Ernie Pledger, the man with the winning smile, has died.
A loving family man, jokester and veteran, Pledger was laid to rest in Creemore on May 21.
“It’s hard to believe. He just turned 96 but he was never an old person. He was always a young person in spirit. We’re all going to miss him,” said daughter Linda.
Pledger worked for the Bank of Nova Scotia, starting out as a messenger at age 16, and working his way up through the ranks. He continued in the bank’s employ until he took early retirement at the age of 60, except for the time he took off to serve in the army during the Second World War.
Pledger received several medals and decorations during his military service from 1942-1946. He was in the signal corps and part of the effort to liberate Holland.
At the end of his professional life, Pledger was a trust officer at the main branch in Toronto at King and Bay. He worked two floors underground in a vault that held the bank’s gold deposit.
“I remember, he used to call my mom twice a day and ask her what it was doing outside because he could never look out a window,” said Linda.
She said when her father came home from the war, he had to get permission from his employer to get married.
“He didn’t want to get married until he came back from the war because he didn’t want to get married until, hopefully, he came back.”
When he did return home from the war, Pledger married Edna, the woman who was waiting for him, the love of his life.
The couple raised their three children – John, David and Linda – in Scarborough, which was more country than city back then.
After retirement, Ernie and Edna moved to Creemore, where Edna’s brother and his wife lived.
Pledger loved to dance and used to take his wife to the Danforth Music Hall when they lived in the city and later they joined in with the local square dancers.
In his 80s, Pledger took up curling and continued with the club until he was 92.
“He loved it, he was a very social person. He loved to be around people, especially young people and children, he just loved it,” said Linda.
Pledger was active with his church, St. Luke’s Anglican Church, and the Creemore branch of the Royal Canadian Legion.
She said he also liked to watch curling on television and was a faithful viewer of Coronation Street.
“He had a wonderful sense of humour, just wonderful. He used to play a lot of jokes,” said Linda.
She said her father was a gifted euchre player and anyone would want to be on his team because he could somehow win without having any trump.
Pledger enjoyed time with family, whether at big reunions, visits with his immediate family members in Creemore or fishing trips to his son’s place north of Kingston.
Pledger lived in his Nelson Street home in Creemore until December. He lived there alone for the last 12 years, after the death of his wife.
Linda said in good weather, he used to love getting on his scooter and heading over to Pizza Perfect for lunch.
She said her father had his favourite table and all of the regulars at the restaurant knew him.
Once when a cousin came to visit, he didn’t tell Pledger he was coming, he just went to Pizza Perfect and sat in Pledger’s chair waiting for him to show up.
“They got a good chuckle out of that one,” said Linda.
When the weather wasn’t so good, Henry Affolter or his wife Christina delivered.
For five years, the Affolters and the staff at the restaurant fed Pledger. Henry said he would receive a call that it was time for lunch and having gotten to know Pledger’s preferences, he would take him a meal, which always included one of Henry’s soups.
Henry would set his place at the table, whether at his home or at the restaurant, just the way he liked it, with the soup spoon on the left side.
“Henry always looked after him,” said Linda. “His neighbours and the people of Creemore are fabulous. They were so supportive of him and so helpful when he needed it. They were always there.”
He was in the process of moving to veterans’ care facility at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre when he had a heart attack over the holidays. He then suffered a second heart attack at the hospital earlier this month.
Pledger died on May 13. The funeral was held Thursday, May 21 at St. Luke’s Anglican Church. Donations in memory of Pledger can be made out to the Creemore Legion.