161 www.on.legion.ca ONTARIO COMMAND GARDINER (DESJARDIN), Louis Fabian Louis was born on March 2, 1897, the son of Eli and Evelyn Gardiner (Desjardin) in Cutler, a settlement on Georgian Bay, east of Blind River in Northern Ontario. The Gardiner family followed the lumber trade in Northern Ontario and Michigan. At the age of fifteen, Louis and his brother moved to Thessalon, Ontario and learned the lumber trade. On October 26, 1917, Louis signed up for the Army and was in the 4th Battalion Canadian Mounted Rifles of the CEF and served in France and Belgium. During his service he was wounded and subjected to enemy gas attacks. When Louis returned home, he marriedAzilda Aikens of St. Joseph Island. They had three boys and three girls and lived in Sault Ste. Marie. Louis, plagued by his wounds, fell on hard times and found it very difficult, if not impossible, to provide for his family. On January 10, 1934, apparently under mounting pressure and stress, this veteran sadly took his own life. To add to this family’s tragedy, two of the boys, Lloyd and William were killed in action in World War II. GATES, Richard Lawerance Richard was born in Windsor, Ontario on June 26, 1939. He joined the Army (Regular Force) on June 21, 1956, at the age of sixteen, with a special program called Soldier Apprentice. It was part of the RCEME. After his training, Richard was part of the Electrical Mechanical Engineers unit. He spent one year in Cyprus and then spent thirteen years in Germany. Richard was discharged on June 21, 1976. When he returned to Windsor, he joined the Windsor Service Battalion. He was in charge of maintenance at the HMCS Hunter. He got married and raised two daughters. Richard is now retired and still living in Windsor. He is a member of The Royal Canadian Legion Riverside Branch 255. GARDINER, William Joseph William was born on March 6, 1923, one of two sons to Louis andAzilda Gardiner, in Richards Landing, St. Joseph Island, east of Sault Ste. Marie in northern Ontario. In 1932, the family moved to Sault Ste. Marie where he attended school and became a marine fireman. On September 16, 1941, he enlisted in the Army in Sault Ste. Marie and joined the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry. While in Britain he married Isabel Dixon of Edinburgh. Isabel never immigrated to Canada as William was killed in action in Basse-Normandy, France on August 12, 1944. He is buried in the Bretteville-sur-Laize Canadian War Cemetery, France. William’s name is engraved on the cenotaph in Sault Ste. Marie. William also lost a brother, killed in action in Italy. His father was a veteran of World War I.
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