Dr.Walter Tovell Dufferin County has lost one of its most famous residents with the passing of Walter Massey Tovell, one of the founders and great benefactors of its museum and archives.

The museum’s curator, Wayne Townsend, said Dr. Tovell, “or ‘Doc T’ as he was referred to here, became involved with the museum at the initial planning stages. Although there was discussion at the time about the location, he believed that the museum should be situated in a rural environment so users could enjoy the quiet and beauty of Dufferin’s countryside rather than the bustle of town.”

Mr. Townsend, who was named executor of Dr. Tovell’s estate, said his longtime friend was “very involved during the building stage, offering advice on making museum practices in such areas as conservation and storage practical to the staff users and for cost efficiencies.”

He was also a financial founder of the museum “and continued being a patron throughout our years here to assist in on going operational costs and special projects, including the restoration of the Corbetton church.”

Noting that Dr.Tovell was on the first DCMA museum board and served as vice chair for several years, Mr. Townsend said he was instrumental in establishing the Dufferin County Museum and Archives Trust, which gathers money which is independent in many ways from the County, and the capital cannot be spent but the interest can be used if needed to offset operational costs or special projects as needed, giving the museum some independence, if needed, from government funding sources.

He said Dr. Tovell was also the donor and sponsor of numerous artifacts in the museum’s collection. “Walter’s research notes and texts on the Niagara Escarpment reside here in the archives for all to use in the future.”

He described Dr. Tovell as “a friend and mentor to all staff at DCMA who was always willing to offer advice and guidance if asked and was not offended when staff did not agree.”

Mr. Townsend said that at the time of his death, “Walter was currently working on providing geological information for a Dufferin Driving Tour,” which is being produced to celebrate Dufferin’s 125th anniversary later this year.

“His loud laughter and great stories will be missed here at the museum and by me personally, as we had become great and lasting friends.”

Dr. Tovell believed in studying the history of the world around him, and how it was created, in order to understand today’s world.

“He was always interested in the environment and historical questions. It was his life,” his brother, Vincent Tovell, 83, told The Toronto Star.

The former history and nature show producer with the CBC described his elder brother as “a lifelong teacher and educator.”

Dr. Tovell, a member of Canada’s famed Massey family, a former director of the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) and a geologist, died Friday at the Avalon Retirement Centre. He was 89.

“One of the reasons that he was so interested in the Royal Ontario Museum is it’s not just a science museum, a humanities museum, human history

museum, archeology and all those things,” his brother said.

“He was very supportive of all of them, which made him a natural director when there had been all kinds of problems in change and growth.”

Walter was the eldest grandson of Susan Denton and Walter Massey, who purchased 80 hectares of land and built a farm called Dentonia Park, near what is today Victoria Park and Danforth Avenues in Toronto. After attending

Upper Canada College and

the University of Toronto, he received his doctorate in geology from the California Institute of Technology and served as a professor at U. of T., where buildings bearing his family’s name, include Massey College and Hart House (named after his great-grandfather, Hart Massey).

In 1973, Dr. Tovell was appointed director of the ROM, after trustees had dismissed his predecessor for “launching the ROM in strange futuristic directions,” the Star reported at the time. Although he pushed for expansion of the museum during his threeyear tenure, friends say he never got used to the recent modernist changes at Canada’s largest museum.

“Walter was not fond of the new design and that would be an understatement,” Mr. Townsend said. “He felt that the front entrance should always be pointed toward the university because the university is a place of learning and he didn’t like the idea that the new entrance points toward Bloor Street because it made it a little more commercial.”

Mr. Townsend said his friend “always felt that the museum should be a place of learning, as opposed to a tourist attraction.”

Although Dr. Tovell retired in 1975, he kept up an active pace, venturing out on oil expeditions and geological tours to such places as Iceland. Fittingly for someone who was forever learning, he eventually settled in a renovated schoolhouse in Dufferin and gave assistance that has helped ensure the county museum continues to thrive independent of government funding.

“Certainly in Dufferin County, it was always neat for us to recognize the fact that he was well-known through the country, but at home he was always relaxed, never wore a tie, he always looked like he had just come off the farm,” Mr. Townsend said.

During his time in Dufferin, Dr. Tovell penned a guide to the Niagara Escarpment, set up a trail near the Island Lake Conservation Area and was one of the founding members of the Kortright Centre for Conservation. He was also a member of a number of naturalist groups and pushed many environmental causes.

“He felt near the end of his life that you become secure by being involved in your small community rather than the big communities of the world,” Mr. Townsend said. “It’s much easier. It always starts at home.” He was one of several prominent Ontario seniors who were profiled by the Ontario Seniors Secretariat as part of Seniors Month in June 2004.

In the profile, the secretariat described Dr. Tovell as having “long been active in conservation, founding and serving as President of the Federation of Ontario Naturalists,” noting that he had recently been awarded the Ian Shenstone Fraser Memorial Award “for his impressive accomplishments

relating to the protection of the Niagara

No shows at blood donor clinic Escarpment.

“Thanks to Dr. Tovell’s interest and contributions in the area, including authoring the ‘Guide to the Geology of the Niagara Escarpment,’ the Niagara Escarpment is known as one of less than 100 worldwide biosphere reserves.

“Dr. Tovell was instrumental in the creation of the Dufferin County Museum and Archives and remains heavily involved in its activities, giving lectures and sharing his expertise.

“As a resident at the Lord Dufferin Centre in Orangeville, Dr. Tovell has held several workshops for residents and the community at large. He held a workshop for postgraduate students and was recently a contributor to a new book by author Nicola Ross entitled ‘Dufferin County’.

“Dr. Tovell remains active in his community, enjoys reading, and regularly surfs the Internet for the latest developments in world affairs.”

Dr. Tovell leaves brothers Vincent and Freeman, children Mariane Muir and Denton, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

A visitation will be held on Jan. 14, 2 to 4 p.m., at the Dods & McNair Funeral Home in Orangeville, and a memorial service will be held the following day at 2 p.m. in the former Corbetton United Church at the County Museum and Archives, Highway 89 and Airport Rd.

A tree has been planted in memory of Dr. Tovell in the Dods & McNair Memorial Forest at the Island Lake Conservation Area, Orangeville, where a dedication service will be held Sunday, September 10.