Obituary of Charles Colp

Charles Harris Colp 87, of Colpton, Lunenburg County, went home to be with his Maker and Lord on Tuesday, Dec. 17. Harris was born on June 12, 1915, the son of Charles and Gladys (Heim) Colp, Lower Pleasant River. He lived his entire life in this small South Shore community. The eldest of 14 children, he left school at the age of 10 to work in the woods with his father. His love of the forest grew with him through the years. He knew his woodlands, lakes and streams like the back of his hand. In 1941, he married Elsie Etta Colp. It was wartime. And, for the first and only time in his life – he left Colpton to serve with the Canadian Army in Aldershot, Debert and England. It was a different time. A different way of life. Arriving home on leave in the middle of a winter storm, and no transportation, he walked 18 miles to reach his young family, arriving at three o’clock in the morning. Through it all, Colpton was his home. After the war, he worked on the Crown land survey with the Department of Lands and Forests. He hunted, fished, trapped, farmed, cut Christmas trees, pit props and pulpwood. In later years, he worked on the Halifax waterfront and as a carpenter in Halifax and Bridgewater. On June 25, 2002, Harris and Elsie celebrated 61 years of married life. Besides his wife, he is survived by four children, Mervyn (Lorraine), Newcombville; Betty Anne (Larry McDorman), Fredericton, N.B.; David (Linda), Halifax; and Annette (Ken Dawson), Lower Sackville; nine grandchildren, Natasha, Galen, Lawra, Adam, Joshua, Amanda, Ryan, Kristopher and Amara; three great-grandchildren, Adriane, Claire and Charlie. Also surviving are four brothers, Bill (Grace), Ninevah; Norman (Theda), Whynott’s Settlement; Sim and Walter, Colpton; five sisters, Frances (Purney Kempton), Caledonia; Beatrice Fancy, Pleasant River; Gertie MacKay, Colpton; Jean Gaudet, Lower Sackville; and Lillian (Glen Jefferson), Halifax. He was predeceased by a daughter, Patricia Gail, two brothers, Joseph and Ernest, and two sisters, Bertha Wamback and Betty Gaudet. Visiting hours Thursday 7 – 8:30 p.m. in Sweeny’s Funeral Home, Bridgewater where a public Legion Tribute Service will be held by New Germany Branch 102 at 7pm. Funeral service will be held Friday at 2 p.m. at Trinity United Church, Pleasant River, where he was a life-long member and former elder. Burial in Lakeview Cemetery. Donations to Trinity United Church. Online condolences may be made at www.sweenysfuneralhome.com.