HARRISTON – Two streets in the planned Maitland Meadows subdivision here will be named after local Second World War veterans.
The subdivision, which will contain 126 residential units when fully built out, contains street extensions of John Street South and Anne Street, as well as two new streets, which will be known as Bean Street and Thackeray Way.
A planning and building department report presented to Minto council on July 12 notes the town has a policy stipulating new streets within the Town of Minto will be named “to honour the memory of men and women from Minto who have served in war, military action or peacekeeping assignments as part of Canada’s military.”
Staff reached out to the Harriston Legion for recommendations for veteran names and biographies and vetted the names through the County of Wellington.
The veterans recommended by the Legion are Gerry Bean and Harvey Thackeray.
Biographical information provided by the Legion notes Gerry Bean (nee Eedy) attended Harriston Public School and Harriston High School. After high school, she worked at Kitchener Hospital and did some home nursing.
GERRY BEAN
She worked at a munitions plant in Galt until early 1943 when she and a friend decided to join the armed forces. They headed down to London where they signed up and Gerry was assigned to the RCAF. She was trained in Ottawa as a nursing assistant and was initially posted to Toronto.
Her final posting was at Hagersville, providing care for wounded airmen.
She married fellow veteran Percy Bean in 1943. After Gerry was discharged in 1944, the couple lived in Listowel and Sarnia before returning to Harriston, where Gerry ran a shoe store for more than 20 years.
Percy and Gerry were active Legion members for many years and Percy served a term as president of Harriston Branch 296.
Harvey Thackeray was born on March 16, 1914 in Saskatchewan. He moved to Harriston in 1937, farming for two years before joining the staff of Canada Packers, where he worked until joining the army in 1942.
HARVEY THACKERAY
Thackeray trained in Dunurn, Saskatchewan for eight months, after which he was shipped overseas and was stationed in England, returning home in February 1946.
After working as a mechanic for Canada Packers and Harriston Motors, Harvey and his twin brother Dan opened their own garage in 1951. They worked together until Dan left to join the Harriston Police Force in 1966.
Harvey continued to operate the garage until 1976, then went to work in the parts department of Harriston Motors’ new garage.
Active in the local Legion, he served a term as president of Harriston Branch 296 in 1975.
“They are two people that did a lot of work for the Legion over the years as well and it’s nice that the Legion brought them forward,” said Mayor George Bridge.
