OLDFORD, Willis Clifford – Aged nearly 97 years died peacefully, though still unexpectedly, early Saturday morning on January 24th, 2009 at the Headwaters Health Care Centre in Shelburne, Ontario. He was born March 8, 1912 in the Newfoundland outport of Squid Tickle (now Burnside), the second of Esau and Minnie Oldford's five children and their first surviving child - his sister Ida lived only nine days. Recently predeceased by his brothers Appleton Cleves Oldford and Eli Conrad Oldford, he is survived by his brother Frederick Wilbur Oldford. Growing up in a Newfoundland outport before and during the great depression he faced many challenges. As a fisherman he sailed five summers on the Labrador and was once shipwrecked. He was twice widowed before age 35, married first to Annie Brown Dyke (mother of Edward Shirley Oldford) and then to Mabel Green (mother of Clifford Frederick Kitchener Oldford); both died around age 25. In 1948, he married his third wife, Emma Louisa Rumboldt (nee Fillier), herself a widow and mother to three young children (John French, Beulah Allison and Eileen Gladys Rumboldt; a fourth child, Richard, died as an infant). Together they combined families and left Newfoundland for Toronto as immigrants to Canada. There they had a child, Richmond Wayne Oldford, the sixth in the family. When Emma passed away in 2002, they had been married for 54 years. He worked hard through his working life and was always generous with his time and skills. A master carpenter, he took great pride in his work and supervised many construction projects including the hangars at St. John's airport (those still in use), Canada's first enclosed tennis courts at the Toronto Cricket Club, Stratford's war memorial park, Mt. Pleasant's Crematorium, Lefroy's Arena, as well as numerous swimming pools, pre-schools, and other public buildings throughout Toronto. He never lost his connection with Newfoundland ("home") and visited and fished regularly up to the last summer of his life. He is already terribly missed by his surviving children and their families: John Rumboldt, Beulah Batten, Ed and Irene Oldford, Eileen and Jim Harrison, Clifford Oldford, and Wayne and Nancy Oldford. He is survived by 22 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren. He will be missed by the many other family members, friends, neighbours and others whose lives he touched, both in Ontario and in Newfoundland.
All are welcome for visitation Friday 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. at the Newediuk Funeral Home, 2058 Kipling Avenue, (Etobicoke) Toronto. Funeral service will begin Saturday at 1 p.m. in the Funeral Home Chapel; burial will follow at Glendale Memorial Gardens (Albion Rd. and Hwy. 27).