The town of Barrie, Ont.,has named a community centre after Brig-Gen John Hayter.
The 60-plus year relationship between Brigadier-General John Hayter and Frances Wright began, literally, with a big bang — a very loud and big bang.
It was at the Junior Chamber of Commerce fair in a Sarnia, Ont., arena in the 1950s. Hayter, then 20 years old and in the Canadian Reserves, was told by his commanding officer to go to the fair to foster relations with the local community.
“We did a guard of honour,” Hayter recalls. “I was commander of the guard of honour, and we marched 50 soldiers in and shot off a feu de joie, firing blank rounds, and scared the hell out of everybody.”
The rat-a-tat-tat gun volleys were no doubt heard by all those who were working in various display booths in the arena, including Wright.
“I walked down the aisle, down around the inner parts of the arena,” Hayter says, “and there she was. My heart started beating quickly, and we were married a year later.”
They would move 27 times during their decades together, in peripatetic military fashion to England, Belgium, Germany, Cyprus, Italy and Canadian bases in Ottawa, Petawawa, London, Kingston, Halifax, Yellowknife, Toronto and elsewhere. They had four children and a brood of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Frances died in 2021, and Hayter, now a 90-year-old retired widower who joined Federal Retirees in 2008, still lives in his own Barrie, Ont., home and enjoys frequent visits from his children and their children. He also continues to volunteer for his favourite causes in the community.
He was born in Vegreville, Alta., in 1934, the eldest of three boys. When their father, a company commander in the Loyal Edmonton Regiment, fought in Italy during the Second World War, Hayter became, so to speak, the man of the house. “I ruled the roost because I was bigger, stronger and faster,” he chuckles.
It was perhaps inevitable that he would follow his father into the military.
“The armouries in Vegreville were right across the street from our house, so I used to go over there and pretend I was a soldier, marched around with the guys and so on. I became a cadet at the first opportunity, so I wore a uniform from the age of about 12.”
In the 1950s, the family moved to CFB Borden, just a few kilometres down Highway 90 from Hayter’s current home in Barrie. As a young soldier he too went to war, this time in Korea. Did he see action? “Well, nobody shot at me, and I didn't shoot at anybody, but we were in the hills, and could see the enemy across the hill from where we were.”
In retirement, he has focused on non-profits and charities in Barrie, including the Grey & Simcoe Foresters Regimental Museum, St. John Ambulance and others.
His long record of military and community work recently prompted the City of Barrie to name a lake-side facility the General John Hayter Southshore Community Centre. “His tireless efforts in supporting the military and volunteering have left an enduring mark on our city,” said Barrie Mayor Alex Nuttall.
“I’ve had a lot of honours in my life, I’ve been very fortunate, but, you know, it's got to be the greatest, because my fellow citizens of Barrie are the ones who put me there. As the Brits would say, I'm very chuffed," Hayter says.