Harold Stewart Prosser

Harold Stewart Prosser was born August 12, 1902 in Saginaw, Michigan. I always called my grandfather Poppa and this is how he spelled it. The Prossers had moved to Saginaw in April of 1891, where Poppa’s father, Frank, worked as a Teamster. Poppa’s elder brothers, Thornton and Earle, were born in Saginaw as well. The family returned to the Keswick area sometime between 1905 and 1907 as Poppa’s sister, Helen, was born in 1908 in East Gwillimbury. Poppa’s eldest brothers Leo and Ernest remained living in Michigan.

The marriage registration, which I believe was filled in by Poppa, is full of errors, including Harold's mother's name which was NOT Hettie Morton. His mother was actually Hester (Hettie) Purdy. However, his grandmother was Cinderella Morton so he may have been thinking of her last name rather than his mother's last name when the form was filled out. His mother had already passed away by the time he was married so she was not there to correct it in any case. Poppa's father, Frank, married Mary Jane Greenwood née Morton in 1933, but I don't think that is the person who was confused with Hettie Purdy as that would have been after the marriage registration of Poppa and Gran in 1928. Mary Jane (Morton) Greenwood was actually a first cousin of Poppa's mother, Hettie, and a first cousin of his grandmother, Cinderella. My family is a bramble bush indeed!

I found this entry by my grandfather in my Aunt Vi Forth’s autograph book. I had no idea that my grandfather could draw like this!

I don’t know exactly when this entry was made, but the entry following this was by my grandmother and she signed it Edna Prosser, so it was after 1928 as that is when she married Poppa.

Eventually, Poppa went to work as a labourer on the Welland Canal. By the beginning of the depression, Gran and Poppa had two children, my dad Art, in 1929 and my aunt Irene (whom Poppa dubbed Toots as a baby and the name stuck) in 1931. 

I found the photo below with my grandmother's photos. I believe the writing on the back is that of my grandfather.

During the depression, work on the canal ceased. Poppa’s foreman, John Gordon, had a 50-acre farm in the Ravenshoe area, across from a 100-acre farm owned by his brother, Carl Gordon. John and his wife, Isabel, and son, Bernard, were recorded on the 1911 Census right before Frank Prosser and his family, so it is likely that they had been farm neighbours of Poppa’s prior to their time together in St. Catharines. John had a disabled left hand and so he took Poppa, who was now also out of work, and Gran with him to help work his farm in Ravenshoe. 

Poppa and Gran only worked on the Gordon farm for about a year and then Poppa got a job with Lloyd Pollard who owned several farms in the area. Poppa drove the thresher, combine and other farming equipment. After three to four years, Dad said the family moved into the village of Ravenshoe next door to Stan and Gertie Armstrong. Stan ran a transport truck and took cattle, pigs, goats and sheep to Toronto to be slaughtered. Times were so tough that my Aunt Irene was "loaned out" to neighbours Stan and Gertie to raise for a number of years as they had no children.

About 1941, the family moved in with Gran’s father, Harry Forth, and other family members at Harry's home on Waubeek Street in Parry Sound. My uncle John was born there later that year.

Poppa found work at the DIL (Dominion Industries Limited) munitions plant in Nobel. Within a few years, he went to work for the Brewer’s Retail as he was listed on the 1945 Voters’ List as a truck driver.

The photo below is a group of beer delivery men receiving awards for safe driving. I have no idea why Poppa and the man next to him are the only ones wearing suits and not delivery jackets.

The photo below was taken, I believe, about 1949. I have a copy of it that has been painted over so that Poppa is wearing a suit! 

My uncle John has told me that the painted photograph was done by his cousin, Roger Forth (son of Gran's brother Art), who worked for Thompson Photography at the time.

Years later, we would be next-door neighbours with Jack Thompson, the photographer. His daughters, Pat and Andrea, would be swimming buddies of mine at Parton's Beach.

As my parents’ wedding photo has been painted over in exactly the same way and they are in identical frames with beveled glass, I believe they were done at the same time – which was when my parents married in 1949.

Poppa eventually went to work for Orenda Engines in Nobel. A.V. Roe had taken over the DIL munitions plant after the Second World War ended and this plant was making engines, eventually the Iroquois engine for the Avro Arrow! Poppa was a janitor there. He is number 98 in this photo of those on the shop floor in 1953. My dad is number 23.

Poppa is # 98. Photo from page 89 of the book

“History of the Orenda Test Establishment at Nobel” by John L. Armstrong

In 1952, Poppa became a grandfather when I was born. I have always loved this family photo taken about 1953 in Keswick. 

L-R Irene, Edna, Frank, Harold Prosser with John Prosser and me in the front

In 1957, my sister was added to our family and we were both adored by all of our grandparents. We spent every Christmas with both sets of our grandparents. Our Hilton grandparents would spend the night with us and when we would open the living room drapes in the morning we would always see Poppa, Gran, Aunt Vi, and Uncle John sitting in the car outside (probably freezing) waiting for us to get up so they wouldn’t miss anything! My grandmas would take turns cooking Christmas and New Year’s dinners every year. I didn’t realize at the time how very blessed I was to have such a loving family with whom I could spend so much time.

My father always said that his dad was an amazingly strong man before his stroke which Poppa suffered several years after I was born. In my memories, Poppa always had a limp and a left hand that had difficulty grasping things as well as some difficulty with his speech.

Poppa worked as a taxi driver when I was little and had a special round handle put on the steering wheel to help him grasp it. If I were walking home from school or from downtown on a Saturday afternoon on my way home from the show, he would pick me up if he had an empty cab. He always had a cigarette in his mouth. I remember that he used to get Player's or Export A tobacco and I would help him roll and cut cigarettes with his little cigarette-making machine. He was a REALLY fast eater, and he would be done dinner before most of the rest of us had even started. 

I don’t know much about hobbies that Poppa had. He delighted in playing cribbage with my mother, but never seemed too interested in teaching me. I do know that Poppa enjoyed outdoor life. He and my dad built a small cabin in Pengally Bay, accessible only by boat from Pointe au Baril. Poppa had a pretty good eye for beauty AND a pretty good sense of humour. His first contribution to the camp was a biffy with Dutch doors so he could enjoy the view! Hence our family euphemism of “communing with nature”. Poppa later purchased a lot in Kineras Bay, seven miles south of Parry Sound by water. Sadly, he never really got to enjoy the family cottage that my dad built there.

Poppa's Pride and Joy

Poppa and Gran also enjoyed spending time over the years at Aunt Vi Forth’s cottage on Otter Lake.

I didn't spend too much time with Poppa near the end of his life. By 1965, I was living in Brampton and not close enough to visit much. At that time, Poppa was suffering from cancer. I do remember one time when I went to see him in the hospital in Parry Sound, his legs were the size of my dad's arms and that shocked me. Poppa was very happy to see me and told me he had something he had saved for me. He popped open the top of his bed tray and gave me a chocolate bar that he had kept in there. It was the last time I saw him alive. Poppa’s funeral was the first one I ever attended. I wish I had had more time to get to know him as I grew older. I am sure there were a LOT of family stories he would have shared.