaf sandwiches. Mrs. Pearce wasted nothing and enjoyed drinking cups of Red Rose tea from a pretty teapot. She admired the Royal family; especially the Queen Mother.

Elsie passed away at 95 years of age on Oct 22, 1993. She is buried in Toronto beside her beloved husband William James Pearce.

At the age of 74, Mrs. Loyola Helen Park of London, Ontario, was the 1999 National Memorial (Silver) Cross Mother, marking the first mother of a slain peacekeeper to be selected for the role. During the national Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa on November 11, 1999, she laid a wreath in front of the Parliament buildings on behalf of all mothers who have lost a child in military service to Canada. The ceremony was relocated from the National War Memorial which was undergoing an extensive renovation.

On August 9, 1974, her son, Corporal Michael William Simpson, was killed when the plane he was travelling on, United Nations Flight 51, was shot down by a missile en route from Cairo to Lebanon.

Mrs. Park (nee Harrington), was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, the daughter of a First World War Veteran, Frederick Daniel Harrington, and Helen (Tutty) Harrington. Her mother died when she was 11 months of age, leaving her to be raised by her paternal grandparents.

Mrs. Park attended school in Ontario and became a postal clerk in 1942. She joined the Canadian Women’s Army Corps in 1945, just a few months before V-E Day. Following duties in Kitchener and Ottawa, Corporal Harrington (Mrs. Park) was discharged in 1946. She was married the same year to William (Bill) James Simpson of Toronto, a D-Day Veteran who served in France, Belgium and Normandy with the Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada. Together they raised four children–Jack, Michael, Janice and Theresa.

Mr. Simpson joined the Toronto Fire Department in 1947. The family settled in Scarborough in 1955. Mrs. Park worked in the City Clerk’s office. Unfortunately, in 1966, Mr. Simpson succumbed to a heart attack suffered in the line of duty. Mrs. Park later earned two college diplomas. She worked in nursing and social services until her retirement in 1983.

Mrs. Park remarried in 1983 to Robert Park, a Second World War Veteran and retired Toronto firefighter, moving to London, Ontario, a short time later. Mr. Park died in 2005.

Mrs. Loyola Helen Park was awarded the 1939-45 War Medal after the war and the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002. She celebrated her 89^th birthday at her home in Windsor, Ontario, in 2014.

Mrs. Claire Léger of Stittsville, Ontario, was the 2005 National Memorial (Silver) Cross Mother. During the national Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa on November 11, 2005, 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 17, 2002, her eldest child, Sergeant Marc Daniel Léger, serving with the 3^rd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry in Afghanistan, died as a result of a friendly fire incident.

Mrs. Léger, née Levac, was born in Alexandria, Ontario. She married Richard Léger and together they had three children Marc Daniel, Sofie Alice and Albert Michel. One-time residents of Saint-Raphaël, Lancaster, Orleans and Peterborough, Mr. and Mrs. Léger reside in Stittsville.

Mrs.Wilhelmina Beerenfenger-Koehler of Embrun, Ontario, was the 2007 National Memorial (Silver) Cross Mother. During the national Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa on November 11, 2007, 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 October 2, 2003, her son, Corporal Robbie Christopher Beerenfenger, was killed while on patrol when his jeep ran over an explosive device, near Kabul, Afghanistan. He was serving with the 3^rd Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment Battalion Group.

Mrs. Beerenfenger-Koehler was born in Leiden, Holland, and immigrated to Canada as a child with her parents and three brothers. She attended Champlain High School in Ottawa (West). In 2000, she was widowed when her husband, Andreas Koehler, passed away.

Mrs. Beerenfenger-Koehler is employed with Evripos which provides contractual services to the Department of National Defence at the former CFB Ottawa (Uplands).

Diana Abel was born in Ottawa and later became an avid volunteer and entrepreneur in Western Canada. Having lived in several British Columbia towns and cities, she now resides in Brampton, Ontario.

As the National Memorial (Silver) Cross Mother, Mrs. Abel laid a wreath at the National War Memorial on 11 November 2017 on behalf of all Canadian mothers who have lost a son or a daughter in the military either in action or in the course of his/her normal duty. 

She lost her only son, Corporal Michael David Abel, on May 3, 1993, while serving in Belet Huen, Somalia, as part of Operation Deliverance.

Her husband David C. Abel passed away in 2005 after they had raised their two children. David spent 12 years in the Royal Canadian Air Force. With her father, husband and son all having spent time in the Armed Forces, and her two grandsons who are current and past members of cadet squadrons, Mrs. Abel’s family has a significant history of military service.

She is a current volunteer and board member of a local non-profit organization called the Perpetual Bazaar, a consignment store selling items made by area seniors. In previous years, Diana worked with the local Catholic Church in Comox, British Columbia and served on the Catholic Women’s League. She also ran dressmaking and craft businesses and oversaw large craft shows in Sidney, British Columbia.

Diana moved to Brampton to be closer to her daughter Laura and three grandchildren with whom she spends a lot of time visiting and traveling.

In 1997, at age 100, Mrs. Alice Taylor of Ottawa, Ontario, was the National Memorial (Silver) Cross Mother. She was also the National Memorial (Silver) Cross Mother in 1991. During the national Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa on November 11, 1997, 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 17, 1944, her only son, Trooper Richard Taylor, was killed while serving with Fort Garry Horse on a march from Normandy to Falaise.

Mrs. Taylor, née Grimes, worked in the War Records Office during the Second World War and was a dedicated community volunteer. She took up bowling when she was 86 years and was said to never have missed the merry-go-round at the Ottawa Exhibition. She died on Oct 12, 1999, just two weeks before her 102^nd birthday. She had endured the loss of her son for 55 years and the death of her husband, a First World War Veteran, for 22 years.

“What truly illustrates, not only the importance of the Cross to Mrs. Taylor, but her courage and indomitable spirit, was her reaction three years ago to the attempted robbery of her purse in the courtyard outside her home. When some thugs grabbed her purse and ran off, she gave chase and got her purse back. When the police reprimanded her for her “dangerous” actions, she firmly told them that it contained the Silver Cross given to her in memory of her son, and she was not going to let it go.”

(Wendy Byrne of Ottawa Regional Council, 1999)