Obituary of Reginald S. Doan

Reginald Stanley Doan of Kanata, Ontario, died on Sunday, March 29th, 2020, in his 92nd year. After many months of declining health, Reg died peacefully at Bridlewood Trails Retirement Home with his daughter Elsa by his bedside. Reg was born in Cobalt Ontario on November 27th, 1928, to father Lloyd Doan and mother Ida (Ferguson) Doan. The second of three sons and a daughter, Reg began working at an early age – first helping with his father’s cartage business – and then working at a great variety of jobs throughout northern Ontario during his late teens and early adult years. He worked in lumber camps and millyards, on various construction sites, underground in the mines of Cobalt and Sudbury, on the surface as a diamond driller and smelter worker, on railroad maintenance crews for the CNR, at an ironworks, and as a lineman and installer for both the Northern Telephone Company and Ontario Hydro. He was a tireless worker, fiercely independent and steadfast, always curious, and a keen observer of human behaviour. A strong work ethic together with a strong sense of social justice led him to take an active part in the unionization of mine workers in the 1950’s and efforts to improve workplace safety in the mining industry. That same spirit led him to serve two terms on the Cobalt Town Council. In 1961 Reg then settled into what became a life-long career with Corrections Ontario, first as a corrections officer at the Burwash Penitentiary. Upgrading along the way, he worked through the ranks at the Haileybury, Sudbury and North Bay Jails. He retired in 1995, after being promoted to Superintendent of jails in both Haileybury and North Bay. As a corrections officer and manager, Reg was a fair-minded, highly principled and compassionate professional who always strove to do what was right for both inmates and staff. Never idle, Reg made good use of his many acquired skills as a labourer. In his spare time, he built two homes in Cobalt, and a third in North Bay – all from the ground up, doing virtually all of the work single-handedly. He was very ingenious and creative, forever adapting parts and components of discarded furniture and appliances into new and useful furniture and tools. Even in retirement he never slowed down and never did anything by half measures. Shortly after moving to Kanata, he adopted a local park and kept it groomed and tidy for local residents to enjoy until his eighties when his knees began to complain. Even then, he still managed for years more to climb ladders, repair roofing tiles, maintain the inside and outside of his home impeccably and zip around Kanata on his electric bicycle. Reg was preceded in death by his parents and by his elder brother Van Doan (Theresa). He is survived by his brother Max Doan (Orpha Jane), his sister Marjorie Wellar (Barry), and his wife of 70 years Irma (Dallan) Doan; his children Brian Doan (Nancy Rogers) and Elsa Roy (Paul); grandchildren Michael Doan (Ami Harbin), Andrew Doan, Jessica Roy (Chris Willey), and Kaela Roy; and four great-grandchildren: Cleo and Iris Doan, Teri and Evie Willey. Our thanks to the staff of both Stittsville Villa and Bridlewood Trails retirement homes who took such excellent care of Reg over the past twelve months.