Colombie-Britannique

Mrs. Sylvia Kimmel of Mission, British Columbia, was the 1961 National Memorial (Silver) Cross Mother. During the national Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa on November 11, 1961, she laid a wreath at the base of the National War Memorial on behalf of all mothers who have lost a child in military service to Canada.

On June 8, 1944, her son, Rifleman Gordon Leroy Kimmel, was killed while serving with the Royal Winnipeg Rifles.

Just ten days later, June 18, 1944, a second son, Corporal Richard Kenneth Kimmel, was killed while on duty, serving with the Regina Rifle Regiment on June 18, 1944.

On December 5, 1944, a third son, Corporal Clifford Howard Kimmel, was killed in the line of duty while serving with the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment.

She lost three of her sons to the line of duty during Second World War. Five of her eleven children were in the Armed Forces. Her three deceased sons joined up within a month of each other in 1940 and all were killed within a six month period in 1944.

The weather was very cold when Mrs. Kimmel arrived in Ottawa in November 1961 in preparation of her duties as National Memorial (Silver) Cross mother. When she and her husband went to the department store, Eaton’s, to purchase a warmer coat, the store manager, upon discovering that she was the Silver Cross Mother and did not have a proper coat for the weather, allowed Mrs. Kimmel to choose one to her liking--a warm, black mink coat, on behalf of the store.

Mrs. Pearl Rich of Vancouver, British Columbia, was named 1968 National Memorial (Silver) Cross Mother. During the national Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa on November 11, 1968, she laid a wreath at the base of the National War Memorial on behalf of all mothers who have lost a child in military service to Canada.

On November 2, 1943 her son, Private William Rich, was killed while serving with the Loyal Edmonton Regiment.

On December 22, 1943, a second son, Private George Rich, was killed in action also while on duty with the Loyal Edmonton Regiment.

On July 24, 1944, a daughter, Wren Mary Rich (Rech) drowned while serving with the Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service.

Mrs. Rich was the wife of Charles Rich.

Mrs. Wilhemina (Mina) Gray of Vancouver, British Columbia, was appointed 1969 National Memorial (Silver) Cross Mother. During the national Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa on November 11, 1969, she laid a wreath at the base of the National War Memorial on behalf of all mothers who have lost a child in military service to Canada.

On February 27, 1942, her son, Flight Sergeant John (Jack) Balfour Gray, was killed while on duty serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force during a mine-laying operation. He was the first war fatality from Nelson, British Columbia.

On August 9, 1945, her second son, Lieutenant Robert (Hammy) Hampton Gray, was killed while serving with the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve, during an attack on a Japanese destroyer on the Pacific Ocean. He was the last man from Nelson, British Columbia to be killed during the war and was awarded the Victoria Cross for his service.

Mrs. Gray, née McAllister, was born in Molesworth, Ontario on February 22, 1884. She and Mr. Gray had three children--Jack, Robert Hampton and daughter, Phyllis Wilma. Mrs. Gray died in Vancouver on August 21, 1977.

Grays Peak in Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park in British Columbia is named in honour of Jack and Hampton Gray. There are many other memorials honouring Hampton Gray-- in Nelson, BC: the post office, plaques on the bridge at Gyro Park and on The Royal Canadian Legion building, a mural inside, by artist L.X. Forde, depicts him in action in Onagawa Bay. Gray’s Lake near Edmonton; Gray’s Walk on Elgin, Scotland—home base of the Fleet Air Arm; a memorial overlooking Onagawa Bay, Japan where he was killed; in Mississauga, Ontario, the Royal Canadian Air Cadets 789 Lt Hampton Gray squadron VC; in Nova Scotia the Gray Memorial School, now a community centre, on the Shearwater Naval Base whose opening was attended by Mrs. Gray in 1952; while a major memorial in Ottawa to wartime heroes called the “Valiant Group”, features Hampton as one of 16 Canadians honoured.

In 2005, a nephew of Mrs. Gray, filmmaker Ian Herring, made a fictionalized film about her son, entitled, The Last Battle of Hampton Gray. The biography, A Formidable Hero: Lt. R.H. Gray, VC, DSC, RCNVR, was written about Hampton by Stuart E. Soward, with a second edition in 2003.

Mrs. Mary Louise McLeod of Neyaashiinigmiing, Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation, Ontario, was the 1972 National Silver (Memorial) Cross Mother. During the national Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa on November 11, 1972, she laid a wreath at the base of the National War Memorial on behalf of all mothers who have lost a child in military service to Canada.

On January 17, 1944, her son Private Alfred Joseph McLeod, was killed in action in Ortona, Italy while serving with the Perth Regiment.

On July 27, 1944, another son, Trooper John Joseph McLeod, was also killed while on duty in South of Caen, France while serving with the 1^st Hussars

Mrs. McLeod, married John, an Ojibwa, who served in both World Wars; the Second with the Veterans Guard. Seven of their children—six sons and one daughter also enlisted in the military.

