Major A. Gerald McInnes (retired)

October 6, 1929 - December 11, 2017

A Brief History

Allan Gerald McInnes, known as Gerald or Gerry McInnes was born to Allan and Theresa McInnes in Winnipeg, Manitoba on October 6, 1929 at the Winnipeg Grace Hospital.  He lived his first years in Portage LaPrairie before moving with his parents and their Salvation Army appointments to Prince Albert, Estevan, Swift Current, North Battleford, Vancouver (now Southmount), Victoria, and New Westminster.  He stayed in New Westminster because he met a lovely young lady named Norma Helen Delamont.  

During his teen years and into his early 20’s, Gerald was an avid soccer player and was even paid occasionally for his services.  He was a Page Boy (Sgt.) at Victoria Government buildings, a fisherman (briefly), a forest-fire fighter, and eventually a draftsman in New Westminster.  Gerald came to know the Lord Jesus as his personal saviour after a Band Council in New Westminster and shortly after that, committed to Training College in the Salvation Army to become a Salvation Army Officer.

Gerald’s first postings were in Windsor and London, Ontario where he kept up contact with Norma Delamont.  When Gerald and Norma (now finished Training College herself in 1954) were both posted to Montreal, marriage was agreed upon and they were married in New Westminster and received their first posting as a married couple in Dauphin Manitoba, the birthplace of his mother, Theresa.  Kevin (their oldest son) was born in 1957 there amongst trying times for both Gerald and Norma both financially and physically.  

McInnes’ then moved to Meadow Lake Saskatchewan where their son Brent was born in 1959.  After a short time there they moved to Prince Albert, Sask. where they had one of their longest postings of their early career staying 5 years.  During this time, Carolyn was born in Saskatoon in 1963.  The family was now complete.  Prince Albert brought many fond memories for the McInnes family.

In 1965, Gerald was moved to Medicine Hat Alberta in an effort to shore up the Corps there.  This was a difficult posting for both Gerald and Norma.  This resulted in an inordinate amount of stress and after a short time, Gerald was appointed to work in Women’s Social Services. He began his journey toward becoming an Hospital Administrator in Windsor, Ontario at the Grace Hospital in 1966 where he served and went to school to begin his degree.  During this time, Gerald and his son’s had the privilege of watching the Toronto Maple Leafs win their last Stanley Cup in 1967.  It was also a time where the family began to enjoy Jackson Point Officer’s Camp with other Officer families.  Jackson’s Point held many fond memories for the family including golfing together, swimming and, of course, watching Neil Armstrong land on the moon together in the centre area of the Officers cabins.  

In 1969, Gerald was transferred to the Ottawa Grace Hospital and served there for 3 years.  He also continued his education in BComm.  He became a sports dad and had to escort his children all over Ottawa for hockey, baseball, numerous school sports and tobogganing at the Experimental Farm.  He found out, too, that he did not have perfect children and had to discipline them for their stealing apples, smoking in the garage and getting the police called for pranks in the neighbourhood.  It is, in part, believed that the McInnes’ had to flee to St. John’s NFLD to avoid any further trouble with the community (insert humour here).

In 1972-74, Gerald was stationed in St. John’s NFLD at the Salvation Army Grace Hospital and was very involved in the Personnel Section there.  He gained a reputation even with the Government of NFLD for his negotiating skills with unions and was even offered a position there.  Out of his love for the Salvation Army that was not happening.  Carolyn learned how to speak newfaneze here and would have the family in stitches around the table frequently.  Blueberry picking became a favourite pastime for the McInnes’ with Gerald enjoying immensely his mother Theresa’s blueberry pie.  Being a sports and church dad, simply picked up steam here because now he was running all three of his kids all over the town.  Gerald developed his love for Salvation Army camps and rented a cabin at Lac L’Achigan Camp in Quebec.  During this time, Kevin, Brent, and Carolyn made some great friends.  Little did they know that they would be back at that camp many more times.

