Wednesday, November 2, 2022
We were deeply saddened when we learned that my cousin Garth had passed away. I have many fond memories of Garth in the early post WWII years, when he and Maureen and later Kevin, were the city cousins, and Pat and I were the country cousins, living on the outskirts of Brandon, on the experimental farm where our family lived and worked. My brother Pat was a participant in the daily coffee group, I believe, as both had been Brandon Packers workers before it closed.
One of my favorite memories, around 1950, was when Garth, two years older than me, really impressed me with the "crystal radio" he had built himself. Folks born after the 1950s will have to look it up. The device consisted of a crystal, windings of wire, and an old aviator single earphone, and it required no battery, but could be tuned to pull in local radio station transmissions so you could listen on the earphone. This was in the years when you still had to have a license to own a radio, so it was sufficiently awe-inspiring technology to me, that I still remember that event. It is sad that there are very few of the Ronayne descendants of those years, still alive.
Our most sincere condolences to Marg and their family and to Kevin and his family, at this sad time. We didn't have too many occasions to see Garth in recent years, due to work and distance, but Pat kept us up to date and we also feel the loss of another family member from the time that we cousins lived close and spent great time together.
Cindy and Donald Kelman and family
