Local notable deaths of 2021 (2024)

They were former police officers who worked for decades keeping Kingston’s citizens safe, they were sports athletes and builders, former politicians, professors and others who made an impact on Kingston, all each in their own special way.

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Here’s a look at some notable citizens who died in 2021.

• Robert Pike, a retired Queen’s University professor and grandfather who “left a big footprint on a lot of people’s lives” was the first person whose death was linked to the COVID-19 coronavirus in the Kingston region. He died on Jan. 9 at the age of 82.

Pike was a professor of sociology at Queen’s University for 32 years — heading the sociology department for 11 years — and was a father of two and a grandfather.

He grew up in England and attended the London School of Economics, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in economics and sociology in 1961, and then gained a master’s degree. He earned the first-ever PhD in sociology from the Australian National University.

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• Former Kingston Police chief Bill Hackett died Jan. 29. He was 90. Hackett was known as a wealth of knowledge with an unparalleled memory.

Hackett worked for and supported the police community for more than 60 years, first as an officer for 44 years starting in 1951, then serving on the Kingston Police Services Board for a combined14 years until 2019.

“Bill distinguished himself as a tenacious investigator and a courageous officer willing to risk his life in an effort to protect the public from dangerous individuals,” current police Chief Antje McNeely said.

Hackett was inducted into the Kingston and District Sports Hall of Fame in 2004 as an athlete and builder.

• Jay Loyst, who was a fixture at almost every Kingston Canadians, Raiders or Frontenacs major junior hockey game from 1980 to a couple of seasons ago, when health problems kept him at home, died on March 22 at the age of 54.

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Loyst was confined to a wheelchair but never let his condition slow him down. He was well known around the Leon’s Centre watching the Frontenacs play from the accessible seating area above Section 109. Before, during and after games, he would greet friends, fellow fans and others with a friendly, “How are ya!”

Loyst was a member of the 1st Collins Bay Scout Troop. In 1982, he was awarded one of the highest honours in the Boy Scouts, the Jack T. Cornwell award for “highest character and exceptional courage.” It was presented to him by then Gov. Gen. Ed Schreyer.

• Robert Cummings, 51, well known in the local homeless community, went missing on Dec. 22. His body was discovered in the water in Kingston’s Inner Harbour in late February.

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Cummings was described by former Kingston and the Island MPP Sophie Kiwala as a “sweet and gentle soul.”

• Geoff Smith, professor emeritus at Queen’s University and an avid Queen’s Gaels basketball supporter, died on April 1. He was 80.

Smith was also a former basketball coach and recruiter for the Gaels. He was also a guest sports columnist in the Whig-Standard for two years (November 1986 through November 1988).

Smith came to Queen’s in the early 1970s after an NCAA basketball career at University of California, Santa Barbara. During his teaching career and after he retired in 2006, Smith was a fixture at the old Bartlett Gym and the new Queen’s Athletics and Recreation Centre for almost every home game.

• Robert Mundell, the Kingston-born economist who won the Nobel Prize in 1999 and was called “the godfather of the Euro,” died on April 4 in Italy at 88.

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Mundell, a longtime professor at New York’s Columbia University, won the Nobel Prize in economics for his work on currency exchange rates.

Mundell was made a Companion to the Order of Canada in 2002.

He earned a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1956 after a stint studying at the London School of Economics.

• Francis MacLachlan, designer and builder of the sail training brigantine St. Lawrence II and promoter of youth sailing, died on April 18 at 95.

Since completing the St. Lawrence II in 1953, thousands of young people have spent summers on Lake Ontario around Kingston and beyond on the square-rigged ship learning the science of sailing.

MacLachlan, who was also a professor of civil engineering at Queen’s University.

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“He was a very humble person, and I think it sort of belies the magnitude of his accomplishments,” Chris Chafe, St. Lawrence II’s current captain and executive director, said in an interview.

• Kingston Police Sgt. Steve Carter died of a heart attack at 46 on May 13.

Before serving as a police officer for more than 22 years, Carter grew up in Kingston and played defence for the Kingston Voyageurs of the Metro Junior Hockey League, the former Detroit Jr. Red Wings and the Belleville Bulls of the Ontario Hockey League, and the Fort Worth Brahmas of the Western Professional Hockey League.

During his time with Kingston Police, Carter worked in various units, including patrol, training, emergency response and street crime. His final posting was in the communications unit.

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“He was humble, driven and furious competitor and yet a stoic and quiet professional,” Const. Trevor Bethune said at Carter’s funeral. “One of the many reasons why I loved him was because he authentically cared and wanted the very best for me and would not allow me to settle for anything less.

• Rita McGrattan, well known in Kingston for her impersonation of Queen Elizabeth, died on May 22 at 90.

McGrattan was a staple on the Kingston music and theatre scene for more than 40 years, belting out jazz tunes as easily as she could gain a few laughs dressed as the Queen of England, her obituary said.

