It looks like you are viewing this on a mobile device. Would you like to use the mobile version? No thanks.
It looks like your device can support the full version of the site. Would you like to view that instead? No thanks.
Email to a friend Tweet This Send to Facebook Share on Google+
  Login
Barbara Shales
April 18, 1913 - September 23, 2013
Return to the Memorial Getting Started Administration Inbox  
Return to Getting Started  
Return to the Memorial Order a Keepsake Book  
Obituary Eulogy Guestbook Biography Photos Media Life Stories Family Tree Contribute
<div itemprop="description">Barbara Avril Bruce Shales (nee Timms) <br />April 18, 1913 &ndash; September 23, 2013 <br />Barbara passed away peacefully at the Village of Erin Meadows residence in Mississauga in her 101st year. She was predeceased by her husband Edwin Flint Shales. She is survived by her sons Donald (Elizabeth) and Ian, her grandchildren Mark (Lindsay), Adam (Michelle), Paul and Brian, her great grandchildren Clara and Graydon, and her honorary niece Suzanne Mucklow (Robert) and her family. Predeceased by her parents Archibald Timms and Lillie Bruce. <br />Barbara was born in England to parents who lived in India. Her father was a second generation Anglo-Indian. She enjoyed an eclectic childhood, moving with her family to various irrigation and dam construction sites where her father was stationed. At the age of twelve she traveled to boarding school in England. Here she developed her fierce sense of independence and her ability to cope with any situation. Following a rather lonely boarding school experience, punctuated by spending holiday periods with distant relatives or family acquaintances, she returned to India to enjoy the social life of a young woman in the waning years of British India. This part of her life was the source of fascinating stories. <br />The family left India in the early 30s to settle in Iver near London, England where Barbara lived with the family and worked at various jobs. The most interesting were her experiences as a walk on actress with Pinewood studios. Wartime came. Barbara participated in the war effort through her work at a Hawker Siddeley aircraft factory and as an ambulance driver. During this period she met and was courted by Edwin, a young Royal Canadian Navy radar officer serving with the Royal Navy. When the opportunity arose they were married in South Shields near Newcastle while Edwin&rsquo;s ship was in dry-dock. Her life as a war bride began in 1946 when she arrived in Halifax aboard the Aquitania with a toddler in tow. From there she travelled by rail to London, Ontario to meet her beloved Edwin&rsquo;s family. Then she went on to Montreal where Edwin had begun his career with the Northern Electric Company, the precursor of Nortel. Barbara lived with her family in Lachine, Quebec and later in Brampton, Ontario after the &ldquo;Northern&rdquo; transferred Edwin to start up the Bramalea works. <br />Barbara was a creative, inventive and spiritual person with a huge capacity for self learning. She had a green thumb. She became a champion grower of African violets. She turned her back yards into English country gardens and her basements into tropical nurseries. She belonged to the Brampton Horticultural Society. She produced copious handicraft items; from macram&eacute; with wool she had spun, to arrangements with flowers she had dried, to costume jewellery with gem stones she had collected and then polished. She made puppets and entertained the family with her collection of Pelham marionettes. She bred tropical fish. She loved animals and birds especially Chippy, the disabled baltimore oriole she rescued, who was her companion for 15 years. She always had something on the go. <br />She was ahead of her time when it came to her views on multiculturalism, nutrition, natural healthcare, the environment and recycling . She wasted nothing. She was a writer of lists, keeper of the family archives, clipper of newspaper articles and a provider of advice (as her care givers at the Village of Erin Meadows residence can attest). She was generous with her time and resources. She practiced meditation and was an active and proud member of the Toronto Dowsers. Her dowsing rods accompanied her everywhere. <br /> Barbara was a loving and devoted wife to Edwin. She had a significant influence on her children. Most importantly she tried to impart to her family; a sense of the broader world, a desire to travel, a fondness for animals, a precious love of reading and above all a sense of justice and fair play. <br />Special thanks to the many staff at the Village of Erin Meadows in Mississauga who cared for her and came to know her over the last 10 years. We cannot give enough thanks to her long time caregivers Nona, Elvira, Dorothy and Frosie. <br />A private family service will be held. Donations in her memory may be made to Amnesty International or Wildlife Preservation Canada. <br /></div>