Mel Crich

Nancy So sorry to hear about Mels passing.He was a wonderfull person and will be missed

So sorry to learn of Mels passing. Melvin was passionate about his family and always had a big smile and welcomed hand shake each time he saw me. His caring for wildlife and interest in nature made him a caregiver for the environment we enjoy today. Rest in peace good man and we will meet again. ♥️🇨🇦

We wish that we had known him longer. We will remember Mel as such a gentle, kind man who loved animals. We will miss him greatly. Our condolences to the family.

Nancy,
Our heartfelt condolences to you and your family at this time. Sending hugs,
Mary and Gary Haslett

Both John and I will miss seeing him around our birding spots. Rest In Peach, condolences to Nancy and her family.

Dear Nancy, I am so very sorry to learn of Mel’s passing. May many special memories warm your heart and help you navigate the days ahead. I like to believe that Mel, Dad and Uncle Ray will now have lots of time to swap stories. Sending caring thoughts and sincere condolences.
Lynne

Dear Nancy, So sorry to hear about Mel’s passing. He was a kind and gentle soul. My mother thought very highly of him. I will always remember his compassion and patience with Eleanor. I hope your memories will bring you comfort. Felice and I are thinking of you at this difficult time.

Dear Nancy:
Our thoughts and prayers are with you.
Mel will be missed and thankful you were with him!
Love
Wendy and Les

Dear Nancy, So sorry to hear about Mel’s passing. He was a kind and gentle soul. My mother thought highly of him. I remember his patience and compassion towards Eleanor. May your memories bring you comfort. Felice and I are thinking of you.

My deepest heartfelt sympathy to Nancy for your loss. Your loss is my loss also as well as all who knew Mel.
He was a great friend and a fine skater. I have known Mel 1996. We met while skating at the Guthry arena with the Oro-Medonte Adult Skaters Club. and have remained friends ever since. I will miss him very much. Del

Mel may be gone, but he will never be forgotten for all of his kind words, helping hand and warming heart. He was an outstanding husband, uncle, friend, among all other things. Xox
We’ll miss you Uncle Mel, Love always Lindsey and Jack

Mel was a kind, thoughtful and generous man taken far too soon. I’ve never known someone who was so involved, industrious and dedicated to his family and community. Mel will be terribly missed.

I’m going to miss our family dinners and long conversations with Mel for many years.

Condolences to Nancy and everyone who knew him and loved him.

Rest In Peace Mel.

Love,
Scott C

Dear Nancy: we are so sorry to hear of Mel’s passing. We have such wonderful memories of our times together at the Oro Skating Club and our bus trips to Ottawa to skate on the Rideau Canal. We will be thinking about you.

I am so sorry to hear of Mel’s passing, too young, too soon. I am glad Norma and her family are there for you. Kind thoughts are sent your way.
Pat Heffering
(Bessie Hexham’s daughter)

Garry and I send our heartfelt condolences to you Nancy.
Mel has been my friend since childhood growing up in Clinton. His recall and knowledge of our growing up years was remarkable. He embraced life like no other. I think of him constantly and will miss his phone calls. Rest in peace my dear friend.

I’ve known Mel since we were involved in looking after Junior Rangers near Timmins in 1970. Mel was a friend you could always count on for a helping hand whatever the task. If you just happened to mention to Mel you were planning some project or family members were moving or anything else, Mel showed up.

In addition to all the aspects of Forestry and wildlife Mel had a keen interest in early Canadiana and over the years had collected many artifacts. He had a great respect for the history of those who came before us.

Mel and I had another common link as we both had Scottish mothers (war brides) who married Canadian soldiers during the war. I know Mel had done a lot of family research and was able to connect with some Scottish relatives.

Mel was one of my longest friends and more like a brother I never had.

Rest easy old chum, I will always remember you.

Our sincere condolences to Nancy and family.

Dave and family

Hi Nancy,

Julie & I send our sincere condolences on Mel’s passing.
He took great pride in having various opinions on a wide variety of subjects and his love of nature and animals was always quite evident.
I think he took me under his wing on tracking the “Gibbings” side of the family.
Thanks for sharing him with us!

