Vickers, Fredrick William

Fredrick W. Vickers was born in St. Catharines, Ontario to William John Vickers, a painter and decorator, and Jane Ethyl Vickers (nee Rooke). Fred attended Memorial Public School and St. Catharines’ Collegiate and Vocational School. He then attended McMaster University on a Gordon C. Edwards scholarship in Modern Languages and graduated in 1937 with a BA. After training at the Ontario College of Education in Toronto (1937-38), he returned to St. Catharines’ Collegiate and Vocational School, becoming a full-time teacher in 1940. Around this time he was introduced to Margaret Cotter Sargent by her brother-in-law, James Shaver.

In 1942 he volunteered for active service in the Canadian military, beginning training in early August. He was appointed a Second Lieutenant on 17 April 1943. On leave in July 1943 after his training, Fred and Margaret became engaged, but afraid of leaving her a widow, Fred postponed the wedding until after the war. Not long after, he was sent to England where he eventually joined the Fifteenth Canadian Field Regiment. He remained in Europe until the very end of 1945 or early 1946, when he returned with his regiment. On 26 January 1946, he and Margaret were married. They had their first child, John, in December of that year, and a daughter, Anne, in February of 1950. Fred worked as a teacher, Vice-Principal, District Inspector, Education Officer, and Head of Romance Languages over his career with the Ministry of Education, before retiring in 1975. Margaret died in August of 2008 at the age of 94, and Fred in December of 2009, just after his 94th birthday.

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W. Laufs