LEST WE FORGET 303 OPSAHL, Vern Leonard WWII Vern was born in Domremy, Saskatchewan on October 22, 1921. He enlisted in the Canadian Army in Prince Albert in October 1942. After basic training in Maple Creek and Dundurn, he was off to England in July 1943 with the Royal Montreal Regiment, 32nd Reece, Armoured Corps. He was stationed in Woking. He excelled in heavy machine guns and posted for duty in front of tanks in 1943. Due to blood poisoning from a booster and being hospitalized, he was posted in England as head of vehicles, taking the wounded from trains to hospital. He then stayed in England as head of vehicles and driver training for new recruits, etc. He was discharged on April 24, 1946. Vern passed away on October 25, 1996. ORMISTON, Thomas Tindal “Tom” WWII Dr. Thomas Tindal Ormiston was born in Duns, Berwickshire, Scotland in 1922. His family had no piano; but during his school years, he acquired the essentials by playing on other people’s pianos. Following graduation, he enrolled in the army and was training in Kenya for the invasion of Burma when Japan was bombed, and the war ended. Tom returned to Scotland and took up veterinary studies in Edinburgh. There he also took up with one of his classmates, Helen Fleming, an ex-radar operator during the war from London. Following graduation, they married and worked for a few years in the United Kingdom before emigrating in 1959 to Saskatchewan with their first three children. Tom practiced veterinary medicine first in Wakaw, then North Battleford, and from 1966 onwards in Outlook, by which time the family had grown to seven children. He gave up veterinary practice in 1982 and enjoyed a long retirement in Outlook. His passion for classical music, jazz, and especially the piano lasted his entire life. Tom passed away on November 10, 2016. He is buried beside his wife Helen in the Outlook Cemetery. ORMISTON, Helen Elizabeth WWII Dr. Helen Elizabeth Ormiston (Fleming) was born in 1923 in Wanstead, Essex and grew up in the suburbs of London, England. After finishing school and surviving the Blitz, she joined the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) as a radar operator. She was posted to coastal locations from the north of Scotland to the south of England. Following the War, she trained as a veterinarian in Edinburgh.While studying, she shared notes with fellow student Tom Ormiston, also an ex-service person. After graduation in 1952, marriage to Tom in 1954, and a few years of veterinary practice in England, the growing family emigrated to Saskatchewan in 1959. They spent a couple of years in Wakaw, several in North Battleford, and ultimately settled in Outlook in 1966 where they resided for nearly fifty years. Helen raised seven children, pursued numerous artistic interests (painting, pottery, papier mâché and playing the recorder) and never failed to endear herself to all who met her. Helen passed away on April 13, 2020, at the age of 97. She is buried beside her husband Tom in the Outlook Cemetery.
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