William Thomas Drury Case was born on January 1, 1928, just as the Roaring Twenties decade was coming to an end with the beginning of the Great Depression in 1929. His middle names come from ancestor Thomas Drury , one of two brothers who came to Canada from England in the 1820s and settled in Crown Hill, just outside of Barrie (their farms are still in the family today).
William was the 2nd son of Egerton and Guendolen Case, and was raised, along with his older brother Ryerson, on Balsam Avenue in the Beach area of Toronto. They both attended Balmy Beach School, Malvern Collegiate Institute and the University of Toronto. The boys had many early friends on Balsam Avenue, some friendships lasting until the present. Of the 7 members of the so-called “Balsam Avenue Gang”, now only three survive.
During their early years the family took many trips in their 1929 Model A Ford, mostly within southern Ontario but on a couple of occasions they visited Aunty Lulu near Schoharie and Sloansville, NY. These trips were usually done in one day, quite a feat in the days before modern freeways. Later on, the boys usually spent the month of July with their Grandmother Stafford at her cottage in Grimsby Beach, picking cherries in the morning and swimming down at the pier all afternoon (what a life!).
In the fall of 1937, the opening of the public schools in Toronto was delayed a few weeks because of a raging polio epidemic. Bill and Rye’s dad decided that they should flee the city and head up north until school opened. He had decided on a place near Dorset. He had recently purchased a new 1937 Ford V-8, and was eager to get on the road. But, just as they were about to leave, their mom fell off a chair and sprained her ankle. Without hesitation, she decided to stay home and sent her family off without her, and thus began a long association with Dorset as the family holiday destination.
On that first trip, Egerton (Senior) hired a guide and they went trolling for lake trout on Raven Lake. One of the boys got a strike, but when they reeled it in, it wasn’t clear which one had caught the fish, so they shared the catch, and later had it for dinner at the Dorset Hotel. Cleverly, their dad had crossed the lines to confuse them – he didn’t want one of the boys sulking and spoiling the trip. It’s still not known which of them – Rye or Bill - caught the fish.
They rented a log cabin for their subsequent annual trips to Dorset. Over several years, the boys swam, rowed, canoed, hiked and fished to their hearts’ content. They also took several short overnight canoe trips on Lake of Bays and Kawagama Lake, always taking a 22. along, just in case.
During the War, Bill and his brother spent a summer working at a Farm Service Camp in Flamborough, outside Hamilton. Bill also worked on a farm near Whitevale. Other summers during their teens were spent as labourers for various construction companies around Toronto.
Bill and Rye were at Malvern Collegiate during the War years from 1939-45. Gas was rationed so it was only possible to take short trips by car. One such place was Pine Knot Bush (so named by Dad) located just south of Sunderland on Highway 12. Not being avid church goers, they usually went there on Sundays to gather wood for the fireplace at 82 Balsam, have a nice picnic and for the boys to shoot ground hogs with the 22 rifles they got from their Aunty Lulu.
About this time, the boys became interested in keeping pigeons. After several design iterations, they eventually built a large walk-in coup at the back of the garden at 82 which could accommodate about 30 pigeons. It also had a large run attached where the birds could be in the open, and where they were usually fed. They were mainly tipplers and rollers, which were smaller (but prettier) than the typical racing pigeon. They had as many as 25 pigeons at one time, including chicks. When they released some from Whitby, they returned home successfully. Mostly, they were endurance fliers, which could fly in circles for hours. They used all sorts of evasive maneuvers (tumbling, rolling, etc.) to avoid hawks.
At Malvern, most extra-curricular activities were associated with the war effort. Firing ranges were set up in the school basement for target practice, and the Air Cadets had an active unit at the school. Bill was active in this unit, which often drilled in the school yard. Students and teachers made donations for the purchase of Jeeps and other military vehicles. At least once, amazingly, one of the Jeeps they funded was driven up, over and down the front steps of the school – and those steps were steep!
