Contributions to the tribute of Mr. Wally Stuckless

S

Stan Keller uploaded photo(s)

Friday, May 10, 2024

Sad to report that we lost another old-timer. Wally Stuckless passed away on Monday, April 8 / 2024 Seen here with his old pal Yunus Pandor who also passed away recently. We will miss him at the Old timers luncheons that he enjoyed coming to for years. He loved to tell stories about his early life. Gone but not forgotten.

B

Brendon Murphy posted a condolence

Friday, May 10, 2024

Sorry to learn of Wally”s passing. I was fortunate to know and work with Wally for many years. He was well liked and respected.

M

Mike Vernon posted a condolence

Friday, May 10, 2024

So sorry to hear the sad news. My deepest condolences to his family.

D

Dennis Linke posted a condolence

Friday, May 10, 2024

Wally and I rarely crossed paths at ADT as I spent most of my time in the Repair/Test Lab. During the times Wally and I did meet he struck me as a very kind gentleman who was always outgoing and friendly. We did meet a few times much later at the ADT Lunches at the Wexford Restaurant, and he was the same outgoing and friendly guy from when I remembered him as in the 1980’s. Sad news indeed…

J

Jim Stemp posted a condolence

Friday, May 10, 2024

Sorry to hear about Wally. We worked together in the early sixties.

E

Elisa Colosimo posted a condolence

Friday, May 10, 2024

My deepest condolences to the entire family. May he rest in peace.

C

Carmela Corrado posted a condolence

Friday, May 10, 2024

Our condolences to Wally’s family. RIP Wally

C

Cate Freeze posted a condolence

Friday, May 10, 2024

Sent from a friend of Mom and Dad’s from another dedicated Caregiver at Humber Meadows Long Term Care shortly after Dad’s passing. “Sad news today. We lost Wally a few days ago. He was a very nice man who will be greatly missed. I, myself, will also miss his lovely wife who was here everyday looking after her sweetheart. Rest in peace.”

