Fred Langan

Dan Sherry, who has died at the age of 100, was probably the last living veteran of the Second World War in this area. “I didn’t see any action in the war, but I saw the results of action,” said Dan Sherry. He land-ed in Holland with the Canadian Army in May of 1945, the month the war in Europe ended. “We landed at Ostend, and the docks and submarine pens were total- ly destroyed, smashed concrete everywhere. We drove through Rotterdam, and all that was left were chimneys.”

Mr. Sherry remembered the starving people of Holland, “The Dutch people were starving. Women would go out on bicycles foraging for food. I remember some women wearing bandanas to cover their shaved heads. They were collaborators, and young boys would come and rip their bandanas off if they spoke to Canadian soldiers.”

His daughter Cynthia says her father was a natural athlete. “Overseas they made him a sports co-ordinator to improve the morale of the troops.”

Dan played tennis until he was 96 and played bridge until this year.

Daniel Kent Sherry was born in Asbestos, Quebec, where his father Homer was the mine superintendent. “My father was a long-time Townshipper,” said his daughter Cynthia.

After the war Mr. Sherry earned a degree in electrical engineering from McGill and worked for differ- ent companies in Canada, Sweden, Saudi Arabia and Australia. When working for the Swedish company Asea, he was part of a team hoping to bring electric trains to Canada. That is finally being done now.

Dan Sherry married Ann Preston, and they raised three children as well as sharing an interest in photography, keeping a dark room to develop film at home.

Ann died in 2002, and Dan then had a long-term relationship with Carol Potter, who helped him hone his bridge skills.

Dan Sherry was born on December 18, 1923, and died on August 17. He is survived by his younger brothers Cameron and Robert, his three children, Bruce, David and Cynthia, three grandchildren and a great-granddaughter.