Young, Harry Philip
Crossed the threshold peacefully, at his country home in Cavan, On,Saturday December 26th 2020, where he was loved and cared for by his devoted family and precious caregivers. Harry, of Aurora,On and Bonita Springs, Fl, formerly of Thornhill, Nobleton,and Toronto was 91 years of age.
Beloved and treasured husband of Shirley (nee Jones) for 57 years. Loving, cherished father of Karen and David Young, beloved friend and father-in-law of Andrew Bennett and adoring, proud Hubba of Olivia Rose Young Brodhurst and Ashley Belle Young Brodhurst.Loved brother and cousin of his remaining family and all the dear friends in the GTA, USA and Leeds, UK.
President and co-founder of Tape Specialties Limited with his life partner and wife Shirley,since its humble inception in 1972 and successfully operated with the dedication and help of many valuable salesmen and employees in the office and factory and globe. The company was sold with the highest integrity of my parents in2004. T.S.L. was highly respected for creating Shatterstop safety mirror backing but more impressively,the notorious Painters Mate Green and Painters Mate Delicate masking tapes with long-time friend and chemist Peter Haug. Painters Mate products were created with the world’s first water based adhesive and were sought after by lay painters, professionals and decorative painters around the globe. Towards the end of Harry’s industrious career,he began a small plumbing distribution company, Plumbco Trading, as an act of service to a former friend, which dissolved five years later. Harry worked as a Sales Manager for Canadian Technical Tape and Ray-O-Vac Battery and was an accomplished steam fitter working in tight and challenging places, such as replacing corroded parts within the bilge of ships returning from war. Harry’s deep love of music, big band and jazz in particular, was evident throughout his long and eloquently lived life. Asa teenager he would D.J. the dances at the YMCA and Palais Royale with his beloved older brother. Music and dancing were some of my parents most loved and treasured activities and he enjoyed good music and wine with family and friends through the years. Young Harry, at six year’s old,sold Wilsons Ginger Ale and Coca Cola,which he kept cool in the upstairs bathtub with ice,along with his dear mother’s home-made butter tarts,to the factories along the eastern Toronto waterfront in a red wagon borrowed from his newspaper route. At a very young age, Harry had the foresight to discern and then fulfill needs in his community with his innate natural abilities, a pioneering sharp mind, common sense and a strong ethic of hard work. Today we call this an entrepreneurial spirit. Dad always told us if you do something, do it to the best of your ability or don’t do it at all. In my mother, dad found a creative, kindred and generous spirit to share and help inspire and realize his visions.
A founding member and two-time President of Meadowbrook Golf& Country Club, in Stouffville, On and long-time member of Palmira Golf & Country Club in Bonita Beach, FL,Harry loved the sport of golf as it was truly,a gentleman’s game. Many precious and memorable times spent with family, dear friends and business relationships involved golf;both on and off the course.The relaxation, enjoyment and comradery flowed gently through Harry’s veins.In his younger years,Harry was the President of the Progress Club where he met some of his closest lifetime friends. Harry was a visionary man of many successes. A generous philanthropist with his wife Shirley, together they gave of their hearts, time and resources over many years whilst striving to help bring support and awareness to the stigma of Mental Health,donating to the Schizophrenia Society of Ontario, S.S.O., and CAMH, formerly the old Queen Street Mental hospital, both doing tremendous work in research and education, Sunnybrook, North York and St. Joseph’s
hospitals. In 1998, Shirley and Harry co-founded the Drive to Survive Charity Golf Tournament at Nobleton Lakes Golf & C.C. which culminated in 2006 at Angus Glen Golf & C.C. These tournaments raised thousands of dollars through client and business sponsorships helping to bring in larger donations to S.S.O. which were desperately needed as well as participating in removing the stigma associated with schizophrenia. Through their former foundation, Harry and Shirley gave to many vital and necessary charities in the GTA and to this day,give what they can to help others.