J

Jack McKittrick posted a condolence

Wednesday, May 8, 2024

Eulogy for Dad written and read by Jack Wallace (Wally) Norman Stuckless was born on January 27, 1937. The third of five children born to Gertrude and George Stuckless in Toronto. He had two older brothers; Ted and Harry and two younger sisters; Betty and Lois. A third younger brother Rick joined the family a number of years later through adoption. In a throwback to an earlier time, Wally would purchase and raise a family in a house 4 km from his birth home. As a young child growing up in Agincourt (what is now part of Scarborough), Wally and his cousin Bill would bicycle all around the neighbourhood and the local woods. As someone who liked to work with his hands, he was keen to assist in the family construction business, helping his father build homes and working with his Uncle Wallace in his lumber yard. Gaining valuable knowledge that he would use later in life when he built his own cottage. With his deep love of Jesus he joined Church Army College in 1957. He did his practica in Moosonee and at Nathanael Camp (an Anglican Christian Camp) on Sparrow Lake where he met a young Noreen Jackson, his future wife. As the family legend has it, Noreen noticed this cute red-haired, freckled camp director on the bus to the camp. When he introduced himself to Noreen by saying, “you can remember my name because I’m not stuck more but stuck less”, she was smitten. Who can resist such a pick-up line. After graduating and becoming a commissioned Captain, he was stationed on Vancouver Island (Lake Cowichan) where he set up a Vacation Bible School. He tried preaching to the men in the nearby lumber camp, but they said he could only talk to them if he worked with them. Wally, not one to shy away from hard work, agreed. Unfortunately for Wally, while he had many skills, balancing on logs in the river was not one of them. After falling three times into the water in one day, the men took pity on him and allowed him to preach without having to walk the logs. His time spent on Vancouver Island started a life long love affair of the west coast and the community of Tofino in particular. He and Noreen would return many years later to re-kindle fond memories of his time on the island. After a number of years working for the church, Wally decided that he could best serve God by leaving the ministry and raising a family back in his native Toronto. He and Noreen married on October 8, 1960. Their honeymoon involved a cross-country drive out west, camping along the way. Fond memories of the Columbia ice-fields and the mountains remained with both of them their whole life. Settling down and getting a job with the Dominion Electric Protection company in 1960 started a 42 year uninterrupted career in the security business. DEP was eventually bought by ADT where Wally continued to work until his retirement in 2002 at the age of 65. He continued to attend the monthly retirees breakfast until his health no longer allowed him. Wally and Noreen had 3 children, Wendy (whom I am fortunate enough to be married to), Sharon and Lorianne. A nephew Hal also spent his formative years living with the family that gave the girls a brother they never had. That was followed by 7 grandchildren, Jacqueline, Kaitlyn, Jennifer, Christopher, Alec, Rebecca and Joshua. When looking back on Wally’s life, I am struck by four themes; Faith, Family, Friends and Food. A life long Christian, Wally lived the values he held dearly and respectively. A man ahead of his time, he was a strong believer in equality and encouraged his daughters to become educated, independent women. At his wedding, he proudly insisted on a double ring ceremony even though the prevailing wisdom was “Men don’t wear rings”. He fully supported and encouraged his beloved wife and partner Noreen to go back to university and eventually get her doctorate in Psychology. He was an active participant in raising his children, taking on many of the duties that at the time were considered “woman’s work”. Lunches from their dad were special because he cut the sandwiches diagonally. He was the first choice for cuddles and bandages for the children when the inevitable scraps of childhood happened. A strong supporter of family, he made the well being of his family (both immediate and extended) his central focus of life. Fiercely protective of his daughters, I experienced this first hand when I arrived to pick up my future wife for our first date. Pulling into the family driveway, I noticed to my dismay that my date’s parents were outside. I would not be able to avoid them. Gathering up all my courage, I introduced myself to Wally and Noreen. After Wally introduced himself, he immediately hit me with the question; “do you have a job?” Slightly taken aback, I answered that I worked for a software company (I neglected to mention that I only started the job 4 weeks earlier). That question was quickly followed by, “do you have car insurance?” Answering yes rewarded me with an invite inside their house and a seat in the living room, with a bright light and many follow-on questions. I guess I passed the test, because Wendy and I were able to go on our first date and eventually marry. As Wally’s career unfolded, work demands took him away from his family. We often hear about people who become focused on their work and then have great regrets later in life. Wally, unlike most people, recognized this issue as it was happening and took a step back in both career advancement and salary to ensure his family was the centre of his life. This showed the deep love he had for his family. His decision to do this helped me make a similar decision when I too was faced with the same issue. His lasting legacy to the family is the cottage on Maple Lake near Minden that he and Noreen purchased in 1978. First introduced to Maple Lake in 1954 when his dad built a cottage there, he heard that the cottage next door to his father’s was up for sale. An innovative negotiator, he negotiated the purchase of the cottage with the owner Mrs. Sunter. After negotiations were completed, Noreen was congratulated on being the new owner of the cottage from Mrs. Sunter. Noreen asked, how much did we pay for it? Wally responded, “oh, we didn’t discuss money.” In later years he built a large extension to the cottage with the help of his father to accommodate the growing family and prepare for the eventual grandchildren. The cottage became the centre of family life during the summer months and I know my children have many wonderful memories spending time with their cousins at the cottage. Wally’s easygoing, approachable and downtown earth demeanour (except when wanting to date his daughters) led to a large circle of friends. Frequent weekends activities included skating with Pat and Bill Wood, tobogganing with Cathy and John Marshall or sharing dinners with Rosie and Joe. His friendship spanned borders as in 1980, when Wally and Noreen helped the Phethsomphou’s, a newly arrived Laotian family to Canada, get settled in their new country. The Stuckless home (and cottage) was always open for anyone to drop by. You instantly became friends with Wally when you first met him. He embraced the famous quote, “Be yourself, because everyone else is already taken”. Any social event that included Wally would mean laughter and genuine friendship. Wally had a particular love of young children. His ability to connect with children was mythical. No young child could resist his charms and within 10 minutes of connecting, Uncle Wally was soon the child’s favourite adult. Wally’s love of food was legendary. The last to leave the table, he insisted that no meal was complete without a slice of bread, peanut butter and corn syrup. Sadly, diabetes later in life put an end to that tradition. There was no limit to how much coffee could be drank at breakfast. Dinners had to have desert and Wally had a particular love of pies. There was no such thing as a bad pie. There was only one time when he did not finish his pie. On a family trip back from Winnipeg, the family stopped to get something to eat. Lorianne, who was 3 at the time, was not feeling well and being held by her mom. Noreen asked Wally to hold Lori while she went to the washroom. When Noreen came out of the washroom, to her horror, everyone had left the table and Wally’s half-eaten pie (coconut cream, I believe), was still there. Once outside she discovered that everyone was in the car waiting for her. Wally, holding Lorianne had realized how hot she was and knew they needed to get to a hospital immediately. His instincts were correct as Lorianne had contracted meningitis. Luckily for all of us, she recovered. Sadly the same cannot be said for the pie. I feel very fortunate to have known Wally for almost 40 years. He taught me a lot about how to be a great partner, father, and raising children. His actions demonstrated his deep love for Noreen, his daughters, his grandchildren and other family members. Most importantly Wally taught me that being a hero doesn’t mean doing extraordinary things. It’s means being there when you are needed for the people who are important to you. While I mourn his passing, I am comforted by the memories we created together and his extensive list of handwritten reminder notes that we will continue to find and read many years from now. In closing, I think Wally fully embraced this quote from Kurt Vonnegut - “Enjoy the little things in life because one day you’ll look back and realize they were the big things.”

