Boundary Lines & Sacred Memory: The Neighbors of Downie & Blanshard
Sometimes the strongest family bonds aren't measured strictly by bloodlines, but by generations of shared fence lines, shared hard work, and shared memory. Along the Downie-Blanshard township boundary line outside St. Marys, our families lived side-by-side for over a century, farming the same soil and watching each other’s children grow up to serve their country.
Today’s post honors five men who reflect this deep local web: Robert Bruce Pringle (whose stone I cleaned this year), James Cubberley, his son-in-law Jack Boyd, and two hometown heroes whose flags we place at the St. Marys cenotaph every Remembrance Day; Jack and Scott McNaughton.
Private Robert Bruce Pringle (1901–1956)
Canadian Army
Remarkably, I learned recently that Robert is my husband’s 12th cousin on his mother’s side. His headstone is another marker I had the honor of cleaning and restoring in the cemetery this season, and for years have placed a flag for remembrance day.
Born at the dawn of the 20th century in 1901, Robert Bruce Pringle grew up grounded in the rural rhythms of Perth County. Cleaning his headstone earlier this season was a quiet, humbling reminder of the veterans resting in our local soil whose stories lie right beneath our feet, waiting to be brought back into the light.
Robert was alive during a time when global upheaval demanded the mobilization of Canada's manpower, Robert stepped forward to serve in the Canadian Army. Bringing the practical work ethic, mechanical resourcefulness, and steady endurance of an Ontario farm boy into uniform, he entered a military machine reliant on modern logistics. Behind every infantry soldier on the front, vast supply columns of truck drivers, quartermasters, equipment mechanics, and depot crews worked round-the-clock.
Operating under grueling military schedules, men like Robert maintained the vital supply lines that kept food, ammunition, vehicle parts, and winter gear moving steadily toward the frontlines. Returning to civilian life after his service, Robert brought that same quiet, steady work ethic back to Southwestern Ontario, living a dedicated post-war life until his passing in 1956.
Private James Cubberley (1916–1951)
Canadian Army | World War II
The Cubberleys were our next-door neighbors across the township boundary line for generations. James’s daughter, Joyce, married my Uncle Jack Coddington, and his daughter Sylvia married Jack Boyd (featured below). I actually had the pleasure of placing flags with Sylvia for our Veterans at the St.Marys Cemetery this past Saturday. Although the morning was rainy, it gave us a chance to recall the memories and discuss the many ties that bind our families eternally.
Living right next door across the Downie-Blanshard line, the Cubberley family was tightly woven into our lives; they were "family of the heart," deeply rooted in our daily world. Born in 1916, James Cubberley answered the call during the dark middle years of World War II, stepping out of the fields into the Canadian Army as part of the massive national mobilization of the 1940s.
Enlisting during the peak of Allied operations, James entered an army transformed by industrial warfare. Basic training in Ontario camps was a grueling transition: dawn-to-dusk field drills, heavy pack marches through biting cold and summer dust, weapons qualification, gas defense, and intense tactical exercises designed to prepare men for the battlefields of Europe.
As a Private overseas, James carried the heavy weight of frontline service, enduring wet trenches, relentless noise, and the constant physical strain of field operations. Returning home to Perth County after the Allied victory, James’s post-war life was cut tragically brief when he passed away in 1951 at just 35 years of age. Yet his legacy lived on through his family, forever cementing decades of neighborly affection into direct family ties when his daughter Joyce married my Uncle Jack Coddington.
Veteran Jack Boyd (1940–2006)
Canadian Forces / Post-WWII Era
Jack married Sylvia Cubberley (daughter of James Cubberley). Though not a direct blood relation, our families shared over a century of history separated only by the Downie-Blanshard boundary line.
Carrying forward the tradition of service into the next generation, Jack Boyd married Sylvia Cubberley, linking two long-standing neighboring families even closer together. Born in 1940 as World War II raged overseas, Jack came of age in the post-war era and stepped into uniform with the Canadian Forces during the tense decades of the Cold War.
Military life during this era demanded constant vigilance, high-tech technical training, and strategic readiness. Stationed across Canadian military bases and participating in NATO operational readiness exercises, personnel like Jack stood guard during an era defined by global tension, nuclear deterrence, and international peacekeeping commitments.
Whether maintaining equipment, handling communications, or supporting base logistics, Jack represented the dedicated generation of service members who quietly preserved peace so civilian life at home could flourish. Returning to the St. Marys area after his military service, Jack was a familiar, respected face whose warmth, mechanical skill, and quiet devotion to his family reflected the very best of our community until his passing in 2006.
Jack McNaughton & Scott McNaughton
Canadian Armed Forces | St. Marys Cenotaph Honorees
Scott and Jack were the sons of Allen Scott McNaughton and Maude Coddington. Because Maude was the sister of my great-grandfather Henry Lewis Coddington, Scott and Jack were first cousins to my grandfather Jack Coddington.
Every November 11th, as the cold autumn wind sweeps past the granite face of the St. Marys Cenotaph, we place small Canadian flags to honor brothers Scott (1924–1995) and Jack McNaughton (1926–2010). Though neither brother is buried in St. Marys; Scott rests in Avondale Cemetery in Stratford and Jack rests in Parkview Cemetery in Waterloo, we lay those flags at our local cenotaph out of deep respect for our family members who put their lives on hold for their country.
Born just two years apart into a nation emerging from the Great Depression, Scott and Jack grew up in Perth County surrounded by the extended Coddington family. Coming of age during the peak years of the Second World War, both brothers stepped forward from our local streets and concession lines to answer the call, joining the massive wave of over one million Canadians who entered military uniform to defend freedom.
For young men transitioning from the quiet rhythms of Perth County into the armed forces, military life began with an intensive transformation. Entering basic training camps, Scott and Jack traded civilian clothes for thick wool serge battle dress, rigid drill routines, and relentless physical conditioning. Their days were filled with weapons training, field craft, tactical maneuvers, and gas defense drills. Whether serving in mechanized infantry units, armor recovery, or essential supply and communications lines, they carried the quiet strength, practical mechanical work ethic, and steady resilience inherent in our family line.
Deploying into uniform meant facing relentless operational pressure. For Canadian forces during the 1940s, service demanded long hours under harsh field conditions; enduring cold, mud, and heavy equipment transport, where split-second discipline and unfailing teamwork kept units synchronized and combat-ready.
For their parents, Allen and Maude, watching both of their boys put on the uniform meant living through the agonizing anxiety familiar to so many wartime households across Southwestern Ontario, listening for the mail train, scanning newspaper casualty lists, and enduring years of constant prayer.
Following their honorable discharges and the return of peace, both brothers returned to Southwestern Ontario to transition back into civilian life, building long, hardworking post-war careers. Scott passed away in 1995 at the age of 71, and Jack lived a long, fulfilling life until his passing in 2010 at the age of 84. Placing those flags at the St. Marys Cenotaph each year is our way of making sure that even though their final resting places lie in neighboring cemeteries across our region, our family's own blood is honored right here at home.
Boundaries on a map mean very little when compared to a century of shared lives, fence lines, and family ties. From neighboring farms along the concession roads to the solemn stone of the St. Marys Cenotaph, Robert, James, Jack Boyd, and our cousins Jack and Scott McNaughton remind us that a community's freedom is built on the steady shoulders of our neighbors, our friends, and our own family.
We will remember them.
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