Community Champions

James Vrooman was born in the Niagara region in 1796 to a family of Dutch descent with deeply rooted United Empire Loyalist sentiments. With the outbreak of the War of 1812, this family hostility toward the Americans motivated a young James Vrooman to join the Glengarry Fencibles and defend British territory. Vrooman proved an exceptional … Read more

Philip St. John was born in Limerick, Ireland, his parents members of the Protestant Palatine community. (The Palatines were a people who moved from France to Germany and then to Ireland seeking freedom to practice their Protestant beliefs.) Philip St. John and his family immigrated to the United States in 1816, but their loyalist leanings … Read more

Walter Herbert “Mike” Sheridan (25 Nov 1921 – 6 Jul 2002) Mike Sheridan was born in Toronto in 1921. With the tragic illness of his father, Mike moved with his mother to live with his grandparents in Port Perry where grew up and attended school. Mike Sheridan enlisted in the Canadian Army on April 30, … Read more

Keith Rynard undoubtedly learned the importance of being resourceful and innovative from his parents, who in 1902, purchased the property now known as Rynbrock Farms located at lot 4,concession 5 in Brock Township. The Rynards were one of the first Brock families to install electricity in the barn and later to adopt the use of … Read more

James Ruddy came to Brock Township about 1822 from County Tyrone in Ireland. Ruddy, blessed with exceptional mechanical aptitude, built the first saw mill in Brock township on lot 6 concession 7 in Vroomanton. Such water powered mills produced sawn lumber allowing pioneers a means to convert log houses into more livable frame structures. Ruddy … Read more

An inductee in the Canadian Agricultural Hall of Fame, Dr. James Clarence Rennie always saw the possibilities in new ideas. Born near Blackwater in 1926, he left home at the age of 16 to study at the Ontario Agricultural College, later completing post-graduate studies in livestock genetics at lowa State College. He taught for 22 … Read more

Born and having lived his childhood in China, Newton Reed finished his high school education in Oshawa, after which he enlisted with the Ontario Regiment for the remainder of WW II. After the war, Newton enrolled at the University of Toronto. He graduated in Divinity from Victoria College and Emmanuel College and was ordained in … Read more

Lorne Pinkham was a prominent business leader in the village of Sunderland during the difficult period spanning the two world wars. Born in 1875 near Little Britain, he moved with his parents to a Brock farm on lot 8, concession 6, eventually taking over this farm’s operation. In 1920, Lorne purchased the funeral home on … Read more

George Parry’s life story is truly a study in courage. Only 18 years old and facing a world in depression, George solicited the sponsorship of the YMCA, left his home in Sunderland, England to sail to Canada. On arrival in Canada, he learned of a farmer ironically in Sunderland, Ontario seeking help. This led to … Read more