My first trip to Skootamatta was the summer of 1952. I was about 4 months old. As I grew up we would
spend the entire summer here. My Dad would come up every weekend and for his holidays. Then back
home when school started. My grandparents built the family cottage in 1927. It burned down in 1934
and the current family cottage was built that same year. My sister has that cottage now and I built on
the “Back Bay” half of the property in 1987. I have been a full time resident of Skootamatta since 2002.
I have been a licensed Funeral Director for almost 50 years. I started in Funeral Service at my uncle’s
Funeral Home in Toronto in 1971. I am semi-retired and self-employed. My work now is covering funeral
homes while the owner/funeral director goes away for a holiday. I am licensed in Ontario and have
worked as far north as Fort Frances and Kirkland Lake and as far west as Kincardine. I am usually one or
two weeks in any funeral home.
Though never particularly interested in politics, I became quite active promoting a Bill through
Parliament from 2010 to 2017. Lobbying MPs and Senators, attending debates, votes, committee
hearings and doing TV, radio and newspaper interviews occupied a great deal of my time. I gained a
great appreciation for our Parliamentary system, while also seeing some of the underhanded side of
politics.
I have two kids, Dave and Michelle, and one grandson, Finn. They come to the cottage as often as they
can. Skootamatta is in our blood. We are five generations of cottagers and still going.