Obituary of Wallace Maynard

Wallace Maynard (1931-2025) 93, of Hawkes Bay, NL, Canada passed away peacefully on March 29 th , 2025 in Corner Brook, Newfoundland andLabrador.
Funeral service will be held at Holy Innocents Anglican Church in Hawkes Bay on Thursday at 2 p.m. with Reverend Marie Smith officiating. Interment will follow at The Sandy Cove Interfaith Cemetery in Port Saunders.

Wallace was born in Green Island Brook to William and Jane Maynard (Nee. Mitchelmore) on May 14, 1931. He started working early in life likemost children of his era helping with the chores, i.e. carrying water, cutting,splitting & stacking firewood, drying hay, tending to the livestock, drying Cod fish, gathering berries, etc. At 10 years of age, he started fishing with his father and older brother Truman. After completing grade 9 and only 15 years old, he took the coastal boat to Bonne Bay to work in the lumber camps as a cook’s helper for one year. It was during this time he continued his studies by himself completing grade 10. He then decided to complete High School and get his grade 11 Diploma, so it was back to the lumber camps until Christmas, followed by 5 months at an all-grade school where he wrote his final exams and passed grade 11 in June of 1949. With a higher level of education than most people at the time, he obtained a teaching position at the Plum Point all-grade school where he met and married his first wife Eliza Coombs on November 5 th , 1952. After teaching for one year, they moved to St. John’s where he furthered his education by earning a Teachers Certificate.

Wallace enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force when the Korean war started and was posted to Clinton, Ontario where he trained to become a Radio and Navigation officer and obtained the rank of Pilot Officer. He transferred to Greenwood, NS for flying duties and was promoted to the rank of Flying Officer followed by a post to 404 Squadron where he spent 3 years carrying out anti-submarine patrols in a converted war time Landcaster Bomber aircraft. These patrols covered the western half of the Atlantic, from Greenland and Ireland south to Bermuda and the east coast of Florida. He had many fond memories of the time spend traveling, including spending 5 months in Key West and 4 months visiting various countries in Europe. Wallace was later transferred to 403 Search and Rescue squadron at Torbay, NL until he was honorably discharged from the military in 1956.

Wallace returned to civilian life and started working as a salesman for the old Newfoundland Brokerage limited, a wholesale grocery and general merchandise firm in St. John’s, NL. Shortly after this he received a better opportunity and started working for the US Air Force in Thule, Greenland for a year. He returned home with the idea of opening the first One-Hour Martinizing dry cleaning plant in partnership with his boyhood friend Tom Hughes. The business was located on Blackmarsh Road in St. John’s and operated successfully from 1958 to 1961 when it was purchased by Ayers & Sons who went on to open several outlets across the province. Wallace realized the Great Northern Peninsula was opening up for new opportunities with a new road being built from Deer Lake all the way to St.Anthony. He moved his young family to Hawkes Bay and obtained a position with Imperial Oil to set up and manage a distribution system covering the area from Bonne Bay to Eddies Cove East, located first at Hawkes Bay, later moving to Port Saunders. It was March, 1963 when he started his own business, Maynard Ltd., in Hawkes Bay, that included an ESSO Gas Station &;repair service, restaurant, 3 guest rooms and a Night Club. This business still operates today 62 years later as the Torrent River Inn offering modern accommodations and full services to the local,commercial and tourism customers alike.His other business ventures included starting Hawke Industries in 1971 when he secured the contract with NFLD Zinc Mines, in Daniels Harbour to strip overburden, open-pit mining, trucking the finished product to Hawkes Bay and for loading the cargo ships with Zinc for markets worldwide. He continued this work employing approximately 28 people, until the mine eventually closed in 1986. During this period, he also engaged in other types of construction, from road building, general trucking, paving and water services. In 1987 he joined forces with two other fishing companies to open a fish processing plant in Hawkes Bay, but the timing was not good and it soon closed due to lack of raw material because of the collapse of the Cod fishery in NL. In 1994 he started a private college in Port Saunders, NL, to take advantage of the retraining program money to fill avoid in education programs offered for post secondary training on the GNP. Norpen/Nortech College quickly expanded to Deer Lake/Corner Brook and St. John’s, NL and operated for 4 years before being sold to a larger competitor. Wallace kept active in the growing tourism industry, expanding and growing the business until his retirement in 2005.

In addition to running his various business ventures, Wallace was involved in many community activities throughout the GNP, including running as the PC candidate for Provincial politics on 3 different occasions in 1956, 1959
and again in 1971 in the St. Barbe and later the St. Barbe North Districts, loosing all 3 times. He also served as Vice-President of the St. Barbe District PC Party of Newfoundland from 1982 – 1985 and President from 1985 – 1987.

His other community activities included, but wasn’t limited to:

 Co-Founder and Director of the first Northern Regional Development Association (NRDA) in NL, and served in various  positions during it’s approximately 10 years of existence.
 Co-Chairman of a task force on the future of Hawkes Bay after the closure of the NFLD Forest Products sawmill.
 Founding member of Northern Travels, forerunner to the Viking Trail Tourism Association (VTTA) which he served as    chairman for 4 years and was also instrumental with getting the GNP Highway (Route 430) renamed the “Viking Trail”.
 Founder and 1 st President of the Ingornachoix Chamber of Commerce
 Co-founded and served two terms as President of the United Towns Lions Club
 Co-founded and served five years as Commander of the Roncalli Air Cadet squadron
 Founder of the Health Services Committee and later served two terms as Chairman of the Port Saunders Hospital Board of Directors.
 Served as Chairman of the Hawkes Bay Development Committee from 1987 – 2006, including serving as Vice - President of the St.Barbe Development Committee for 4 years.
 Served on the Steering Committee to establish the Torrent River Interpretation Centre and Fishway on the Torrent River In Hawkes Bay
 Served on the Concerned Municipalities Committee (Hawkes Bay to Sally’s Cove area) planning for the community’s futures.
In addition to his service work, he was more than generous with his time and advice, to help anyone who asked for his support in any way.

Wallace is survived by his son William (Bill) and Janice, of Fort McMurray, AB. Tom and Gracie of Hawkes Bay, NL. daughter Evelyn of Corner Brook NL, stepson Dion Mudge (Peggy) of Fort McMurray, AB. And daughter-in-law Shelia Gould (John) of Corner Brook, NL. Grandchildren; Chrissy Simmonds (Mike) of St. Anthony, Aaron (Leslie) of Mt. Pearl, NL, Byron (Shelley) of Port Saunders, NL, Candace (Brad) Fabian, Fort McKay, AB, and Shane Mudge (Haylee), Fort McMurray, AB. Great grandchildren,Jacob, Micheal, Mark, James, William, Willow, Cruze, Chase and Ozzy.

He is predeceased by his father William and mother Jane (Nee.Mitchelmore), brothers Truman (Marie), Edward (Marlene) and sister Margret (Sheldon) Henwood. First wife Eliza (Nee. Coombs), Second wife Emma (Nee. Verge), and Grandsons William Joseph Kenny (BJ) and Steven Wallace.

Memorial donations may be made to the St. John’s Intergroup of AA,
183 Kenmount Road, Suite 117, St. John’s, NL, A1B 3P9
EMT Address: sjintergroup@rogers.com

The family wishes to extend their deepest gratitude to the staff at the Rufus Guinchard Health Center in Port Saunders for his 16 months of care while residing there and also to the staff at the new Western Long Term Care facility in Corner Brook, NL for his care over the past 10 months.One of the last, of the greatest generation! RIP:   Wallace Maynard.