Obituary of Frederick Charles Perry

Frederick Charles Perry 1926-2021 It is with sadness that we announce the passing of our father Fred Perry, in Oakville, Ontario on Feb. 1, 2021. He is predeceased by his wife Elizabeth, brother Sidney and sister Jean (Kitching), and survived by his brother Allen, sons Jeff (Carol), Ian (Patricia) and Jason (Cynthia) as well as grandchildren Bruce, Lauren, Robyn, Rebecca, Emma, Jack and Max, and great-grandchildren Zoe, Cora and Julie. Dad was born on a farm in the Thames River valley, just north of Woodstock, Ontario, a town that his ancestors helped to build in the early 1800s. His early education was a one room country school, and then at Woodstock Collegiate. He served in the RCAF during the war, and afterwards studied Geological Engineering at University of Toronto, graduating in 1949.Starting as a consulting geologist, his career took him from Vancouver Island to Newfoundland, and from the Coppermine River to the Acton quarry on the Niagara Escarpment, where he produced one of the earliest reports quantifying the aggregate resource still being mined today. He finished his working life with Gulf Minerals Canada, where he led the exploration group that discovered and developed the first of Saskatchewan’s vast uranium reserves in the Athabasca Basin.At home, Fred and Elizabeth spent countless hours leaning on the boards, cheering their sons’ minor hockey endeavours, as well as being sources of good advice and always warm affection. Proud to be Canadian, Fred was active in his community wherever he lived and within the mining business. Not coincidentally, Dad’s choice of careers provided a variety of venues to do the things he enjoyed most: casting a spinner into a remote, fast flowing grayling river, or crouching with a group of like minded folk in the predawn cold of a Manitoba stubble field waiting for the Central Flyway to deliver its bounty. In retirement, he whiled away the summer days riding his motorcycle along southern Ontario country roads, and winter was for skiing. We say goodbye to a remarkable person who continues to touch our lives each day.In lieu of flowers, sympathy may be expressed through donations to a charity of your choice.