S

Sharon Stuckless posted a condolence

Sunday, May 5, 2024

I had a great Dad. Dad was very affectionate. He was always giving me hugs and kisses and telling me how much he loved me. I also know he showed his love to others.. for example, I have good memories of him hugging and kissing my late cousin who we called Uncle Bill Wood and telling him that he loved him… I thought what a great role model for my children on how male relatives can also show how much they mean to each other. Dad passed on his love of the outdoors to me. - I have such fond memories of camping with Dad, going to Koinonia family camp and of course many years at our Maple Lake cottage. We had such fun playing in the water, water skiing, crossing country skiing and hiking. Dad would be so happy when the family was all together at Thanksgiving at the cottage. We would play his favourite card game, Uno, go for breakfast at the Mill Pond, go for long walks looking at the fall leaves and tell stories around the camp fire and celebrate Dad and Mom’s anniversary. Dad was so down-to-earth and friendly… He loved to talk to anyone. For example, he talked about his friends and colleagues from ADT. They were very diverse and from various religions.. Dad taught us what it met to be inclusive and accepting people from many walks of life by just being himself… Dad talked a lot about the importance of family and friends (this included many close friends who became family too). For many years, Dad used to come up to the cottage with me when I attended Haliburton School of Arts programs on weekends twice a year. We would enjoy dinners and breakfasts together. We would talk about importance things in our lives. We talked about Mom, stories about how they meet and the early years together, we talked about the importance of family coming together at the cottage, we talk about my Poppa and Nan, we talked about my kids, Chris and Kaitlyn, lots of stories about cousins, extended family and friends. During our talks I often thought about what a nice guy my Dad was, how loving he was, how he made me feel like someone important and special and all along I thought how he made my life better in so ways. Dad always told me how proud he was of me. I would see hand written notes on our kitchen table celebrating me getting a good marks, getting my swimming badges, winning a soccer game… there was never a birthday or educational achievement that wasn’t celebrated by him for me. Even after I was married and I was working very late, I would sometimes go to Mom and Dad’s house to sleep over… he would treat me like a queen with the pull out bed in the living room already made up, coffee mugs and food ready for breakfast and he would wake up early the next day to clear off the car and wave to me as I left. Dad also shared his faith with me from an early age… I remember us cuddling after church and us reading through my Sunday School paper. I also know we share his belief in heaven and I know he’s there now, in whole, with Nana, my Poppa and his siblings. Dad always made sure I knew I was special, capable and much loved. I will always remember what he taught me and continue to pass that down to my children and the next generation. I was always so proud to be his daughter and love him very much. I had a Great Dad Love Dad's “Miss Middle”

