At a crossroad in Hockley Valley there is a plaque which states that the intersection used to be known as Lavertyville. This was because Laverty families lived on all four corners. The Lavertys go back in Hockley’s history some 150 years.

A descendant of those families, Don Laverty died tragically in a car accident last Thursday, at age 67.

Without any notices in the papers, without being a public figure of any kind, even, without being a wealthy philanthropist, but just by the humanity and generosity of his nature and his life, hundreds of people came to the family’s visitation on Monday and filled the Orangeville Baptist Church for the funeral on Tuesday.

The testaments to his life explained the presence of so many people completely: Don Laverty was a great man.

Graduated as an engineer, Don had an engineer’s job until 1971, when he joined Bob Burnside in his new venture. Mr. Burnside had been running his one-man engineering business for year but was in need of help by the end of the first year. Now, Burnside is corporation employing 300 people and doing business across Canada and in Africa and the Caribbean.

When Arunas Kalinauskas, one of the Burnside employees, gave his reflections, he said he reminded his younger colleagues at the firm that without Don Laverty’s early contribution to its formation, they would not have jobs there. It was Mr. Kalinauskas who told us about Don’s promotion of the Youth for Christ movement, his enthusiasm for it, and his hard work on its behalf.

As he explained to us, whatever Don Laverty thought should happen, he worked hard to make work. He decided to establish and then did the organizing for a golf tournament to raise funds for the Youth for Christ. It was the best run golf tournament in the circuit according to the participants who came from all over Ontario to attend it.

“All we have to do is follow Don’s lead,” said Mr. Kalinauskas. “We won’t change a thing – except the name. This year it is to be called the Don Laverty Memorial Youth for Christ Golf Tournament.”

He started a Valentine’s Banquet to raise funds for Youth for Christ. For this, he needed to persuade his beautiful wife, Lynne.

Lynne and Don were married very young. They had three children, all of whom went on to higher education and good professions. Sometimes, they followed their father’s advice and sometimes they did not, but there was never a time when he did not support them with the same energy and enthusiasm he displayed in all aspects of his life.

He did persuade Lynne to help him with the Valentine’s Banquet and it will continue as he began it.

Mr. Kalinauskas told us: “During the banquets, where were Lynne and Don? They were serving the food or collecting plates. They helped to set up the banquet. They never ate, they served others.”

Mr. Laverty’s dear friend, Vince Judge, spoke next, telling us about Mr. Laverty’s humour, his humility and the depth of his friendship.

They all spoke of the time when Mr. Laverty found his Christian faith and the profound difference it made to his life and to Lynne.

There were other committees, other groups who benefitted from his tremendous organizational skills, his heady enthusiasm for all his projects.

In 2004, he wanted to build a new home for Lynne and himself that would also be a bed and breakfast. He and Lynne debated the issue for a while until they agreed to the venture.

They called it Unto the Hills Bed and Breakfast after the opening lines of the 121st Psalm and it has welcomed a great many people who thanked them for their “heavenly” hospitality.

Lynne told me the following day: “Don charmed people – they just fell in love with him – he would always tease me and he just loved this property.”

Mono Mayor Lorie Haddock said Mr. Laverty had “left a mark on Mono that will be hard to follow. It’s a terrible tragedy and a great loss to the community.”

The mayor described the Laverty family as “long-standing friends, really great people,” recalling that Mr. Laverty had been one of the originals in Burnside and Associates, along with Mono’s former roads superintendent, the late Wayne Reid.

Although Mr. Laverty had retired, he had come out of retirement in a sense to assist with the recent addition to Orangeville Baptist Church, where she estimated “there must have been 1,000” at the funeral.