Mrs. Olive Rae (Jubb) from Edmonton, Alberta, was chosen 1976 National Memorial (Silver) Cross Mother. During the national Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa on November 11, 1976, she laid a wreath at the base of the National War Memorial on behalf of all mothers who have lost a child in military service to Canada.

On June 25, 1944, her son, Pilot Officer Harold Oliver Rae, was shot down over France and killed while serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force.

On March 16, 1945, a second son, Pilot Officer Leslie Elmer Rae, died when his Lancaster bomber disappeared over Germany while serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force.

A third son, Albert Thomas Rae, served in the Royal Canadian Navy throughout the Battle of the Atlantic and survived the war.

Mrs. Constance Wylie from Vancouver, British Columbia, was named the National Memorial (Silver) Cross Mother in 1983. During the national Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa on November 11, 1983, she laid a wreath at the base of the National War Memorial on behalf of all mothers who have lost a child in military service to Canada.

On March 7, 1951, her only son, Private Lloyd Wylie, was killed as a result of a machine gun blast while serving with the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, marking the seventh Canadian casualty in the Korean War.

Soon after Lloyd arrived in Korea, his mother wrote him a letter to advise that she was knitting him a pair of wool socks. In return correspondence, Private Wylie informed that he would trade his old socks to an Australian friend for a can of beer. Just a few hours after writing the letter to his mother, he was killed. Mrs. Wylie heard the news three days after his death.

In April 1984, Mrs. Wylie traveled to Korea to visit her son’s grave.

Mrs. Olive (Rumball) Hunter of Summerland, British Columbia, was the 1984 National Memorial (Silver) Cross Mother. During the national Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa on November 11, 1984, she laid a wreath at the base of the National War Memorial on behalf of all mothers who have lost a child in military service to Canada.

On January 15, 1945, her youngest of three sons, Pilot Officer Harold Marland Rumball, was killed when his bomber was shot down over Germany while serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Born Olive Annie Mann in April, 1897 in Kent, England, she immigrated to Canada with her parents, before the First World War. In Canada, Mrs. Hunter attended college and graduated with a major in music. In 1918, she met and married Lawrence Rumball. Together, they raised three sons, Dale, Leslie and Harold. All three sons served in the Second World War.

In 1919, they moved to Summerland, where she lived for 74 years, to take over her in-laws’ business–a grocery store. Known for her strong work ethic, in addition to working in the family store, she taught piano lessons and managed and operated the fruit orchard adjoined to their property. In the fall, Mrs. Hunter would harvest the fruit, pack it and deliver it to the train station miles away via a horse-drawn wagon. In July, 1959 she was widowed. Ten years later, she married Frank Hunter. Mrs. Hunter died in 1993.

From the time of her son’s death, Mrs. Hunter could not bring herself to attend Remembrance Day Ceremonies. In 1980, convinced by Royal Canadian Legion officials, she took on the role of local Silver Cross Mother, until just a few years before her death. She was honored to be selected National Memorial (Silver) Cross Mother in 1984.

Mrs. Carol Isfeld of Courtenay, British Columbia, was selected the 2000 National Memorial (Silver) Cross Mother and was the second mother of a slain peacekeeper to have been bestowed the title. During the national Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa on November 11, 2000, she laid a wreath at the base of the National War Memorial on behalf of all mothers who have lost a child in military service to Canada.

On June 21, 1994, her son, Master Corporal Mark Robert Isfeld, was killed as a result of injuries sustained from a mine explosion in Kakma, Croatia. He was serving there on peacekeeping duties with the 1^st Combat Engineer Regiment.

Mrs. Isfeld, née Donaldson, was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and grew up in Brownsburg, Quebec, near Lachute. She married Brian Isfeld, also a native of Winnipeg. Together, they raised three boys, Mark, Leigh and Glenn while Mr. Isfeld pursued a career in the Air Force.

While her son was serving in Croatia, Mrs. Isfeld sent him dolls which she made from scraps of wool. Known as the "Izzy", these dolls were eagerly received from the popular soldier well known in Croatia for his genuine interest in the local children.

Upon her husband’s retirement as an air observer, the couple moved to Courtenay, British Columbia.

Mrs. Isfeld was awarded the Canadian Memorial (Silver) Cross in recognition of her son’s sacrifice. She was the second mother of a slain peacekeeper to have been selected as the National Silver Cross Mother for the National Remembrance Day Service in Ottawa, Ontario. She was accompanied on her trip to Ottawa by her husband Brian.

Mrs. Isfeld was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and grew up in Brownsburg, Quebec, near Lachute. She met her husband, also a native of Winnipeg, in Winnipeg, and followed him as he pursued his career in the Air Force. When he retired as an air observer, they moved to Courtenay, British Columbia.