W

Wendy Stuckless McKittrick posted a condolence

Sunday, May 5, 2024

Memories with Dad I’d like to share a few wonderful memories of my very special Dad. Dad was a physically active role model As a young family my Dad and Mom promoted physical activity that has led to 2 of my favourite activities - swimming and biking. Dad taught both Sharon and I to swim at my parents friends the Hatherly’s. Lori was only a baby observing us learn. They had a walkway along a boat house and my Dad tied a rope around our waist and walked along this walkway while we tried to swim. He was so encouraging and patient. I remember the time when I actually floated and moving along the water and realized the rope hardly supporting me at all. As my love for swimming increased my parents invested in swimming lessons for all of us and we all became lifeguards and swimming instructors. To this day I absolutely love swimming. Second activity is biking. Dad and Mom worked hard to teach us how to ride a bicycle and I remember having such a great time practicing in our family basement before Dad renovated the basement. To this day biking is a huge part of my life! We did so many other activities as a family from skating to cross country skiing to camping to fun unstructured play in our backyard. Learning through play was a strong value with my parents that we carried on in our family. Happiness in our family house: Wonderful memories at home - Dad had great building and renovation skills. He did a great job building 2 extra bedrooms, a workshop as well as a big family room. In the heat of the summer we all actually moved downstairs to to keep cool during the day as when sleeping. What a wonderful idea! Dad as Caregiver Dad was so loving and affectionate, such a caring Dad. Dad often took on the caregiving role when my Mom was supply teaching. We had such fun together! He worked full time (evening shifts), came home for a short sleep then looked after us during the day. He must have been tired but never showed it. We all ran to Dad when we were hurt. Dad along with my Mom comforted me when my first love, Bob, passed away in a tragic accident. Cottage Life Our family cottage has brought so many happy family memories - even up to this day. Fond memories at my Poppa and Nan’s cottage and then our family cottage my parents bought that was right beside my grandparents’ cottage. It was wonderful that Dad and my Poppa built an extension to the cottage as our families grew. Memories continue now with all our families coming together at the cottage. Our happy memories can go on forever but as you know nothing lasts forever. We have had such a wonderful life with our amazing Dad. I miss you so much Dad but I also know that you can finally rest.

N

Noreen Stuckless posted a condolence

Tuesday, April 30, 2024

My dear husband Wally was a wonderful husband, father, grandfather and friend. We met on my 17th birthday and were married when I was 20 and Wally 23. We were married for 63 years and often said that we had a wonderful family with 3 daughters and their husbands and 7 grandchildren. I miss him so very much. Love His Noreenie.

M

Mary Jane Esplen donated to ALZHEIMER SOCIETY OF CANADA - SOCIETE ALZHEIMER DU CANADA

Monday, April 22, 2024

Dear Noreen, My thoughts are with you at this time of loss. You and Wally are a special couple and he will be so missed. My sincere condolences to you and your family. xo

J

Jill Behn donated to ALZHEIMER SOCIETY OF CANADA - SOCIETE ALZHEIMER DU CANADA

Tuesday, April 16, 2024

Dear Wendy, My sincere condolences to you and your family. Thinking of you during this sad and difficult time. Jill

P

Phethsomphou family pledged to donate to Threshold Ministries

Monday, April 15, 2024

Our condolences to the Stuckless family. Poppa Wally you will forever be in our hearts.