Gerald’s first role as an Hospital Administrator came in 1974 with his transfer to the Catherine Booth Hospital in Montreal, where his wife Norma, began her career as an Officer in ’54'.  The Booth had newly been reconfigured to be a convalescent Hospital and he was responsible for part of the transition.  It was during this time that Gerald began to play softball with his two boys as they were now teens and actively involved in sports.  For both Brent and Kevin this was a precious time.  The family also began to split up as Kevin married Deborah Smith and moved to Calgary and Brent moved to Calgary then married Janet Thornton.  Carolyn stayed home.

A new hospital was to be built in Calgary so Gerald was posted to Calgary in 1982-83 to help with the new building.  This was an exciting time for the family as once again they were reunited together and attended Glenmore Temple.  Carolyn has a particularly fond memory of travelling to Jasper with them and their small trailer and loving the National Park.  Gerald was involved in coaching the church hockey team for which he is still fondly remembered.  However due to the oil crash the government decided not to build the hospital and Gerald was sent to Saskatoon to help complete his BComm.  He was eventually sent to Scarborough Grace hospital to assist Harold Thornhill in the completion of the new hospital in Toronto.  They attended Agincourt Temple beside the new hospital.  Carolyn would eventually adopt Toronto as her home town and remains in Toronto to this day.  Carolyn met Fred Brake and was married at Agincourt Temple.

During his time in Toronto, he and Norma received the devastating news that their son, Brent, was killed in an automobile accident on February 25th, 1985 at age 25.  The impact was tremendous and though he continued to work very well through the years that followed, by his own admission, he was never the same. This, in a significant way, would direct their steps into the future.  The following year, in 1986, Gerald was transferred to the Vancouver Grace Hospital and remained as the Administrator until one year prior to his retirement.  This was a move that helped facilitate being closer to Brent’s wife, Janet and their daughter, Shawna Rose who were now both in the Vancouver area. This also helped bring Gerald and Norma back to their roots of many years ago and the support they would receive from family and friends.  Gerald would be a tremendous support to Janet and Shawna as Janet moved into single motherhood. 

During their time in the Vancouver area, Gerald and Norma made many great friends and renewed old friendships including Bruce Robinson, Craig Galbraith, Frank Taylor and others.  Camp Sunrise, on the Sunshine Coast, soon became a favourite and they purchased a trailer from a family member and permanently parked the trailer there from summer to summer.  Janet, Shawna, Kevin, Deborah, Christa, Lindsay, Adam and Alex became regular fixtures at the Camp during the summer. 

Sidebar: 

Gerald’s adventurous side came into full bloom in 1983 when wilderness adventures began with his son, Kevin.  The West Coast Trail was tackled and defeated in 1983, and again in 1986 with nephew Greg McInnes and Kevin.  The Bowron Lakes canoe circuit in interior BC was completed in 1989 and the Athabasca River from Jasper to Hinton was attempted in 1992.  The Athabasca River nearly killed them both, with one crew nearly losing their canoe within an hour of set out.  Gerald and Kevin spent a long time in the water and suffered from hypothermia on one of the adventures into white water but they lived to tell the story.  Gerald celebrated his retirement in 1995 with his friends Wilf Hammond and Harold Thornhill by completing the West Coast Trail for the third time in his 65th year.  In 2000, he completed his last adventure into the wilderness when he escorted Kevin and his 4 children, Christa, Lindsay, Adam and Alex, on a canoe trip around the Sechelt Inlet on the Sunshine Coast.  

Gerald and Norma stayed in Vancouver from 1986 to 1992 when Norma passed away from heart and lung complications.  This was a complete surprise to Gerald and once again left him without strength.  Between Norma’s death and a union strike at the hospital which left Gerald wondering deeply about the caring nature of nurses and the health care system, Gerald asked for a transfer out of Hospital Administration and was given a Chaplaincy position within the Vancouver area.  