• Former star basketball player Bruce Sheen died on June 14, a week shy of his 66th birthday.

On the basketball court in the 1970s, Sheen was a dominant player at La Salle Secondary School, St. Lawrence College and in men’s leagues across Ontario. When Sheen played for the St. Lawrence Big Blue, he used his tall frame to battle for balls under the basket, and his size and skills earned him the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association scoring championship all four years he played.

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He was inducted into the Kingston and District Sports Hall of Fame in 2019.

• Dino Bartzis, the owner of Dino’s Barber Shop, died on July 4 at from COVID-19.

“He’s been a great boss, the way he treats us girls,” Pat Amaral, who knew Bartzis for 23 years and worked with him for 18 years, said. “He would buy us coffee every day because he felt like that little gesture would keep us happy.”

Regular customers would frequently hear friendly banter between Bartzis and Amaral, whose barber chair was to his right.

“I’ve always worked beside Dino, and I’ve always said it takes a certain person to be able to work beside him and put up with him,” Amaral said. “We’ve always had a lot of fun.”

• Former Whig-Standard journalist Harry Kilfoyle, who specialized in reporting on rural issues in communities north of Kingston for over 30 years, died on Aug. 7. He was 83.

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He became the Whig’s bureau chief in Gananoque in 1967 before returning to the Smiths Falls Record News from 1969 until 1972. He then rejoined the Whig-Standard to work on the regional desk with Bill Fitsell.

After working as an assistant editor under Fitsell, Kilfoyle went on to become a reporter-photographer for areas north of Kingston, where he found his niche. “He would spend his day driving around the counties going from town to town and writing local stories.

Isabel Turner, 85, former reeve of Kingston Township and former mayor of Kingston, died Oct. 26 at 85.

Her political career began in 1980 when she was the first woman to be elected as a councillor in the former Kingston Township.

After two terms on council, Turner became the first woman to lead the township, serving as reeve between 1985 and 1997.

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In late 1997,Turner was caught by surprise and brought to tears when her fellow councillors unanimously voted to name the new branch of the Kingston Frontenac Public Library after her.

She lost her first city mayoral campaign, but in 2000 became the first person in 42 years to defeat an incumbent mayor in Kingston when she unseated Gary Bennett.

• Anne Turnbull, a retired coach and sports administrator at Queen’s University and a member of the Kingston and District Sports Hall of Fame, died on Nov. 13 after a short illness. She was 88.

Turnbull joined the Queen’s school of physical education and athletics in 1956 and enjoyed a 37-year career expanding sports opportunities for women at the university.

Turnbull, a New Brunswick native, came to Kingston in 1955 after graduating from McGill University as its top graduating athlete. She taught for a year at Kingston Collegiate and Vocational Institute before moving on to Queen’s University. She retired in 1993 after a distinguished career as an educator, coach and administrator.

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She is also a member of the Queen’s Coaches Hall of Fame, and the McGill Sports Hall of Fame, and in 1991 received the Ontario University Athletics Honour Award, presented to a university administrator for contribution to university sport in addition to reflecting outstanding ethics, integrity and honesty.

• Dr. Sonilal Pancham died on Nov. 17 at the age of 85.

Pancham, known as Soni, was an obstetrician and gynecologist at Kingston General Hospital and a medical professor at Queen’s University from 1971 to 2001. Based on the average number of babies born every year at the Kingston Health Sciences Centre and the number of doctors delivering babies, Pancham delivered more than 7,000 new Kingston citizens.

A native of Trinidad, Pancham arrived in Kingston in 1967 to start his residency at Queen’s. In retirement, he performed volunteer work with medical missions in Zambia and Guyana and charity work with Save the Children Canada and other organizations.

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• (Gordon) Ross Cameron, who has competed, supported and organized sailing in the area for more than 65 years, died on Dec. 7. He was 78.

Cameron, who began sailing off Toronto Island as a boy, moved to Kingston in 1967 to become an elementary school teacher, and eventually became a principal. Since that time, Cameron has been a fixture on Kingston waters, first as a sailor, then as a volunteer and then as race director of Canadian Olympic-training Regatta, Kingston (CORK).

Cameron has sat on the Kingston Yacht Club’s board since 1979 and has also served as CORK’s chairman from 1985 to 2003, and would be named CORK’s Volunteer of the Year in 2005.

• Robere Keirstead, a former teacher and dog trainer, died on Dec. 20. She was 85.

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Keirstead was a popular visitor to local public school, taking her dogs into the schools to help young students learn to read. She took her dogs, Bogie and Marshall, to schools for the St. John Ambulance reading program and also took her therapy dogs to visit retirement homes, Kingston General Hospital and to MADD Canada’s annual National Victims Conference.

She was also the wife of renowned landscape and heritage artist James Keirstead and ran the business side of things. “She virtually did 95 per cent of everything around here,” James said.

With files from Peter Hendra, Elliot Ferguson and Steph Crosier

imacalpine@postmedia.com

twitter.com/IanMacAlpine

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