We regret to advise of the death of Warrant Officer Second Class Arthur Henry Fortier, CD (Ret’d) of Vedder Crossing, BC on 7 February 2007 at the age of 91 years.
Arthur was born in Grand Falls, NL into a large family where he eventually had 11 siblings. The family left Newfoundland when Arthur was young and, by way of Chandler, in Gaspé, and New Hampshire, the family settled in Buckingham, QC. He left home at the age of 15 to work on the railway.
Arthur was a veteran of the Second World War. He joined the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps in 1936 and served in Canada and Europe as a Dispatch Rider and in the regimental police. He ended the war at the rank of sergeant.
Arthur joined the Permanent Force after the war and eventually transferred to the Royal Canadian Engineers. In 1960 he helped design a graphic arts course at the Royal Canadian School of Military Engineering at Chilliwack, BC and he taught that course at the school until his retirement. Retiring in 1967 at the rank of Warrant Officer Second Class II, Arthur spent the next 12 years working for the Chilliwack School Board Resource Center and providing leadership in the area of application of graphics arts to teaching matrials until he fully retired in 1980 at the age of 65 years.
Arthur was Past Masonic Master of the Chilliwack Masonic Temple in Chilliwack. He had always been active in the Royal Canadian Legion and became a Life Member of the Vedder Golden Branch.
A Celebration of Life will be held on 18 March at 1:00 PM at the Royal Canadian Legion, Golden Branch in Vedder Crossing. Arthur is buried at the Vedder View Gardens Cemetery in Chilliwack. If so desired, memorial donations may be made to the Royal Canadian Legion, Golden Branch 280 Poppy Fund. {dcJan19gd}