Harry was fortunate to travel many parts of the world through business and pleasure with Shirley, family and dear friends;Harry loved travel.He spoke about going on another river cruise until quite recently and of going to his home in Florida, which he loved.Dad was not keen on our cold winters.On our families last great adventure, we journeyed to England where we celebrated dad’s 90thbirthday, with cherished cousins. On an epitaph dedicated to a man,hanging on the wall of a small ancient stone chapel,outside the estate we were renting in Over Compton, I read a dedication which spoke to my heart of my dad.
In respect to the late Mr. Nicholas Bingham, I offer the poignant sentiments to you today, in honor of my dad, Harry Young.“A man who through the course of a long and laborious life went about doing good,he comforted the poor, by his conduct he gave lessons to the rich, in the practice of living life he was exemplary and sincere; his integrity and uprightness gained him the first of all characters, that of an HONEST MAN.
”Harry held the many adversities and successes of his rich and diverse life with a calm strength born of quiet acceptance of the vagaries and the rainbow of the human experience. He lived his life with a lightness and easy humor, yet Harry was a deeply loyal, compassionate man who walked softly through life with quiet impeccability, an equanimous disposition in service to his family and others, even in his last moments.
On an intimate and observational note,I feel called to share:my beloved dad passed away peacefully and I feel, with mercy, of late-stage Lewy Body Disease, his remarkable neurologist at Sunnybrook, Dr. Sandra Black explained to me in my understanding in 2017 that dad had‘the trinity’: dementia, Parkinson’s and small vascular disease and this may be a blessing for he would experience these three aspects by migrating from one to the other, not one solely. We, his closest family and caregivers observed the progression of this devastating disease of the brain as it slowly stole cherished memories over time and rearranged all we and dad held precious of the experiences of our lives together. My dear father lived truly, in the moment,with acceptance. It is understandable that I (we)felt powerless and barely able to bear witness to the suffering of the man each of us have loved for all the time we have known him. Yet through the ravaging of his body and mind,I know I have been blessed with clear eyes to truly see;a pure heart to truly sense and a strong mind,to truly discern that the deeper my beloved dad fell asleep to most of the practical aspects of his personal expression and life as we all knew it, what revealed itself to me (us) in the stillness,and what remained present,until the last breath my father exhaled, was his nobility, his kindness, as a gentle man and protector whose radiance shone brightly in the present, the here and now, as a testament and gift for us.My beloved father was a quiet teacher who taught by action, a man of few words.
With all our gratitude, we acknowledge the love and devotion of three very special angels: one a precious friend, a part of our family for years, and two bright and caring young ladies for many months. In their own special ways, each of these women have allowed our family to care for dad at home and for my parents to fulfill their promises to one and other. And to our beloved mother, who devoted herself to our father, in health and in illness, with the highest of herself in Love, action, dedication and grace. Words will never express our immeasurable thankfulness to you.
In keeping with Harry’s wishes, cremation will take place January 5th, 2021. There will not be a service or funeral.
My dear brother David recounted to me days ago,a conversation he and dad had years earlier where dad expressed his wishes for his passing. “He had a good life. He was lucky to have family and friends. He wished not that we cry when he passes but that we celebrate with nice food and good wine.”
With this, we invite you all, his family and friends, to hold in your heart a future day, possibly August 12, 2021, dad’s birthday, when we will gather together to hug, laugh, dance,and toast good wine in tribute and celebration of the deeply meaningful life of Harry Philip Young, a most remarkable man, my dad.
Arrangements are under the care and direction of Ashburnham Funeral Home, Peterborough, On.In lieu of condolence’s, in keeping with dad’s philosophy of the glass is always half full, we invite you to share your fond memories online with us if you feel so moved; but most importantly, to keep them alive in your hearts, where we will remember Harry Philip Young, always.
“May the road rise to meet you.May the wind be always at your back.May the sunshine warm upon your face.The rains fall soft upon your fields.And until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of his hand."