MURRAY Young was a veteran and active member of our community. He loved Etobicoke.
By DAVE KOSONIC
Murray Young was deeply committed to education in Etobicoke for 31 years and served our country for five years during World War 11 including overseas as a bomber navigator.
Born Murray Macgillivary Young in Regina in 1921, Young passed away peacefully in his sleep at his Port Credit residence at the age of 99 on June 2, 2020.
Young was the founding principal of Silverthorn Collegiate Institute, located on Mill Road near Burnhamthorpe Road, which opened in September 1964.
MURRAY Young was awarded a prestigious French Award in 2018.
He had recruited about 24 experienced teachers from numerous other secondary schools operated by the then Etobicoke Board of Education.
The late Stan Hamner was one of Young’s staff members and he was the geography teacher. From memory he could rapidly draw an accurate outline map of any country in the world on the blackboard while his students watched in awe.
Young later assumed a posting as an area superintendent and he played an important role in developing the Etobicoke School of the Arts.
He was a strong but also humble man who did not ‘advertise’ his service with the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). He also saw action in the night skies as a navigator on bombers operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF).
According to military records the bomber navigators including Young played a crucial role in keeping the other aircrew members as safe as possible by pin pointing exactly where their aircraft were in relation to the enemy targets to be bombed. He belonged to the RAF 525 Squadron at the time.
MURRAY was a founding principal of Silverthorn Collegiate Institute.
After the war ended Young graduated from McGill University with an honors degree in history. After that he completed his teacher training when he graduated from the Ontario College of Education in Toronto and subsequently joined the Etobicoke Board as a classroom high school teacher.
During his retirement he was an active member of the First United Church. He and his wife Connie also did a lot of travelling which included spending winters as snowbirds in San Destin, Florida.
Because of his valiant military service Young was awarded in 2018 the prestigious rank of Knight of the French National Order of Honour for aiding in the Liberation of France in 1944.