Beach Memories: What do you know about our many famous residents

By GENE DOMAGALA

I was doing one of my historic walks one day and mentioned that Bill Kurelek lived in the Beach, and one of my walkers asked who he was. Another person on the walk answered that Kurelek was one of Canada’s greatest artists.

It then occurred to me that people who live here in the Beach and East Toronto are not really sure who lived/lives in the area.

So I thought it’s time for an article about “famous people” from the area. There are many men and women who have contributed to help build the Beach and have made their homes here. But how many people know who they are and what they did?

So I am going to write the names of some of these “famous people” from our area, and see if you (dear readers) know who they are. I’m curious to know if you learned about them through the newspaper, from your families or were you taught about them in school?

I am not going to tell you why these people are “famous” so I hope you will get back to me with what you know or have learned. These are people who helped build our community or have gone on to national and/or international fame.

Please send me a note on what you know about the names below, and how you know it. Send emails to me through the editor of the Beach Metro Community News at alan@beachmetro.com. You can also mail the info to me care of Beach Metro Community News at 2196 Gerrard St. E., Toronto, ON, M4E 2C7.

Jack Kent Cooke
Joe Duggan
Dorothy Thomas
Adam Wilson
Joseph Williams
Sarah Ashbridge
Arnold Nerman
John Sewell
Penny Oleksiak
Geraldine ‘Gerry’ Schwalm
Alex Christie
Frank Smith
Wm. Forbes
Ruth Thorne
Glenn Gould
Alfred Eames
Patrick Locke
Bruce Kidd
Joan Latimer
William Young
Norman Jewison
Henry Mill Pellat
Frank Darling
Myrtle Cook
Hiram McCallum
Austin J. Macfarquhar
Ted Reeve
Jennie Reeve
Rod Travers-Griffin
S. Bruce Richardson
William Williamson
Joseph Price
Fred Hubbard

Exploring the weight of William Kurelek’s legacy