Gwendoline Grace Cheesman
adopted by the Smith family
Gwen was born in 1917 in Rosetown, Saskatchewan and was a twin to sister Mary. Gwen was adopted in 1925 by George Jas Herbert Smith and his wife Laura Maud Comisky of Richmond Hill, Ontario. Herbert was the son of George Smith and his wife, Elizabeth Taylor. Laura was the daughter of Joseph Comisky and his wife, Ellen McCauge. In 1901 Herbert was a single 19 year old man working for the McCauge family in Markham, Ontario. On the 1st of September 1909 he would marry their daughter Laura. The new couple settled in Headford, Ontario which is now part of eastern Richmond Hill.
As a child Gwen was given singing lessons and would sing at Mary's wedding in 1941.
During the Great War, Gwen kept in touch with her brothers Ralph and Sidney writing them many letters. She had at one point considered enlisting in the army but had a change of heart. Sidney was glad she did as he said, “the war was no place for a woman”. Gwen was in Toronto in 1946 to greet Sidney when he returned from the war. Also there to greet him was Mary and their brother Ralph. The siblings were able to spend a week together before Sidney returned to the farm in Saskatchewan.
Gwen married Merrill Bernard Johnson in Headford, Ontario at the Headford United Church. Merrill, at one time, drove the school bus for the local high school and Gwen would often accompany her husband on his route. Marg Mortson of Richmond Hill remembers Gwen well. She was a student on the bus Merrill drove and thought Gwen was a nice lady, cheerful and always friendly with the children.Gwen & Merrill had two children, daughters Mary Ellen born in about 1956 and Irma Laura born in 1954. Irma died in infancy on the 10th of April 1954. She is buried in the Victoria Square Cemetery in Markham beside her great grandparents Joseph & Ellen Comisky and her grandparents Herbert & Laura Smith. Just a year and a half after the loss of Irma, her brother Archie would lose his seven year old son, Billy. Two years before her own death, Gwen would lose her parents, both within three months of each other. Laura died the 21st of March 1957 and Herbert the 19th of June 1957.
In 1958 Merrill brought Gwen, ill with cancer, to Saskatchewan to visit her biological family living there. They knew her prognosis was not good. Gwen died the 22nd of August 1959 at the age of 42. She is also buried in the Victoria Square Cemetery in Marhkam. She is beside her parents-in-law Clark & Mary Johnson. Merrill passed away on the 15th of February 2003 at the age of 95 and is buried beside Gwen.
As a child Gwen was given singing lessons and would sing at Mary's wedding in 1941.
During the Great War, Gwen kept in touch with her brothers Ralph and Sidney writing them many letters. She had at one point considered enlisting in the army but had a change of heart. Sidney was glad she did as he said, “the war was no place for a woman”. Gwen was in Toronto in 1946 to greet Sidney when he returned from the war. Also there to greet him was Mary and their brother Ralph. The siblings were able to spend a week together before Sidney returned to the farm in Saskatchewan.
Gwen married Merrill Bernard Johnson in Headford, Ontario at the Headford United Church. Merrill, at one time, drove the school bus for the local high school and Gwen would often accompany her husband on his route. Marg Mortson of Richmond Hill remembers Gwen well. She was a student on the bus Merrill drove and thought Gwen was a nice lady, cheerful and always friendly with the children.Gwen & Merrill had two children, daughters Mary Ellen born in about 1956 and Irma Laura born in 1954. Irma died in infancy on the 10th of April 1954. She is buried in the Victoria Square Cemetery in Markham beside her great grandparents Joseph & Ellen Comisky and her grandparents Herbert & Laura Smith. Just a year and a half after the loss of Irma, her brother Archie would lose his seven year old son, Billy. Two years before her own death, Gwen would lose her parents, both within three months of each other. Laura died the 21st of March 1957 and Herbert the 19th of June 1957.
In 1958 Merrill brought Gwen, ill with cancer, to Saskatchewan to visit her biological family living there. They knew her prognosis was not good. Gwen died the 22nd of August 1959 at the age of 42. She is also buried in the Victoria Square Cemetery in Marhkam. She is beside her parents-in-law Clark & Mary Johnson. Merrill passed away on the 15th of February 2003 at the age of 95 and is buried beside Gwen.
1958 Family Reunion
Man on the left is unknown, Sidney's wife Ellen with their children Kathy & Murray, Rupert, Annie, Gwen with Mary Ellen, Archie and Merrill
