BEST, Michael Joseph - June 23, 1923 - March 26, 2020
Michael Best passed away in peace and tranquility at Hospice Peterborough in Peterborough, Ontario at the age of 96.
Mike is survived by Dora, his wife of 71 years, and daughters, Theresa Morris (Doug Ingram), Mary Allan (David), Bonnie Pidduck (David), and son Dunnery (Francoise Ducret).
He was predeceased by son Jerome (Gay).
He has 10 grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren. He is survived by brothers, Jack (Ottawa), and Charles (Buck) of Portland, Oregon.
Born in Canning, Nova Scotia in 1923, to Percy J. Best (b. London, a veteran of the Somme) and Sarah Dunnery (b. County Cavan, Ireland). One of seven siblings, Mike joined Canadian Pacific Railway in Kentville, Nova Scotia, as a telegraph messenger.
He soon mastered the telegraph key. Mike volunteered for the Canadian Army in 1941 as a signaler.
On June 6, 1944, D-Day, he was in the first wave of the assault on Juno Beach with the 8th Canadian Infantry Brigade, Canadian 3rd Division, penetrating as far inland as Bény-sur-Mer on the first day.
Mike served with the 8th Brigade in the long campaign through western France, and Belgium, to Holland, and ultimately Emden, in NW Germany.
Mike was wounded by shrapnel in July, 1944, and was evacuated to England, returning to France in August, 1944. His career in the Canadian Army advanced as far as Officer's Training, while attending Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia.
It was at that point he had the supreme good fortune to wed Theodora Mooy, a native of Amsterdam, whose family had emigrated from Holland to Nova Scotia in mid-1939. Mike subsequently completed his studies at Carleton University, graduating with the gold medal in Journalism, and signed on with the Winnipeg Free Press.
Mike's first beat was the Winnipeg Grain Exchange, ultimately taking on responsibility for the Manitoba Legislature. In 1958, he joined the Globe and Mail and with Dora and their young family moved to Toronto. After that, Mike worked for the Toronto Star.
With the exception of a year in Ottawa in the Parliamentary Press Gallery, Mike's subsequent career focus was entirely Toronto. Often controversial, always accurate, and unfailingly polite, he was a seasoned reporter covering Toronto City Hall, and later, North York City Hall, until his retirement in June, 1988.
In retirement, Mike and Dora moved to Peterborough. For the next three decades Mike focused on honing skills as grandfather and great-grandfather to the large and challenging brood who he loved dearly.
He further honed his golf and skiing skills, enjoying these sports until very late in life. He had a lifelong reverence for nature, enjoying long hikes daily up until the last few months of his long life.
Mike loved and supported all the arts; literature and music were his great loves, even to his last days.
Mike returned to France in retirement, visiting Normandy and the Memorial de Caen. On June 26, 2015, Mike was named a Chevalier of the Légion d'Honneur, of which he was immensely proud.
A virtual family celebration of life will be held April 4th.
If desired, in memoriam donations are welcomed by Hospice Peterborough or a charity of your choice.
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