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- William Harmer Rothwell was cremated and his ashes were spread over the Lawson farm on RR1, Lindsay, Ontario, Canada. He was a mechanic and construction worker. He loved working on cars, reading and watching wrestling on Saturday afternoons. William was a Pilot/navigator in WWII with the Royal Canadian Air Force.
William was named for a Senator William James Harmer, who was appointed to the Senate of the Canadian government on Feb. 5, 1918. He was Helene LaVallee's fiance before she married Herbert Claude Rothwell.
"Senator Bill Harmer represented Edmonton in the Senate. He is of Sussex Harmer stock, the family came over to Kingston, Ontario in 1836 and most of them finished up working for the railroads. William's line moved to Napanee, Ontario just west of Kingston - at age 19 he went west to Alberta, was the station agent at Canmore when he married in 1895 or maybe 1898 and he eventually became deputy minister for railways in Alberta - a big friend of Sifton - he had one daughter who died young, his wife left him and she died in Victoria at quite an old age. When Sifton came to power he put Bill Harmer into the Senate in 1918 (This is a guess so far) and he stayed there until 1947 when he died - he still represented Alberta but lived in Ottawa and Napanee and seldom went back to Alberta - much to their chagrin. He was called (silent) Bill because in all those y ears in the Senate he only spoke 89 words but he was there for every vote and was a good member in that respect."
OBIT: William Rothwell of 61 Almay Road. Survived by his wife Lily; two daughters, Mrs Richard (Theresa) Agostinelli of Conn, and Cynthia; his mother, Helene; one brother, Robert of Canada, two sisters, Mrs. Robert (Barbara) Johnson and Mrs. Raymond (Beverly) Smith.
Friends may call Friday 2-4, 7-9 at the Falvo Funeral Home, Inc., 1395 N. Goodman St., Funeral service Saturday at 10 o'clock.
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