Secretaries

Pat Kriter
Photo taken in Met Lab at Hilton Works

Alice Kariatsumari

Sheila Voce
Nickname: "The Foreman"

Dick Baird-Kerr
Taken in Met Lab at Hilton Works

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Andrew Baird-Kerr emailed me today:

Hello Mr McKay,

I am Andrew Baird-Kerr, son of Dick Baird-Kerr.

I happened across your blog in searching for anything with my dad's name on it. I also found the patent for an invention he worked on for Stelco R&D, namely a single-sided galvanizing process - I remember him mentioning this way back about 1980.

My father passed away on May 10, 2006, a month after his 77th birthday, following an eleven month battle with lung cancer. He lived a healthy life up to that point, and during the cancer bout was the first and only time he ever stayed overnight in a hospital. It was only in the final week that he had become incoherent.

I am happy that you compiled your photos and memories into this blog. I saw a few familiar names and faces in there.

The only names I can remember, and of whom I have never seen or heard of in over twenty years, would be yourself, Dan Sakai, Rick Minion, Ray Addinall, and Sasha Kosakov. My dad was quite fond of Sasha, and often spoke admiringly of his work. He was also friends with Art Scott, who I think was a security guard there.

Back about 1976, my dad took me to a coin show in Toronto with Art Scott, who was an avid collector. I was then 11 years old. At lunch time they visited a place called Harvey Wallbanger, a lower-priced steak place. It was something like Ponderosa, where you ordered your steak on a cafeteria style line. I had a cheeseburger while my dad and Art ordered steaks. At the table, my dad made a comment to Art about his steak being tough, adding, "It must have been a young horse." He said it seriously, and for years after that, I honestly thought steak was horse meat.

My dad always referred to work as "The Lab". Sometimes on a Saturday he might go into The Lab to check on the "Salt Test". Sometimes, when I was about 9 or 10 years old (c. 1974) he would take me with him and show me some stuff around The Lab. It was a sizable lab that he had, and I always assumed that he worked there with a few others. It was only recently that I asked him about this and he said that he had that lab all to himself. He loved working there: loved it with a passion. After retirement, he missed his lab terribly.

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Ron Jamieson, Dick Baird-Kerr and Harold Cipywnyk
Don George and Harry Hodds

This team edited the Third Edition of the Communications Handbook. They worked long hours, frequently on their own time, to compile the edition. They earned the respect and thanks of Stelco technical report writers. – Jock McKay 1978

R&D party

Bob Pugh wrote:

Dear Jock
I was very pleased to see your R&D blog. It brought back lots of memories. I did recognize one fellow in your group page - person 5, standing by Jim Lait is a fellow by the name of Richard Paquette. He worked for R&D in Edmonton and must have slipped in for the picture. He was an electrical engineer. He and Len Dobrucki, another Stelco Hamilton R&D man working at Stelco Edmonton left later to work in their own company manufacturing automated signs.
I have also attached some photos I had. Most are from an R&D party put on about 1968 or 1969. The "Thermics" group - Ray Meadowcrofts early group working on heat transfer problems, which I belonged to - organized it at Gil Dunlop and Keith Wilson's boarding house on Plain's Road which had a pool - I think it was called "The Ranch". The other pictures are from a 1975 Open House at the R&D Center and an Octoberfest dance in Hamilton about 1969.

Bob Pugh

Octoberfest (non R&D party): Marilyn Pugh, Rick Grigg, Sylvia Heyer, Bob Pugh, Rick’s wife, Klaus Heyer, 2 friends of Rick Grigg?

Pilot plant employee and wife,and Armand Allard and wife

Gil Dunlop’s wife

Secretary?,?

Klaus Heyer, Jim?, German Transfer Student?

Charley?, and Mary and Andy Kay

Frank Markus’s wife, Bob Pugh, Frank Markus, ?

Peter Rhee and Wife

Keith Wilson and Gil Dunlop


Jock and Denise McKay, and others

Lorne Murphy and others

Jock McKay, and Murray Thomson

?, Stu McKechnie, Arlene McKechnie, Ray Meadowcroft, ?, Marilyn Pugh

Ray Addinall, Don Harris, Ray Meadowcroft and Marilyn Pugh

Charley?, and Andy Kay

German Transfer Student and Wife?,and Pat and Henry Paulencu

Howard Meilach on guitar

Denise McKay, Ray Addinall, and Klaus Heyer

Roy Littlewood, Howard Meilach and Ray Addinall

Gene and Doreen Thom

Lorne Murphy, Wife and Pilot plant employee?, Ray Addinall, and Dave Pyle

German Transfer Student?, Frank Markus’s wife, student’s Wife?, and Frank Markus

Gil Dunlop, Mary Kay, and Andy Kay

Gil Dunlop’s wife, and Gil

Keith Wilson & Simonne Allard

R&D Open House:
Bob Pugh and Family, 1975

Reminder

Rick Minion email:

Hello all my fellow Stelco retirees,
I hope everyone is well. This is meant to be a simple reminder for you to keep the morning of June 3rd open for our breakfast gathering.

As always it is at:
Place: Smitty's Restaurant
1035 Brant Street
(NE corner of Brant Street and Plains Road)
Time: 9:00 am
Date: Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009

We have a room reserved at the back of the restaurant.
I`ll be sending out another reminder notice around May 23rd, 2009.

Hope you can attend.
Our next get together after this one will be October 7th of this year.

Take care,
Rick Minion