Ormond McCarthy
Orm McCarthy
Ormond Francis, 1909 -1976
Orm was named after Jennie’s brother who died in 1916 fighting in World War 1. He attended the Peterborough Business College for six months but could not find a job since it was the time of the Great Depression. He moved to Toronto and attended the same college as Gene in Toronto. Her sister, Lois, told the story that one got 98% and the other got 96% from the course that they took at the same time. He worked at the John Inglis Company in Toronto until 1941 when he joined the RCAF as a mechanic and instructor, mostly at Trenton and at Mountain View.
He often told the story how a person had offered to send him to Dental College after the war but he had declined. He had a terrific memory and could recall who was related to whom precisely; for example, “she is the second cousin once removed of …..”.
Like his brother, Gene, Orm had gifts in foretelling the future. Anna Marie Bolin recalls that on the day her father, Jack Bolin, was diagnosed with cancer that Orm came down the stairs in the morning and said, ” We are going to hear bad news about Jack Bolin today.”
Orm was a great conversationalist, and was well read. He had definite views on political issues, especially Communism, the stock market, etc. He was a softball catcher, and managed the Keene girls’ team in the 1930s. He died at age 66 of lung cancer.