Bill went to Teacher’s College after graduation from Malvern Collegiate and took his first teaching job in a one-room country school house near Sunderland, ON. There were about 25 pupils overall, spread over all eight grades. The school was heated by a large wood stove, had no indoor plumbing, and had outside toilets. He boarded with a nearby farmer in a large old stone farm house with only ground floor heating. After a couple of years, he moved to Scarborough and taught at a couple of different schools over the course of his career, retiring in 1988.
In 1961, Bill bought an old farm house on an acre of land on the Zephyr Road, a couple of miles north of Leaskdale. The house had not been lived in for years and was in a pretty rundown condition. The roof leaked, the windows were broken, it had no electricity or indoor plumbing, and the well was dry. Over the years, he transformed the house into a place which was the focus of many family activities, including snowmobiling, snowshoeing, waterskiing and canoeing in Lake Simcoe, as well the source of many great dinners over the years. We had many wonderful hikes over the hills and in the nearby Pefferlaw Creek Valley, especially to enjoy the colours in the Fall. Bill called his property “The Farm”.
Starting in 1962, a tradition which had been held elsewhere in the late 50s, became centered at the Farm. This was the annual Grey Cup Safari. There were originally 12 members, of which only 3 are still among us. At its peak, there were as many as 16 attending, including many different guests over the years. In earlier days, there would be a game of touch football before going in to watch the big game, as well as some trap shooting out back. There was often much fussing with the TV antenna to get a good picture on the TV. Many pints of beer were consumed, and cigars smoked, over the years, but always in moderation. There were also many marvellous dinners, each one doing his own steak on the barbecue pit grill. Bill didn’t like the taste of beer, or wine for that matter, and was an abstainer. But, he was a pipe smoker, especially in later years, much to the concern of his family.
After Gwendolen, Bill and Rye’s mother, died in 1958, Bill and their Dad moved into a bungalow right beside the one where Rye and his family were living. Their dad was 83 at the time, and becoming a bit frail. However, he continued his patent business for a few more years. He died in 1963 and Bill continued to live there.
When Rye and his family moved away, first to Thornhill, and then soon afterwards to the Boston area for five years, Bill was an eagerly anticipated visitor. His nieces missed his “next-door neighbour” presence, and did everything they could to make up for lost time when he would fly down to Lynnfield to spend a few weeks in the summer, or at Christmas. Stories, games, discussions about lateral moraines and drum-lands (geography was one of Bill’s passions), the Jesuits’ relations with the Iroquois nation (history was another passion) took place over plates of cookies (possibly Bill’s greatest passion!). For Laura, Janet and Maria, their Uncle Bill was a near-magical presence – a rare adult with a great capacity for fun and a talent for spinning yarns and tall-tales. All the girls’ friends called him “Uncle Bill” – a tradition that continued with new friends even when the family was back in Canada, settling into the house at Allangrove.
Once Bill retired, he still continued to teach, volunteering his services for an ESL program, an activity he faithfully maintained until shortly before his death. It was through his volunteering that he met Sharon Simpson, who became his wife in 1991. This began a whole new episode in Bill’s life, and was one that brought him great joy. He revelled in his new domestic happiness with Sharon, becoming a devoted partner and support for her, just as she was for him. He became a father to Tanya and Rashawn, and a doting grandfather to Tanya’s daughter Rayanna. He took great delight in playing with his young stepchildren, reading to them, ferrying them to swim lessons, hockey games, overseeing homework, and no doubt – still spinning his wonderful yarns and tall tales. Though this chapter came later in his life, it was all the sweeter for the waiting.
Laura’s son Charles, and Maria’s and Finn’s children Gwendolyn and Daniel were also blessed by Bill’s presence in their lives, and he went on to be “Uncle Bill” to a whole new generation of Cases.
Bill and his brother remained very close over the years. Bill will be sorely missed by all those who knew him - he was steady and dependable, generous, intellectually curious, a wonderful and faithful brother, a loving husband and father, a good friend and a great uncle to those both inside and outside the family. He also had a delightful sense of humour. Life will not be the same without Bill. He will be sorely missed.
