Pierre Francis BERTON

BERTON, Pierre Francis
On November 30th at Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Centre in Toronto from heart failure. Survived by his wife Janet (nee Walker); his sister Lucy Woodward, of White Rock, B.C.; daughter Penny and her children Elora and Orin; daughter Pamela; daughter Patsy and her husband Rico Gerussi and their children Liam, Graeme and Michaela; son Peter and his wife Paula and their children Laura, Thomas, David and Joanna; son Paul and his wife Holly McWilliams and their children Harris and Heidi, daughter Peggy Anne; daughter Perri and her husband Stewart Hadden and their children, Zac, Gareth and Joshua; son Eric Basciano; and three cats, Ruby, Dart and Spooky. Born July 12, 1920 in Whitehorse, Yukon, to Laura Beatrice (Thompson) and Francis George Berton, he graduated from the University of British Columbia and became the city editor of the Vancouver News Herald at 21. He joined the Canadian Army and spent four years in uniform during the Second World War. After the war, he worked for the Vancouver Sun, and then joined Maclean's magazine and moved east, where he and Janet built a house on nine acres of land in Kleinburg, north of Toronto, where they raised their kids, kids of friends and neighbours, a menagerie of dogs, cats and various woodland creatures and trees, and where they created memories that will last for generations. Later, he worked as a columnist for the Toronto Star, and as a TV and radio broadcaster, historian and writer, authoring 50 books, the latest published in 2004, available now at a bookstore near you. Thanks to the many doctors and nurses at York Central Hospital and Sunnybrook. In lieu of flowers please make donations to The Berton House Writers' Retreat, at 3 Hillcrest Ave. Toronto, M4X 1W1. A celebration of his life will be held Tuesday Dec. 7 from 4 pm to 7 pm at the CBC Atrium, 250 Front St. W. Toronto.