Obituary of Barry Kemp
William Barry Kemp June 21, 1947 – May 22, 2024.
Barry was born June 21, 1947, in Woodstock, Ontario, to William and Petronella (Elly) Kemp (nee Mos). He grew up in Ingersoll, Ontario with 2 sisters; Anne-Marie was older, Sue was younger, Barry was the middle child. He was involved in Scouts Canada through his childhood and remained involved well into adulthood, ending his Scouting career as the Ingersoll District Commissioner. Barry did not love school and at times had to be escorted to his classroom by his mother to ensure he attended. He left school at age 16 and joined the Canadian Army, where he graduated from high school and served for a total of 31 years. Barry was a Clerk briefly before re-mustering as a Weapons Technician, which took him all over the world. He proudly wore the blue beret of a UN Peacekeeper in Cypress, Egypt, and the Golan Heights.
Barry met the love of his life, Donna Murdock, while stationed at CFB Gagetown in New Brunswick. In less than 2 years they were married and moved to Barry's posting in Germany, where their first son, Chris, was born. Barry's next posting brought them back to CFB Gagetown, where their second son, Trevor, was born. Further postings moved the family all over Canada, coast to coast and several points between. On retiring from the Canadian Armed Forces Barry moved his wife home to New Brunswick, where he worked as a Commissionaire for 18 years. Their last move was back to Manitoba to be near their sons.
Besides his passion for his family, the Canadian Armed Forces, and Scouts, Barry enjoyed hunting, fishing, golf, and darts. In his work, Barry received a Commendation for his contributions to the design of the Grizzly Armoured Personnel Carrier, still in use today. He had input into the design of the “new” (current) Base Maintenance Facility at CFB Shilo. His work included cracking safes in an official capacity, and he travelled at times to other bases to open what others couldn't. One of the very first things he did on arrival at CFB Shilo was to crack the safe at the base movie theatre, resulting in a summer of free movie admission for the family.
Barry was a loving and devoted husband, father, grandfather, and great grandfather. He is survived by his wife Donna; sons Chris (Lori) and Trevor; grandchildren Damien Wannop (Anne Wolfe) and Joss Kemp; great grandchildren Jax, Kai, and Noah; sisters Anne-Marie (Ashley) Rule and Sue (late Lyle) Jillard; niece Shelley (Trevor) Odanski; great nephew Ethan Odanski. Barry was predeceased by his parents William and Elly Kemp.
A small family gathering will take place. In lieu of flowers, please feel free to make donations to the Canadian Cancer Society, 55 St. Clair Ave, Suite 300, Toronto, ON, M4V 2Y7, or the Brandon Regional Health Centre Foundation, 150 McTavish Avenue East, Brandon, MB, R7A 2B3.