Love
Steve & Julie Gibbings

I was saddened to hear of the loss of your husband Mel!
Mel and Jerry connected in 2004 under unusual circumstances.
Mel responded to a note Jerry left on the grave stone of Henry Carter in Turners united cemetery close to Clinton.
We arranged to meet in Cooks town. I had Mary Carter’s (1857-1927) photo album. Mel was able to identify most of the people in the photos.
So our friendship began.

We have so many fond memories of Mel over the years from day trips to Algonquin and Dorset to family dinners and celebrations.

Mel knew how to fix anything and made us window boxes in Collingwood and bird feeder stands for our yard. He could always be depended on to lend a helping hand.

Such a kind and thoughtful brother-in-law.

We will miss you

Bob and Norma Crowther.

My condolences to Nancy and all family and close friends of Mel.
Mel and I were teen outdoor enthusiasts, ranging the streams, rivers and forests around Clinton, Ontario. Our lives were intertwined from that time to our senior years when we explored and fished several “no name” lakes, so called because of the good fishing.
Mel was always a helpful, knowledgeable, dependable friend. His memory of Clinton area people and experiences was legendary.
Such a good person … so grateful to share a lifetime with him as friend.

Very sorry to hear of this. Mel was a kindred-spirit when it came to aviation. We shared many flight operations together in the Tiger Moth and other Classic aircraft.
I’ll miss his devoted, reliable presence at Edenvale, supporting the aircraft that meant so much to him and countless others.

Nancy, Barb and I are so very saddened by Mel’s passing. He was amazing in his determination to hold that terrible disease at bay for as long as he did. I started working with Mel years ago (1970’s) at the Ontario Land Inventory in Richmond Hill along with you and the those in the attached picture. I know I can speak for all of them (including those no longer with us) of the deep sadness we feel (or would feel) with Mel’s passing. I can just hear Benny now, ranting how unjust and sad it all is. Mel and I continued working together at Midhurst MNR sharing the ups and downs of the working world. Some of the most enjoyable times were after we retired (what a surprise), at our ORG (Old Retired Gang) lunch, sharing our doggie stories and getting caught up on each others new adventures.
Mel was a wonderful caring person who will be greatly missed.

Nancy, I’m so sorry to hear of Melvin’s passing. Having been born in Clinton, I quite literally have known him since I was a baby he was one of Dad’s best buddies, and Mom loved him too. I’m sure they are having a great reunion right now, chatting about hunting, fishing or any other number of things, Mom is making sure they are fed well and they are enjoying the company of many of the dogs gone before, Melvin had a special place in his heart for our Springer Spaniel Blaze, I’m sure good times are being had by all. My sincerest condolences, my sister Cheryl and I loved Melvin very much.
Diane and Terry Cole and family

It was a pleasure to work with Mel. So sorry to hear of Mel’s passing, Nancy. Condolences to you and the family.

So sorry to hear of Mel’s passing. Such an interesting and productive life he lead. I and his Clinton friends will miss him.

My condolences to Nancy and all family and close friends of Mel.
Mel and I were teen outdoor enthusiasts, ranging the streams, rivers and forests around Clinton, Ontario. Our lives were intertwined from that time to our senior years when we explored and fished several “no name” lakes, so called because of the good fishing.
Mel was always a helpful, knowledgeable, dependable friend. His memory of Clinton area people and experiences was legendary.
Such a good person … so grateful to share a lifetime with him as friend.

Mel was a mentor to me and always so generous with his time (and used White Pine lumber). Between the two of us we constructed hundreds of nesting boxes for: Black-capped Chickadees, Tree Swallows, Eastern Bluebirds, Great Crested Flycatchers, American Kestrels, Wood Ducks, and Barred Owls. Without exception, our discussions involved trees and how they should be: planted, fertilized, pruned, and felled. I miss him already.

Dear Nancy: So sorry to hear of Mel’s passing. I have very special memories of our duck hunting adventures in Manitoba. Mel and I got to spend a lot of time chatting on our long drive home in my truck. I am very sorry we did not get the chance to get together recently and talk about those good old days.

