Beaton

(submitted by Sheila and John Beaton)

Sheila Mary Marshall was born and raised in London Twp., at the south west corner of Hwy 22 and Hwy 4 (now Fanshawe Rd. and Richmond St.). In 1951, Sheila's family sold their land there and came to Watford, having bought the Smith residence on Erie St. Her father died in December of that year and her mother continued to live there until 1963. Sheila continued her music education, studying and teaching in London and Chatham and supervising music in Dawn and Brooke Twp.

In 1955 Sheila accepted a position teaching Music, Junior French and Girls Physical Education at Watford District High School (WDHS). She started, armed with a letter of permission from the Ontario Ministry of Education and a great deal of nervousness.

John Gerald Beaton was born and raised in Oro Twp., between Orillia and Barrie. In 1954 he came to Watford as teacher of Grades seven and eight and principal of Watford Public School. He was interviewed by the Watford School Board, consisting of Jack Rogers, Alex McLaren, Earl Janes and Alex Galbraith.

Warwick Central School staff, 1962: Back: George O’Neil, Jean Feddema, Hazel Brandon, Lorraine Brand, Frank Moffatt. Front: Joan (Woods) Eastman, Dorothy Shea, John Beaton, Beulah (Latimer) Saunders, Willa McDermott. Courtesy D Shea.

John became Cubmaster and later Sheila became a Cub Leader of the Watford Pack. In 1955, Sheila was hired as organist at Watford United Church and was actively involved with music there and in the community, continuing until 2005 when age-related macular degeneration (AMD) made the reading of music too difficult. John and Sheila had many mutual interests, like music, drama and history.

In 1957, following a strong move to close the rural schools in Warwick Twp., the Central School was built. This was one of the first such schools built in Ontario. With the encouragement of Inspector of Schools A. V. Vincent, John applied for the position of principal of this new school and was hired.

John and Sheila were married in 1958 at Trinity Anglican Church, Watford. A week or so before the wedding, the staff and students at Warwick held a “mock wedding”, organized by Miss Florence Edwards and including the pupils of Grade 8 as the characters. The custodians of the school, Tim Barnes and his twin sister Doris Edwards, provided the music — Tim whistling the wedding march and Doris playing her harmonica. It was fun and has been a great family tale.

John continued to teach at Warwick until 1963. By this time he had completed his degree at the University of Western Ontario. He was hired to teach at Lambton Collegiate and Vocational Institute in Petrolia. He stayed there for two years until there was a vacancy in the English Department at WDHS. He taught there from 1965 until 1987 when he retired. During this time, John taught English, became Head of the English Department, earned a Master's Degree in Education, taught Driver Education after school and assisted Mrs. Annalee Kerr with a number of school musicals.

John and Sheila lived in the McCormick House until the following summer. In the fall of 1959, the Beatons moved to a house on Simcoe St. Sheila did not renew her Letter of Permission, and became a housewife. She did work when needed at Burchill's Ladies Wear. For several years she did some substitute teaching at WDHS. She taught piano at home until the children were born, and voice, piano and theory afterwards until she retired in 1989. She arranged the songs and sang in a women's trio called “The Treble Trio” with Joyce Wallis and Alice Thompson. A few times a year, she put her voice students together into a choir and produced concerts and children's musicals.

John and Sheila's first three children, Jane, Tom, and Ted were born while they lived on Simcoe St., but in 1966 Sheila's mother suffered a severe heart attack and the Simcoe St. house was sold. They purchased the “Elmer Brown House” at 521 Erie St. and made an apartment upstairs where Mrs. Marshall lived until 1975. The Beatons' youngest daughter, Margaret, was born while the family lived on Erie St. In 1988 they moved to 537 Gold St.

The Beaton's first child, Sheila Jane, was born in 1961. This birth caused great excitement at Warwick Central School. She was an “evening” baby so her daddy didn't miss any time at school! Jane was great friends with Anne Cumming, whose father was the United Church minister at the time. The two girls started kindergarten together. Jane's observation at the end of the first week was that Anne could count further than she could, but she had to tie Anne's hat for her. In 2007 Jane is the Resident Manager at North Lambton Lodge, Forest, and is very active in the church and the community. She is married to Martien (Tien) Joris, also a Warwick Twp. native. They have three children, Jill, Martina, and Maxwell.

Thomas Harry was born in 1963. His musical prowess showed itself very early. When his brother, John Edward (Ted), was born in 1965, they were more like twins than just brothers. The boys took piano lessons for a few years but it was a struggle to get them to practise and finally their parents allowed them to start guitar lessons. Tom learned lead guitar and Ted the bass. The deal was that the first time they needed to be nagged to practise the lessons would stop. When they were in their early twenties, they formed a touring rock band which they called “Ten Seconds Over Tokyo.” The story of the name is that they were asked to play in a Battle of the Bands and quickly needed a name. They had watched an old war movie in the recent past and wanted to call themselves “Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo” but agreed that the name was too long, so they shortened it to “Ten Seconds Over Tokyo.” They had some wonderful experiences on the road (and some not so wonderful) but, all in all, it was a great learning time for them. They crisscrossed Canada from coast to coast many times and even toured parts of the United States.

About six years later, Ted decided he wanted to settle down. He entered the Dispensing Optician program at Georgian College in Barrie. He married in 1991 and he and his wife Sandra live in Oromedonte, close to where his father grew up.

Tom stayed with the band for another two years. He married Paula in 1992. When they were expecting their first child, he decided to go back to school at Lambton College. He took the Instrumentation Technology course and graduated at the head of his class.

Margaret was born in 1967. Her parents say she was their centennial project. Margaret took a college commercial course and was employed for several years at the law office of Percival Heath. She married Mike in 1988. When Mr. Heath retired, she went to George Sinker's office in Strathroy. Soon after beginning to work there, however, her husband was offered a drafting position in Fort McMurray, Alberta, so they and their three children, Marshall, Evan and Micaela, left for the “oil patch”. Margaret's middle child, Evan, was adopted from Haiti when he was two years old and has grown into a fine young man of 15.

After John retired in 1987, he operated the new Becker's Convenience Store in Watford for three and a half years. Then he worked in Tony Cini's Retail Store and Ross Saunders' Machine Shop. When the Watford Nursing Home was looking for a handyman in 1997, he began working there on a part-time basis and continues with this retirement job.

Both John and Sheila have taken an active part in many community projects over the years and have become an integral part of community and church life in Watford and area.

Chapter 24 of 25 - Beaton Family

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