Obituary

The Eastern Chronicle - Thursday, February 17, 1949

JOE GERRIOR

GUIDE JOE GERRIOR DIES AT 83 -
The sole remaining link with the late days of the last century when New Glasgow sportsmen first forsook their home fireside for the Guysboro lakes and forests died at his home at Lundy on January 20th, according to reports received by friends. Eighty-three year old Joseph Gerrior, who served grandfathers and fathers of the present generation as fishing and hunting guide, died from a sudden heart attack. Stories of Joe Gerrior have been told in New Glasgow for sixty years, by sportsmen wherever sportsmen gathered. It was Joe who knew the best pools, the best weather, the best bait, the best time of day, for luring fish to creel from the myriad of lakes that attracted town dwellers by the score in summer months. It was Joe who was the best moose caller, it was Joe that knew the trails through the moose swamps and across the barrens, and Joe that knew where the deer were hiding in the hunting season. In the summer and fall of '48 he was still rowing fishing parties on the lakes and guiding hunters through the Guysboro woods. His patrons parted with him, with the promise they would be back next year, a farewell given Joe Gerrior for somewhere between fifty and sixty years. Descent of Acadian French stock, all his life was lived in the Lundy district; in winter he trapped, fished, sometimes cut pulp and timber. Spring,summer,fall, he was in the woods and on the lakes, handy man around the camp betimes, cook and bottle washer; Joe could take a fourth, or maybe sixth hand in fortyfives at night; he could patch a leaky boat, portage a canoe, make a raft, fix a broken rod, take apart and put together a baulky gun, the while his clients from town were arguing what to do next. He could and did when asked to, shepherd mixed parties through the delights of July mosquitoes and November frosts, and for the lame and lazy carried their packs and his own. Thrice married, he is survived by his wife and six children. Quietly at his home, death came unexpectedly. Internment was in his own Guysboro soil.

contributed by Carolyn Wallace

Return to obituaries index

If you've arrived here from an outside link, and don't see a navigation bar to the left, and you wish to further visit the Families of TorBay Area Website, please click the logo


The Eastern Chronicle - Thursday, February 17, 1949
JOE GERRIOR
GUIDE JOE GERRIOR DIES AT 83 - The sole remaining link with the late days of the last century when New Glasgow sportsmen first forsook their home fireside for the Guysboro lakes and forests died at his home at Lundy on January 20th, according to reports received by friends. Eighty-three year old Joseph Gerrior, who served grandfathers and fathers of the present generation as fishing and hunting guide, died from a sudden heart attack. Stories of Joe Gerrior have been told in New Glasgow for sixty years, by sportsmen wherever sportsmen gathered. It was Joe who knew the best pools, the best weather, the best bait, the best time of day, for luring fish to creel from the myriad of lakes that attracted town dwellers by the score in summer months. It was Joe who was the best moose caller, it was Joe that knew the trails through the moose swamps and across the barrens, and Joe that knew where the deer were hiding in the hunting season. In the summer and fall of '48 he was still rowing fishing parties on the lakes and guiding hunters through the Guysboro woods. His patrons parted with him, with the promise they would be back next year, a farewell given Joe Gerrior for somewhere between fifty and sixty years. Descent of Acadian French stock, all his life was lived in the Lundy district; in winter he trapped, fished, sometimes cut pulp and timber. Spring,summer,fall, he was in the woods and on the lakes, handy man around the camp betimes, cook and bottle washer; Joe could take a fourth, or maybe sixth hand in fortyfives at night; he could patch a leaky boat, portage a canoe, make a raft, fix a broken rod, take apart and put together a baulky gun, the while his clients from town were arguing what to do next. He could and did when asked to, shepherd mixed parties through the delights of July mosquitoes and November frosts, and for the lame and lazy carried their packs and his own. Thrice married, he is survived by his wife and six children. Quietly at his home, death came unexpectedly. Internment was in his own Guysboro soil.

contributed by Carolyn Wallace
Return to obituaries index