P

Phethsomphou family donated to ALZHEIMER SOCIETY OF CANADA - SOCIETE ALZHEIMER DU CANADA

Monday, April 15, 2024

Our condolences to the Stuckless family. Poppa Wally will forever be in our hearts.

G

Gordon Grant posted a condolence

Monday, April 15, 2024

Dear Noreen and family. I am deeply sorry for your loss of Wally. Having lost my son Trevor and recently Jacquie, my wife of 63 years. I know what you are going through. Remember the good times, and know that you are in my thoughts and prayers, during this difficult time. Gord Grant

M

Michelle Forde donated to ALZHEIMER SOCIETY OF CANADA - SOCIETE ALZHEIMER DU CANADA

Sunday, April 14, 2024

Dear Lori and family: My deepest condolences to you all. May your cherished memories bring some comfort to you in this this time of mourning.

O

Ontario Public Service-ServiceOntario-CERAB donated to ALZHEIMER SOCIETY OF CANADA - SOCIETE ALZHEIMER DU CANADA

Saturday, April 13, 2024

Thinking of you and your family at this difficult time, our deepest sympathies.

S

Sandra D'Amico posted a condolence

Saturday, April 13, 2024

Dear Noreen, Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. We will miss spending evenings with you and Wally at HMLTC and we hope that all the wonderful memories you and Wally have shared will give you comfort at this very difficult time. Our sincerest condolences and all the best, Sandra, Carmen and Lucia D'Amico

P

Paula Kirsh posted a condolence

Friday, April 12, 2024

Dear Noreen....it is many years since we were grade 4 teachers together. I am sorry to read Wally's obituary, but can see that your life together has been full of happy memories, with your children and grandchildren. May they be a comfort to you at this time and through the next chapter of your life. Fondly, Paula

R

Ralph Phillips posted a condolence

Friday, April 12, 2024

Lori and family - Sincere condolences to the whole family in this time of loss.

D

Doug & Terri Lucy donated to ALZHEIMER SOCIETY OF CANADA - SOCIETE ALZHEIMER DU CANADA

Thursday, April 11, 2024

Noreen, Wendy, Sharon, & Lorianne, please accept our deepest sympathies and may your memories of Wally help you find peace and comfort. Doug & Terri

L

Louise Gilbert donated to ALZHEIMER SOCIETY OF CANADA - SOCIETE ALZHEIMER DU CANADA

Thursday, April 11, 2024

Hi Wendy, I am sorry for your loss. Thinking of you and your family Louise

B

Brian Wilson posted a condolence

Thursday, April 11, 2024

Our family loved Wally and his family. Marg and I shared many happy times with he and Noreen. Margs Mom and dad also had many fun times with him. We visited the Haliburton cottage which Wally loved many times. He adored Noreen, his three girls and his grand children. We will sorely miss him. RIP.

B

Ben Volman posted a condolence

Thursday, April 11, 2024

Shalom, Noreen, My wife, Sue, and I extend our sincerest condolences on your loss. It's been many years since I spent time working with Wally in the ministry of the International Hebrew Christian Alliance. Wally was a genuine Christian of great character and integrity. I considered myself fortunate to have known him, even in a small way. May the Lord comfort and watch over you and all those you love. Warmly in our Messiah, Ben Volman Canadian Regional Director Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations

M

Marisa Stackhouse posted a symbolic gesture

Wednesday, April 10, 2024

My condolences to the Wally Stuckless family my thoughts and prayers are with you. The Stackhouse Family (Downsview Secondary School)

C

Carole Tovell posted a condolence

Wednesday, April 10, 2024

For Noreen: I met you and Wally only briefly at Humber Meadows. Please accept my sincere condolences, and I wish you future happy times with your huge and wonderful family. Sincerely, Carole Tovell (and Linda)

B

Bob and Heather Davies posted a condolence

Wednesday, April 10, 2024

Our hearts are with Noreen and the family. Wally will always be our memory and our hearts.

S

The family of Mr. Wally Stuckless uploaded a photo

Tuesday, April 9, 2024