In 1994, correspondence began between Catherine Langfield and much to Gerald’s delight, surprise and even embarrassment, he fell in love again, this time with one of Norma’s good friends from Montreal days.  Catherine’s brother, Carleton and Carolyn would often tease Catherine and Gerald about being “twitterpated”. On November 5th, 1994, Catherine and Gerald were married corresponding with his retirement from active Officership with the Salvation Army.  The marriage took place in the Salvation Army Agincourt Temple Corps.  Gerald and Catherine settled in Langley BC from 1994 until 2001 where they enjoyed many good friendships and many more years at Camp Sunrise.  Gerald continued in a part-time capacity as a chaplain for the region with the Salvation Army.  Summer and Christmas visits with the grandkids continued. 

Never an idle moment, during his “part time” stint as Chaplain, one of his brain children was to establish a visitation program whereby anyone entering hospital that identified as being a Salvationist would receive a friendly visit from a matched volunteer.  The program grew to over 300 volunteers by the time he retired.  He began the implementation of a similar program when he moved to Ottawa.

In 2001, Gerald and Catherine moved to Ottawa to be closer to Catherine’s family and now to Shawna and Janet, who had also moved closer to family.  Carolyn and Fred also lived in Toronto with their children, Amanda and Allan, so this seemed like a good fit for both Gerald and Catherine.  Gerald continued to work as a chaplain for the Salvation Army in the hospitals and thoroughly enjoyed that and became involved in the Woodroffe Temple Corp which would soon become Barrhaven Community Church.  

During Gerald’s time as Chaplain in Ottawa, Lorna Simard recounts a story where Gerald had a significant impact on her ability to support an old friend who was dying of cancer.  As a result of Gerald’s efforts, this friend was spiritual supported in her last days when she needed it most.

Once while Allan (Carolyn’s son) was at an Army Cadet Camp, he suffered from a severe asthma attack due to mold and was hospitalized in Ottawa.  Gerald and Catherine took care of Allan during his time there.   

During Gerald’s time in Ottawa, he became particularly close to Catherine’s daughter, Ruth, who briefly lived with them and helped them through daily living.  Ruth began to experience from Gerald a loving father that brought much healing for Ruth.  

Around 2009 -10 Gerald began to notice that he was having difficulty concentrating and remembering things and was later diagnosed with vascular dementia as a result of trans-ischemic attacks.  These began to effect his life in a negative way and reluctantly he gave up his drivers licence and his role as visiting chaplain.  The disease began to progress sufficiently enough that in 2012, Gerald and Catherine moved to Toronto into the Meighen Residence assisted living with support to Salvation Army Officers.  This eased their situation to a large degree.  However again in October 2015 it became obvious that the disease had taken its toll on both Gerald and Catherine and Gerald was moved into the Houses of Providence Long Term Care facility and eventually to the Meighen Manor Long Term Care April 2016.  

It was while Gerald was at both the Houses of Providence and Meighen Manor, that Ruth Kearnan, Catherine’s daughter, came along side both Catherine and Gerald in a very significant way and made sure that Catherine and Gerald could spend quality time with each other.  While this was a particularly difficult journey, it would have been made impossible if it were not for the efforts of Ruth in assisting both Catherine and, specifically, Gerald. 

Gerald and Catherine were greatly supported by nephew Greg McInnes during their time in Toronto who gave great care to support them with their financial affairs.  Greg and Rhonda also discovered that Gerald could sing like the dickens and remembered many of the words when he couldn’t otherwise remember their names or anyone else for that matter.  It was with great delight Gerald was seen singing to the top of his voice.

Though he put up a good fight…sometimes literally, he succumbed to the disease on December 11, 2017 with his son, Kevin, beside him as he passed from this broken earthly tent to his incorruptible, immortal, glorified body into the presence of his Lord Jesus and his many loved ones.

Allan Gerald McInnes lived a very full and happy life.  He is best known as a gentle, kind man of service.  His primary purpose was to help and love others - be it family, friends, neighbour or stranger.  He was successful in this and his legacy will live on in those whose lives he touched and there are many!

“Well done, good and faithful servant, well done.”