It is with great sadness that the family of Donald (Chick) Charlton announces the passing of our beloved father in the early morning hours of Canada Day, due to cancer.
Dad was born on 11 December 1922 and was raised in the Oxford Street area of Halifax.
An active and athletic youth, his forte was hockey and baseball. In December 1942, after apprenticing in HMC Dockyard, Dad volunteered for the Royal Canadian Air Force. As luck would have it, he was posted to the Air Sea Rescue and Supply Squadron at Shearwater. Assigned to the ship MV Eskimo, Dad spent over 500 days at sea working as a Marine Engineer - Chief of the Watch. MV Eskimo was tasked to provide rescue services and also to resupply RCAF stations along the Atlantic seaboard including Newfoundland and Labrador, St. Pierre and Miquelon and across to Iceland. Discharged from the RCAF in 1946, Dad joined the Moncton Hawks of the old Maritime Big 4 Senior Hockey League. They won the Maritime Title that year, defeating the Cornwall Ontario team in the Eastern Canada Quarter Finals. Unfortunately, the Hawks lost to the Hamilton Tigers in the semi-finals. In 1947-48, he played for the Halifax Crescents moving to the Glace Bay Miners in 1948-49. During the off seasons of 1946 to 1948, Dad played baseball. He was a member of the Halifax Arrows in 1946 - 1947. The Arrows won the Maritime Senior title defeating the Marysville Royals in 1946. Following his stint with the Arrows, he played with the Halifax Capitals in 1947-1948. They won the Maritime title in 1948 defeating Saint John, NB. After four very successful years of semi-pro hockey and baseball, Dad accepted a sales job with an international confectionary company. Married in 1948 to his sweetheart from Moncton, Camilla Alice LeBlanc, they started their family and by 1955 four children occupied their home and their lives. In 1961, Dad joined A.G. Brown & Sons Food Brokerage and for the next ten years moved the family to Moncton then to Saint John then back to Moncton and then back to Halifax, building his career as time went by. When Garnet Brown entered politics in 1971, Dad looked after the operation of the Food Brokerage until his retirement in 1984. He was a Life member of the Canadian Professional Sales Association. Throughout his career Dad was a well respected businessman and athlete. He was a loving, caring and devoted father and husband, who provided a comfortable and happy life for the family. He loved his family and was tremendously proud of his four children and their families including three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. In retirement, Dad and Mom spent their winters in Panama City Beach, Florida with their Snowbird buddies and their summers in Pugwash, NS, burning up the fairways at the Northumberland Links Golf Course. While golf was "the" game, visits and stays by the kids, the grandkids, the great grand kids, and other members of the family and friends was the ultimate. After a few years in Moncton, Mom and Dad returned to Halifax in 2006. Dad had the great honour of being inducted into the City of Moncton Wall of Fame in 2009. He had previously been inducted into the Nova Scotia Sports Hall of Fame in 2000.
Dad was predeceased by his beloved wife of 62 years, Camilla, who passed away just four short months ago on 12 March 2010 due to cancer. He was predeceased by his parents Frederick and Mae Charlton, his older brother Cyril, sister-in-law Mary, and younger brother Ken.
He is survived by daughter Karen (Al) Evans, Green Road, NB; sons Daniel, Toronto, ON, and Patrick (Beverly), Tantallon, NS; daughter Denise (Peter) Wolfe, Halifax; grandchildren Mari (Peter) Bezanson, Fall River, Scot (Meegan) Evans, Makkovik, NFL, Mitchell Wolfe, Halifax; and great grand children Ella and Evan Bezanson, Fall River, and Connor Evans, Makkovik, NL. Dad is also survived by his brothers Ervin (Jacqlynn), Halifax, Reg (Marguerite), Halifax, Ron, Halifax; sisters Helen (Skit) Ferguson, Dartmouth, Evelyn (Ed) Comfort, St. Catherines, ON, sister-in-law Betty, Halifax; sister-in-law Leatrice (Paul) LeBlanc, Moncton; and brother-in-law Lawrence (Elsie) LeBlanc, Oakville, ON.
Cremation has taken place. Visitation will be held at the J.A. Snow Funeral Home, 339 Lacewood Drive, Halifax, on Monday 5 July, from 2 to 4 pm and 6 to 8 pm. A Celebration of Life mass will be held at the new Saint Benedict's Church, corner of Dunbrack Street and Radcliffe Drive, Halifax, on Tuesday 6 July at 1000. Reception to follow in the church hall.
Arrangements have been entrusted to the J.A. Snow Funeral Home, 339 Lacewood Drive, Halifax. Family flowers only please. Donations may be made to the Dalhousie Medical Research Foundation (for Cancer Research), 1-A1 Sir Charles Tupper Medical Building, 5850 College Street, Halifax, NS, B3H 4H7, (902) 494-3502 or 1-888-866-6559. 100% of each donation will be directly applied to cancer research. Donations may also be made to a charity of choice.