Frederick Manley was born May 15, 1938 in Chesley, to Howard and Luella (Lorenz) Fortune. He was the middle child of three boys all born two years apart; Don, Fred and Clark. The Fortune family farmed on County Rd. 19 in Vesta and the boys attended the Vesta School. Fred didn’t attend high school as hunting and farming got in the way of school. In fact, Fred was such an avid hunter that he even went up North to hunt and had, at one time, twenty-five hound dogs. It is with laughter that Joanne remembers how everyone knew when the dogs were being fed as there was lots of . . . noise, shall we say. Fred’s favourite dog was “Andy.”
When Fred was 19, and a young woman by the name of Joanne was only 15, she had her eye on him such that she even attended his Pentecostal church, even though she was Presbyterian. After church was finished, Joanne would go to the arena to skate, as she knew Fred would be there as well!
Well, it was a short courtship and the youngsters were married June 6, 1959 at the Presbyterian manse by The Rev. Eide. Joanne was fortunate enough to move into a home that had hydro hooked up . . . . it just wasn’t on! At first, Joanne and Fred milked the 8 cows they had, one being blue! Their herd soon grew, but according to Joanne they truly milked for too damn long. Fred worked out with Edgar Weppler building homes and Joanne was the one left to do all the milking. Fred and Edgar also built the Four-Way Milk Products building in Tara. This factory produced milk, cream, butter and milk powder.
Fred then went to work at Krugs for almost a decade. A lovely story is told of Fred’s cane. He saw it coming on a truck and just knew it would be a wonderful piece of tree to make a walking stick out of. It dried for two years in his shed and then Bruce Krug shellacked it. Following his time at Krugs, Fred went to work with Bruce County, grating, plowing and driving tractor-trailer. Fred helped nephew Keith get his A Licence and acted as a second father to Keith. Following his time with the county Fred went to work at AKM Wood Products.
Once Joanne and Fred were done with milking they went into feeding cattle for Dale Pletch. The cattle were all blacks, yet after three or so years they gave this up. Of course, all this time they had their own cattle as well, owning the farm across the highway from them. Their own farm is 150 acres, 40 of which is bush, and has always been in the Fortune name. All of this was followed by feeding calves for the veal industry. They had upwards of 100 at any one time. Joanne had the patience for this work but Fred did not.
Of course, there were always dogs and cats around, but they belonged in the barn, naturally. Only “Toby” their Black Cocker Spaniel would occasionally make it into the house to lie on the sofa.
Fred loved reading his Anglers and Hunters Association magazines. Building trailers was an act of pride for Fred. He was gifted with his hands enough to be able to fix all of his own stuff. In fact, he was excellent at machine work, both fabricating and welding. Aside from loving his work, Fred also loved ice cream with pie, or was it pie with ice cream? He watched a bit of TV until his eye sight went bad and then he would listen to the radio. Keeping busy during the day was imperative for Fred.
Going out west with the trailer was a highlight for both Joanne and Fred. They could almost see Calgary when Fred phoned home to find out how the cattle were doing. Immediately they turned around and high-tailed it back east. However, Fred never turned around from going to a steam show, plowing match or auction sale. (Fred had a deep passion for antiques – antique tools, tractors, plows, chain saws, wheel barrows, bits of machinery etc.) Scoping out the sales was a lifelong passion for Fred. Joanne hated it when he went to the sales as he always carted back a whole bunch of stuff. They never took their trailer to Florida when they went, but rather flew or drove. Often these trips down south were with Dave and Joyce Weppler.
Over his life time, Fred held three major sales. However, there is just as much stuff on his property as there ever was. He loved his Super “M” and then International tractors. It could be said that Fred was not loyal to any one particular brand of vehicle. He started being a Chevy kind of guy, then proceeded to owning Fords. Finally, he ended up with a Dodge. All the while, Joanne maintained her loyalty to the Volkswagen brand!
Fred had a great sense of humour and seldom got mad, but when he did you sure had to watch out. He loved his coffee from McDonalds, always going on Sundays and two or three times a week beyond that. It didn’t matter the weather, Fred was never afraid to drive. And of course, we all know that coffee is a matter of life and death! Occasionally, Fred would hike over to Paisley for a beer, or two, or three!
Fred wasn’t an overly romantic kind of guy. However, he did buy the occasional card for Joanne! He even dared to buy a card that reminded Joanne she was as “old as dirt.” Imagine! Brave fellow! In fact, Fred was so brave and fearless, that he almost always kept his lower teeth in his breast pocket. That is until he would bend over and they would fall out. “Fred, your teeth are on the lawn!”
Frederick Manley Fortune of R.R. #1 Chesley, passed away at Grey Bruce Health Services, Southampton on Thursday, November 16, 2017 in his 80th year.
Beloved husband of Joanne (Marklevitz). Loving brother of Clark (Dorothy) of R.R. #1 Chesley and brother-in-law of Marie Fortune of Elmwood. Fred will be sadly missed by his niece Lisa and nephews Jeff, Keith, Kevin and Kirk and their families. He was predeceased by his brother Don, nephew Ken and his parents Howard and Luella (Lorenz) Fortune.
A private family funeral service will be held with interment to follow in Chesley Cemetery.
Memorial donations to SickKids Foundation would be appreciated as expressions of sympathy.
