too late

This is a picture of my uncle, Ron Hill, who died yesterday, two months shy of 100 years old. Ron was a very kind and sensitive person who was a force for the cause of blind people in the maritimes.

At age 7, he was having his jacket sewn by his mother when the Harbour at Halifax was subject a massive explosion: a ship loaded with explosives collided with another. Although the family lived at 5 Uniacke Street, just a few feet from the water, the explosion was not near enough to destroy their home. One of his older brothers, who was late for his job in the harbour, was not killed, nor was his father, a marine engineer who was home with the 'flu. He told this story recently in The Halifax Chronicle Herald.

At the age of 17, Ron was hit in the eye by a hockey stick. He lost that eye, and later an infection formed, spread to the other eye, and he lost it too. He never let his blindness be an obstacle to travel or achievement. He was well loved.