By Doris Villemaire
My father Clarence Brazier was born in Magnetawan, ON, into a farm family of 6 children in 1906. His father (my grandfather) had an unfortunate accident with dynamite while blasting stumps; as a result my grandfather became blind and was no longer the family breadwinner. The family dynamics were changed forever.
My grandmother and the children all had to do much more work. And Clarence being the most likely one to help on the farm was given a big load to carry, especially for a very young child of 5 years old. Being a responsible and sensible kid, he knew that is what he had to do in order to help his mother and younger siblings. He went to school for a few months in the winter, but eventually my grandmother said she needed him on the farm, so he had to quit school.
As a young man, after leaving home, he did manual labour jobs, such as logging and mining. But when he had to fill out any papers or an application, he would just quit; he was too embarrassed to let anyone know that he couldn’t read.
One year, he took on the job as a Fuller Brush Man. When he would have to read something, he would say “I forgot my glasses…can you read this for me.” (He never wore glasses.) Clarence was very articulate and he could easily get the help he needed without letting anyone know his secret…that he was illiterate.
He got his driver’s licence because in those days, you didn’t have to write a test. He met many difficult challenges because of his illiteracy, but being a positive person, he moved on and met the challenge.
When he married my mother Angela, she did all the reading for him. Life was a little easier. Still, no one really knew that my dad could not read. My parents had 4 girls and one son. None of us knew he couldn’t read until we were teenagers. My mom always read to us as kids, as well as to my father. My mother, a wonderful woman, was the glue that held us all together.
Sadly, my mom passed away when my dad was 93. Clarence had never done the shopping, and now his wife, and his reader, was gone. How could he manage, as he was living alone in Timmins?
He decided on his own that he had to learn to read.
For a start, he would take the flyers that came in his mail box and try to match the words to the pictures. When he had to get groceries, he’d cut out the print on the package and bring it to the store and compare. I was astounded when he told me he was going to learn to read!
Finally, my dad moved in with me, and we joined the Muskoka Literacy Council, in Huntsville, where I became his tutor and he was my student. This was a role reversal for sure. And now that I could get books more about his interests, he sailed along with his reading.
It was a thrill for me to see him reading up to 2 hours a day…in his late 90’s. My father’s eyes shone as he realized that he really could read! It reminded me of my days as a school teacher when my students discovered that they could finally read.
While doing this reading, he was also working outside cutting fire wood for my home. He never left his mind or body idle; he always wanted to be busy and have a new challenge in his life.
The media found out about this amazing man and as a result, he was front page in the Globe and Mail and many other newspapers. Global television, CTV and CBC all came to interview him. My father took all of this in stride. He didn’t think he did anything special by learning to read in his 90’s. He simply felt that “If you want to do something, just do it, and it is never too late to learn.”
I started getting calls and e-mails from schools to have my dad come and talk to the children, and he said, “Well, I can do that.”
He never went to school and now here he was…teaching kids the value of learning to read. He went out to libraries, senior’s clubs and other public places to talk about literacy. He was an uneducated farmer meeting the challenge, and he loved it.
Amongst his many laurels, my father was presented with the Governor Generals Caring Canadian Award in Ottawa, for his commitment to facing his illiteracy challenges, and telling others, “It’s never too late to learn or meet the obstacles that you face.” He was also presented with the Ontario Senior of the Year Award and the National Canada Post Literacy Award. All of these awards were given after he was 100 years of age.
He was an unselfish and humble man and always wanted to help – or entertain – others. And his story is still positively influencing people 3 years after he has passed away.
Tom Newman, a singer-songwriter was so inspired by his story that he wrote a ballad called Clarence. And a school teacher from Ottawa, Christine MacGregor-Cation is in the process of writing a Children’s book based on Clarence’s life story.
Clarence passed away just short of his 106th birthday in 2012, and his last words to his daughters were in song, “The Big Rock Candy Mountain.” I think he liked that song (and so did we) because it had a lot of positive feelings about living well. He always said, “I am lucky that I lived a good life.”
Doris Villemaire wrote a book about her father, called Clarence: A Journey of 105 Years. For more info, you can contact her at 705-685-7412 or donspond@gmail.com.
