Ona and Lorne Fines arrived in Bradford as newlyweds in 1937.
Their honeymoon took them to North Bay via an excursion to Lake of Bays. On their way, they stopped at North Portage, and then took the train to South Portage at Lake of Bays. They then went by steamer to hotels and lodges in the area and stopped at a public dock, where there was a general store used by cottagers in the area. Ona and Lorne fell in love with the area and rented a cottage there in summers and ended up buying a lot there.
At the time, Spence Lumber of Bradford, owned by the Spence family, were selling ‘cottage kits.’ You would pick out your design and they supplied all you would need to build the cottage — lumber, nails, roofing products all cut out for you to follow the plans. Lorne and his brother built the place that is still in the Fines name.
As newlyweds, they rented a small space in Quinn’s house on James Street to live. The reason for their move was to purchase a jewelry store, lock, stock and barrel, from the estate of another jeweller on the north side of Holland Street.
With a child coming along, they moved to a house on the corner of Simcoe Road and Centre Street, where Grace and Eric were born. In 1945, with two children and one on the way, they moved to the home on the southeast corner of Church and James streets. They had two more boys — Harold and Edward.
In 1951, they moved the store almost across the road to the south side of Holland Street. As a young boy, I would go in with Dad to get a repair done on a watch or jewelry and loved the sound of all the clocks standing or hanging on the walls, ticking or chiming depending on weather you were there on the hour, the quarter-hour, the half-hour or the three-quarter-hour. As I write this, I am listening to five clocks chiming at 8 p.m. I can still remember the old shop of Lorne Fines.
Lorne was a member of the Bradford Business Men’s Association and Ona belonged to the Women’s Institute Bradford chapter.
Lorne retired from the jewelry shop in 1973 and they spent many years summering at their cottage up north. He was born in 1902 and died in 1981.
When Lorne died, Ona’s mother came to stay with her and ended up staying until her death. It seemed like a senior was looking after a senior. When her mom died, Ona joined the active seniors group in Bradford. Enjoying bid euchre, she, with her friends, would travel to each other’s homes to play games, have lunch, visit, and then return home.
They were faithful members of the United Church in Bradford. I remember Edward telling me that at one point, he opened their fridge to get something to drink and his mother said, “You cannot have that grape juice. It has been blessed for communion.” Ona was the custodian of the communion dishes and ‘wine’ and bread. I would occasionally stop by to see Edward, and l was greeted with a warm “hello” and a little snack.
Ona retired from the house on the corner of Barrie and James streets in Bradford and spent the next few years at a retirement home before going to a care facility.
On March 29, 2020, Ona Fines turned 106. Unfortunately, the family could not celebrate with her because the home was in lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In September 2020, in her 107th year, Ona passed away after a life well remembered.
As her son, Edward, pointed out, she was widowed almost as many years as she was married.
On and Lorne are both interred in Newmarket Cemetery.
