We regret to advise of the death of Thomas Albert Shiers of Three Mile Plains, NS who died peacefully on 29 September 2015 at age 99 at Camp Hill Veterans' Memorial Hospital in Halifax.
Born in Gypsum Mines, NS, Tom left school at a young age to help support his family and followed several careers. He started as a farm labourer and then worked a winter in a northern New Brunswick lumber camp. He worked in other camps and mines and became a welder by trade. Tom enlisted for WW II with the Royal Canadian Engineers and was initially engaged in his welding specialty. Rather than staying in England to train welders, he sought to see action on the Continent. A veteran of D-Day, Tom landed on Juno Beach and fought the way across France and Belgium. He was a Holland Liberator and ended the war in Germany.
When he returned home after the war, Tom became active in the trade union movement. He was president of the Nova Scotia Quarry Workers' Union Local 294 and was an executive member of the Nova Scotia Federation of Labour. He then went to work for the Toronto Newspaper Guild in Ontario but came back to serve as the Executive Secretary of the Nova Scotia Civil Service Commission in its formative years. Tom retired from the Nova Scotia Department of Labour to spend time with family, working his hobby farm, hunting and fishing. He continued to lend his expertise to unions and employee associations across the country and became a councillor for the Municipality of West Hants. Tom was a Master Mason with St. John's Lodge No. 2 in Halifax and a member of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch No. 9 in Windsor.
Everyone is invited to join the family at a graveside service for both Tom and his late wife Kathleen at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, 17 October in Maplewood Cemetery, 1186 King St., Windsor, NS. A reception will follow at the Elmcroft Reception Centre of the funeral home. Donations to St. Thomas Anglican Church, c/o 76 Old Halifax Rd. West, RR2 Windsor, NS B0N 2T0 or to a charity of your choice would be appreciated. Messages of condolence may be sent by visiting: www.demontfamilyfuneralhome.ca or to DeMont Family Funeral Home & Cremation Service, 419 Albert St., PO Box 981 , Windsor, NS B0N 2T0.
