World War II veteran remembered as Arthur's favourite son

ARTHUR – Canada’s most patriotic village has lost the last of its World War II veterans. 

John Walsh from Arthur died at the age of 96 on Monday. 

Arguably best known for founding Walsh’s Pharmacy in Arthur, it would be hard to pinpoint one thing to pin his legacy on, whether that be as a veteran, a co-founder of the Arthur and Area Historical Society, a hockey coach, a community champion or the patriarch of a large family with eight children, 24 grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren.

Regardless of what he did, it almost always involved the village he adored most. 

“A lot of ways, you know (he lived) a simple small town life but he really loved Arthur,” said Frank Walsh, one of John’s sons. 

Frank said his father was born just outside of Arthur in 1926, raised mostly by his mother after his own dad died when he was quite young.

After working numerous jobs as a teenager around Arthur, John enlisted in the war effort just days after he turned 18. 

He would serve in the Navy during World War II, in the past telling GuelphToday he signed up as he felt it was his duty to serve and be part of the village’s big response to the war effort — Arthur had made the front page of the Toronto Star in 1942 as the village had the largest percentage of citizens who enlisted of any single town thus being dubbed "Canada's most patriotic village." 

John ended up on the HMCS Wallaceburg which escorted supply ships across the Atlantic ocean where he trained with a unit detecting submarines. 

“Like a lot of people who served it really was a big part of his whole character, I think he probably attended 80 Remembrance Day services over the years, he never wanted to miss one,” Frank said. 

Even when his health was declining, Frank said his father made it out to the most recent ceremony just weeks ago where he watched from a car window. 

After the war, John would eventually go on to become a pharmacist and studied at the University of Toronto, getting a taste of the big city life for the first time. 

“He didn’t really enjoy living in the city but he would come back to Arthur most weekends, that’s when he started dating my mother,” Frank said. 

John would go on to have eight children with his wife Mary from Kenilworth and they were married for 59 years before she died in 2011. 

In 1952 he established Walsh’s Pharmacy in Arthur and it remains a family business to this day. Frank said his brother Joe took over the store, building a new one in Arthur and expanding to Mount Forest, and he also has nephews working as pharmacists there as well.

Frank remembered his father being a kind and gentle man who was always interested in asking people how their families were doing. 

“He lived his life in a way that was a really good example for all of us kids too,” Frank said, acknowledging he also had influence in the Arthur area too. “He was a solid person in a small town and I think people really respected him and he was always there to help.” 

John also volunteered around the community whether that be at St. John’s Catholic Church, school board or coaching hockey. 

“He had one team that he stayed with, coached the same group of guys for five years and they won consecutive championships, he was quite proud of that,” Frank said.

Always interested in local history, John was one of those who spearheaded the creation of the Arthur and Area Historical Society which included getting a physical space for it at a downtown building across from the original Walsh’s Pharmacy. 

“He is unquestionably the most influential and most important contributor to preservation of the community’s history,” said Jeff McKee, historical society member.

McKee knew of him since he was a young boy in the 1970s but got to know John selling advertisements to him in the 1980s and got to know him in the business sense. Over the past 20 years, McKee got to know him on a more personal level through the historical society where he saw Walsh put in countless hours curating items and sharing stories up until he died.

“He was an Arthur boy and he loved being an Arthur boy and he treated his town and his people with an undying respect,” McKee said. 

“It’s a big chapter that’s closing on our community here right now and he’s going to be quietly missed in 100 ways. I talked to him once or twice a month with a history question and we’ve lost that now.” 

Nancy Croft and Ken Engleby, president and vice president of the Arthur Legion, both acknowledged the significance John had on the community and what his passing means. 

“He was our last veteran of World War II that has survived all these years,” Engleby said, which Croft also confirmed. 

With how much he loved Arthur, it was only fitting that he died in the village he cared about so deeply.

“He was able to pass away in his own bed, in his own house, across the street from the St. John’s Church that was so important to him and a block away from Walsh’s Pharmacy,” Frank said. “It seemed kind of fitting.” 

The family will receive friends at the St. John The Evangelist Parish Centre, 150 Georgina Street, Arthur on Friday, Dec. 2 from 1 to 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

The Funeral Mass will be in St. John The Evangelist Roman Catholic Church on Saturday, Dec. 3 at 1 p.m. followed by interment in St. John’s Catholic Cemetery, Arthur.

Royal Canadian Legion Branch 226, Arthur will conduct a Legion service on Friday, Dec. 2 at 6:30 p.m.