Marie Louise Whitfield

The following was quoted from a speech written by Don Whitfield (Marie’s husband) on the occasion of Marie’s 80th birthday:

“I remember the first time we met in the summer of 1943. It was at my regimental dance and Marie shouldn’t have been there because her and her girlfriend Mary were to go to another regimental dance in the same town. I knew as soon as I saw her that she was going to be the one for me. It so happens the farm that Marie was stationed at wasn’t too far from where my regiment was camping. We were able to see each other every once and a while. Marie often went into town to phone her mom. One particular time she phoned her mom to say she had met a Canadian. The English telephone booths, at that time weren’t very large and at that time neither were Marie and I. When she hung up the phone, I thought what the heck, we were close together, why not. This was our first kiss! 1943-44 – On many weekend leaves, I stayed Marie’s family home where we witnessed some of the bombing raids and the buzz bombs and made use of bomb shelters. The good part of this difficult time was how I was welcomed into Marie’s family and especially her mom’s cooking! September to May 1944 was my time in Europe....9 long and scary months. May 4th my regiment received the order to cease fire. Thank God, for us it was over. September 29th, 1945 we were married.”

Marie travelled from England aboard the RMS Aquatania arriving at Halifax’s Pier 21 in June 1946. She travelled by train with many other war brides, arriving in Toronto on Canada Day 1946. Marie and Don settled and raised four children in Etobicoke. She passed away in 2010 at the age of almost 86 years and was married for 64 years.