Our thoughts and prayers are with you, Nancy during this difficult time. RIP Mel.

Our condolences to Nancy and all family and close friends of Mel. We enjoyed Mel living with us in Lindsay while he went to Sir Sanford Fleming College. May he rest in peace.
Janet and John

I’ve been thinking a lot about Mel since the last time I spoke with him – February 6th according to my call history – his voice was weak, but he gladly pronounced that he was still on “the greener side”. It was one of our shorter conversations, but he was still somewhat upbeat, despite sounding very tired. He thanked me for the call, but I told him that was silly because he wasn’t just my neighbour, he was my friend. He said he knew that too.
Mel was the kind of person who could seamlessly weave his way into the fabric that is your life – and he made you stronger for being there. He was engaged and enthusiastic about his friends; curious and always interested in you and what you were up to. He brought his friends and family together by the stories he told, each one playing a role in the greater narrative that was his life. Each one of us intertwined somehow because we became part of his story.
He will be sorely, yes painfully, missed – his person and presence gone from Alexander Street. The walk-by-and-wave; the drive-by-and-wave; the stop-and-chat…and have a look around and investigate and ponder and plan. I always had the best conversations with Mel walking around the property. And even though I may have heard some of his stories before, Stuart McLean wrote “You have to tell stories over and over. It is the creation of myth. The only road to immortality.” Mel’s story will stay with my family for generations.
I have three trees in my backyard because of Mel. A rescued apple tree, a rescued butternut tree and a black walnut from his own backyard that was not growing in an ideal location. Last summer he was determined to rescue the neighbourhood trees from the gypsy moths.
I have one of his cat houses in my backyard that has played a part in rescuing five cats to date.
I have an old milk can that he rescued from Fare’s old barn before it was demolished, a weaving shuttle and bird books that he found at the Re-Store, and other odds and ends that he rescued from various places that he thought I might be able to use.
Do you see a theme? He hated to see things go to waste and appreciated the value in history, family, friends and just spending time with the people he liked. And that is what I am going to miss the most about Mel – just chatting, chin-wagging and shooting-the-shit.
I don’t remember the first time I met Mel. It was likely right around the time I bought my grandparent’s house in 2007. He always told me that he was so happy that I had decided to live in the house and was endlessly curious about the plans to fix up the old place. In fact he helped out with some of those projects as well. But it feels like I’ve always known him. Did he rescue me too? I don’t think he had to. But what he did do was enfold me into his life and welcomed me in. He was a constant for so many of us – for those of the human variety and those of feather & fur.
After a chat and continuing on his walk home, he’d give me a wave and tell me not to hesitate to call if I needed anything. And he meant it. And in the end I know that because eventually I never hesitated to call him to talk about anything.
I wanted to write these things down, because I don’t want to forget. And I won’t forget. His memory will echo in this place for a very long time.
Rest easy my friend.

I barely knew Mel but appreciated getting his occasional group emails over the past decade or more after looking him up on the internet. From the comments above, Mel clearly had a lot of good friends and a loving wife. To Nancy in particular, although I don’t know you, please accept my sympathies. Mel was clearly a lovely guy. I was foisted on Mel in the summer of ’74, a political patronage job for me, to help him conduct a shoreline recreation potential survey in northern Ontario – Calm Lake west of Atikokan and Black Sturgeon Lake northeast of Nipigon. Those few weeks together were the only time I knew Mel. He was in his late 20s, I was 22, and we didn’t get along too well, mainly because I was a pain in the ***. We had a few philosophical arguments. But I admired his stick-at-it attitude about work, his love of the outdoors and his patience in putting up with me. One recollection. Mel was unhappy that the Ministry of Lands and Forests had been renamed the Ministry of Natural Resources two years before, in 1972.

Regarding Mel Crich of Anten Mills. This man will be missed by all who knew him. He was always willing to help, either with advise, small jobs or lending of tools. Mel had many interests from steam engines to old cars and planes. He always had time to chat and had some remarkable stories to tell. We are very glad to have known Mel for the last 10 years. We will miss him.