Wednesday, June 14, 2023
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My Uncle Jim was a kind, hardworking soul.
He was one of three brothers born to my grandparents, Gisleno and Germana Puppa, in Kirkland Lake, ON.
My father, Leo, passed away in 2014. He shared some of his life story with me: "My father, Gisleno Puppa, at the age of 18, immigrated from Italy to Canada on February 1, 1927. My parents had three sons. Agostino (Auggie) came first. I was born two years later. James (Jim) came along seven years later. When I was young, my father was seriously injured working in a gold mine in Kirkland Lake, Ontario. He spent several years in and out of a hospital 400 miles away from our small northern town. The mine paid Mom two dollars a day in compensation to live. She supplemented that income by doing cleaning jobs in people's homes and took me along. I helped wherever I could, and my two brothers and I did odd jobs cutting grass and shoveling snow in the winter."
Jim took that work ethic into the rest of his life, working at Dustbane for many years. He took me on tours of Dustbane's offices and factory when I visited Ottawa. Jim was very proud of the innovation he brought to the company, including designing a new type of snow brush for clearing the snow off cars.
When he retired from Dustbane, he enjoyed using his carpentry skills, learned from his father, to work on home renovations.
When my father was ill, he wrote a deeply thoughtful, beautiful letter sharing how much the relationship between brothers meant to him.
Barb brought out the playful side of Jim. The photos are from our 25th wedding anniversary celebration, where we asked guests to choose their favourite tree on our property and "be the tree." We had a professional photographer create a keepsake for everyone as they stood in front of their tree in creative poses.
My wife Susan and I pass on our love to Barb and the rest of the family as we have now lost the last of the "three brothers."
