What will Remembrance Day here be like without veteran Ray Pearse as master of ceremonies at the remembrance services here?
A Remembrance Day mainstay in Fergus, Pearse has moved out of the area, but his words to the younger generation will carry on.
Both he and his wife Elizabeth plan to be at the services next week.
Greg Manion, past president of the Fergus Legion, described Pearse as a proud member of the Legion.
Manion said when he first became part of the Legion executive, Pearse was looking after veteran services and Nevada tickets. Pearse later moved on to serve as Branch 275 president.
“Ray, being a veteran, has always believed in what the Legion stands for and the work that the Legion does,” said Manion.
“He’s very committed to make sure we fulfilled the commitment of our mission statement: to look after veterans and their families’ needs.”
Pearse, who grew up in Fergus, joined the navy in 1954, just a few years after he was out of high school.
Pearse never questioned his decision to join the navy, even though it meant he was away from his family – a wife and four children – for many months at a time. But he decided, after 24 years, he wanted to retire and see his kids grow up.
“You’re there to protect your country from any aggression, that’s what the Canadian Armed Forces are all about today – any day. They’re there to protect you.”
Pearse’s service to Canada did not end when he retired.
He decided to join the Royal Canadian Legion. He initially joined Elora Branch 229 as a bartender in 1983.
He then transferred to Fergus Branch 275 in 2003 to serve as its poppy campaign chairman. He was president from 2010 to 2012 and has been on the executive ever since.
“Being a veteran myself, I personally think that everybody that’s been in the service should be a Legion member because they benefit from the Legion,” Pearse said.
He has been heavily involved over the years with Fergus Remembrance Day ceremonies, whether as master of ceremonies, acting chaplain, or as the poppy campaign chair.
Manion added it was a local tradition for Pearse to speak directly to the kids about the meaning of Remembrance Day.
His speeches to them were “phenomenal,” Manion said.
During those talks Pearse would often say Remembrance Day “is not only to remember those who died, but those who came back. A lot of them carry the memories of the horror – not only for a little while, but the rest of their lives.”
He would ask students if they knew the significance of the poppies they wore. Pearse explained the little black spot in the poppy represented death.
“On Remembrance Day we remember all the young people who died.” He added, “Many of them were between 17 and 40 years old.
“hose young people went away to a war that they really didn’t know what they were getting into. They fought that war to get peace.”
He said, “You now have peace, you have freedom and you have the right to say what you want. You have that because these young people fought and died.”
-With files by Olivia Rutt
