Ron A. Searle

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Former Mayor of Mississauga Ron Searle was born in Southampton, England on July 19, 1919 to Ruby and Alfred Searle. He was later joined by a sister, Barbara. His mother Ruby was a seamstress and his father Alfred was a Seaman with White Star Line and the British Navy during WWI. His parents were married in Edinburgh, Scotland while Alfred was on a short leave from patrols in the North Sea.

After the war, Ron's father Alfred returned to the White Star Lines and was transferred to New York, U.S. He moved his family to New York but succumbed shortly after contracting dengue fever while on mercy missions in the tropics. Ron was just over three years of age at the time. Alfred's death bed wish was that the family re-locate to Toronto, Canada where he knew there were relatives.

Ron was a good student but due to his family's situation, was unable to attend some of the better schools, which demanded hefty enrolment fees. Through the kindness of some of his mother's customers, he was able to attend some private school to enrich his already significant skills in subjects such as English and History. The last school that he attended was Harbord Collegiate Institute, which was his neighbourhood school at the time. While the Searle Family has always been Protestant, Ron has often reflected on the wonderful relationships he developed with many Jewish school friends and families. Family names such as Mirvish, Snyderman and Goodman became known to him. He also recalls future stars Wayne and Schuster who's performances in the school production of Mikada helped launch their friendship and career. Ron admired many of his classmates and families who were new Canadians having moved to Canada from various European homelands where the Nazi tyranny had chased them away literally running for their lives. Ron often says that his relationships with these school chums further added to his resolve to do his part against the Nazi's. Indeed, Ron had already joined the Toronto Scottish militia in the mid-thirties, which would eventually lead to his signing up with the Toronto Scottish Regiment immediately upon Canada declaring war against Nazi Germany in September 1939.

Ron left for the United Kingdom via Halifax, Nova Scotia on December 10, 1939. The Toronto Scottish were part of the first Canadian contingent to go overseas.His regiment's crossing on the Empress of Australia, while crowded, was the last bit of luxury Ron and his comrades would see in quite some time. The Empress of Australia was still fitted out as a luxury passenger ship so the staterooms and dining rooms were still in tact. They landed in Gourock, Scotland on December 19 a few short days before Christmas.They were greeted upon landing by Sir Anthony Eden, who was the Minister of the Commonwealth. He shook hands with every soldier at the bottom of the gangplank.

Ron trained for several years in the south of England including a period of time in Petworth, a town in the 'Southdowns'. Their camp was within the walls of the historic Petworth Abbey. During this time, several of the Toronto Scottish entrenched themselves forever in the hearts of the citizens of Petworth when they rushed to the rescue of dozens of young schoolchildren trapped in a burning schoolhouse. Ron's son Mark recalls that the people of Petworth will never forget the Tor Scots, "When I visited England and Petworth with my parents in 1971, I was amazed and very proud to hear tales of the rescue".It was at Petworth that Ron met a young lady with whom he has continued a good friendship until this very day.