BONNYVILLE – William McGregor was born in Ireland on March 23, 1923. On Thursday, McGregor celebrated his 100th birthday at the Bonnyville Seniors Drop-in Centre surrounded by friends, family, elected officials and military personnel.
“For many of us it is hard to fathom how much the world has changed in the last 100 years,” began Shelly Bryant, one McGregor’s six grandchildren.
“From the days of horse-pulled ploughs and helping wounded in Normandy during WWII to writing emails and driving combines with GPS and computer screens, my grandfather has been there and done that.”
Throughout the birthday celebration there were bursts of laughter and moments of tears sparked by pride in a life well lived and the recollection of loss that is inevitable during a long life.
It was obvious from speeches and memories shared that while McGregor was a man of little words, he was a man of great action. Perhaps it was the hardships endured over the course of his life that allowed McGregor to ignore frivolity and focus instead on what mattered.
At two years old, McGregor travelled across the Atlantic Ocean, then across Canada by train to reach Vermillion where his parents and sister, Nellie, began a new life.
“We are accustomed to hearing about immigrant stories to Canada, it is important to remember that in those days it meant clearing land, building a homestead from nothing and working day and night, just to survive. The cold winters, the isolation and the homesickness made for a particularly difficult time,” described Bryant.
It wouldn’t be long before the Great Depression would bring added hardship to the McGregor family. The prices of grain and cattle had fallen so low that there was no money coming in, explained Bryant. The immigrant family faced foreclosure of their family farm. It was then that they decided to move north to the Sandy Rapids area.
Travel was quite different in the early 20th century. It would take two weeks for the young family to travel from their Vermilion homestead to their new farm.
With their household goods hauled on hay racks and in a covered wagon, the family forged north only to get stuck in the mud waiting for the ferry and the ice to clear on the North Saskatchewan River. Once across, the cattle then had to be coaxed to wade through the freezing water.
It can be hard to imagine just what it was like to grow up nearly a century ago. But tales from McGregor’s life highlight the day-to-day conveniences now taken for granted.
“My grandpa recounts getting a toothache and riding his bicycle 28 miles to Bonnyville to get a tooth pulled – with no freezing – then having his bike break down on the way home and having to walk the last 15 miles,” shared Bryant.
As McGregor listened to the stories of his life, smiles flashed across his face with an occasional chuckle as he recalled the shenanigans of his past.
At the age of 17, McGregor spent the winters working at the farm and in the spring he drove a six-horse harrow east of St Paul. “It was then when he heard about the war breaking out in Europe,” said Bryant. McGregor and his brothers, John and Robert, signed up. It was a chance to make money and see the world.
To get to Europe in 1942, McGregor and his brothers travelled by train to Halifax, then boarded the Queen Mary. “It was overcrowded with soldiers, having been outfitted for 15,000 soldiers but carrying 28,000,” Bryant described.
McGregor would be assigned to the 11th Field Ambulance with the Essex Scottish Regiment, a Regimental Aid Post. He was sent to Normandy just days after D-Day.
During the war, McGregor was tasked with dressing wounds and providing first aid in the field, administering morphine to those in pain or dying, or transporting those in need to places they could get the surgery they required.
In February of 1945, McGregor would learn of his brother John’s passing. “He had the serendipitous chance to see him the day before he was killed when John’s platoon was passing by their camp while on the way to help clear the Siegfried Line in Germany. They had 15 minutes to catch up before John had to leave,” shared Bryant.
McGregor’s war-time stories remained relatively untold for many years, recalled McGregor’s youngest son Ralph. The only times Ralph remembers hearing his father talk about his time in the miliary as a child was when he would tiptoe part way down the staircase, quietly listening to his father, uncle and close family friends discuss their time overseas in low tones late at night.
It wouldn’t be until McGregor returned to Europe to commemorate the end of WWII in 1995 and then again in 2017, that he started to share his experiences more freely, recalled Ralph.
When McGregor returned to Europe with his eldest son Lloyd in 2017, it was as a representative of Canada for the 100th anniversary of Vimy Ridge. McGregor was 94 years old.
But when the war ended and McGregor returned to Canada as a 20-year-old veteran, he could not have imagined what the next 80 years would bring.
McGregor would meet his wife, Lorane Peterson, at a Ukrainian New Years Eve Dance in 1945. The pair would marry on April 1 of 1948 and go on to have four children - Vivian, Lloyd, Thomas and Ralph.
McGregor and Lorane were married over 74 years before her passing on Jan. 17, 2022. In the years they spent together, the pair left a lasting mark on the Iron River and Bonnyville communities.
In 1946, with the help of Veterans Affairs, McGregor bought a farm and began building a life and a community for his children to grow up in – but that didn’t mean challenging times didn’t lie ahead.
The 1950s brought an epidemic to Canada and many parts of the world – polio. “Social distancing was a different story back then. The kids were home-schooled for over a year, and they didn’t go into town,” said Bryant, recalling stories of her parents' past.
But life carried on, and McGregor volunteered as the assistant director of the local 4-H Beef Club for six years, was active in the Iron River Home and School association, and with the Iron River United Church.
In 1967, the Land of the Lakes Recreation Board was formed with McGregor as one of the directors. McGregor was instrumental in fundraising for the [Iron River] Centennial Hall, which is still used to this day.
McGregor joined the Bonnyville Agricultural Society and served on their board of directors for 19 years, beginning in 1973. It was during this time that the Bonnyville Agriplex was fundraised for and built. The structure would stay a historic landmark and would be tied into the future design of the Bonnyville and District Centennial Centre.
“My grandparents’ commitment to their family and their community led them to being awarded the Alberta Farm Family award for north-eastern Alberta in 1974,” noted Bryant.
By the 1990s McGregor and Lorane, decided they were ready for change. They retired from the farm, selling it to their sons Tom and Ralph, and moved into the Town of Bonnyville. In retirement, the pair may have been busier than before.
For the next 20 years McGregor served as the president and vice president of the Bonnyville Seniors Drop-In Centre, where he helped fundraise for a new hall – the one he celebrated his 100th birthday in. He also sat on the Alberta Senior Citizen’s Recreation Board for 15 years as the area director.
In December 2002, McGregor was awarded with the Golden Jubilee Medal given to those with significant contributions to Canada, their community and fellow Canadians.
“The accolades continued when in September 2005 he was awarded with the Alberta Centennial Medal in recognition of his outstanding service to the people of Alberta. Then in 2012 he was given the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for significant contribution to his community,” listed Bryant.
The highest honour came in 2015 when McGregor was visited by a representative of the French government and made a Knight of the French National Order of the Legion of Honor for his service during D-Day, the Battle of Normandy, and the liberation of France. This is the highest honour conferred by the Government of France.
With a long list of accomplishments and accolades, it was almost easy to forget the man sitting quietly in the room surrounded by his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
While those in attendance took turns speaking of McGregor, he was turned facing those who came to celebrate his golden milestone.
Following cake and speeches, letters were read from Canadian and foreign dignitaries congratulating McGregor on his 100th birthday.
Letters arrived from the Governor General of Canada, Honourable Mary Simon, the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta, Salma Lakhani, Lakeland MP Shannon Stubs, Bonnyville-Cold Lake-St. Paul MLA David Hanson, Leader of the Official Opposition of Canada, Pierre Poilievre, and Dutch Ambassador Ines Coppoolse, who also sent a Medal of Remembrance in Relation to the Liberation of Holland.
McGregor was also presented with a Canadian Medical Unit Flag from members of 4 Wing Cold Lake’s 22nd Canadian Forces Health Services Centre.
