Kenneth Arthur Culbert (1916-2000)

Flying Officer Kenneth Arthur Culbert, Royal Canadian Air Force, 1940s. Photo courtesy of Mary-Lynn Culbert.

Kenneth Arthur Culbert was born 9 June 1916 on the Culbert homestead (Poplar Farm) at Lot 19, Concession 2 (The Coursey Line) in Biddulph Township near Lucan, Ontario, Canada.

Left to right: Brothers Cliff Culbert, Ivan Culbert and Ken Culbert. Photo taken in early 1919. Photo courtesy of Phil Culbert.

“Ken, the second son of Effie and Myron, has been a hustler from early boyhood.” So said Ken's cousin, Grant Taylor.

Grant goes on to say…

“He was a school janitor for three years while attending S.S. No. 2 [Atkinson’s School] – keeping the school clean and in the cold weather, getting there early to make a fire. For this he received $50 per term. He got into the chicken business while going to high school in Lucan. He fixed up the barn on the Cobleigh farm for a hen house and bought 75 pullets for $1 each, using money he had earned as school janitor. He shipped the eggs to Montreal and received 30-60 cents per dozen. The chicken business lasted 2-3 years, then at age 16, Ken left home. He attended business college in London, obtained a job as cost accountant with the head office of Metropolitan Stores and remained there for five years.”[1]

 

Ken Culbert in 1929, age 13, having already perfected the art of the hustle.

During his college years, Ken lived in an apartment above a store on Dundas Street in London, right in the heart of the action. His brothers, Ivan and Mel lived with him at various times, too.

City directories show that in 1939 and 1940, Ken was sharing an apartment with his brother, Mel Culbert and their friends, Bob Murray and Ron Laidlaw at 211 ½ Dundas Street, near the corner of Clarence Street. The apartment was above “The Joy Shop,” a ladies clothing store.

As well the opportunity to girl-watch from their window, they were lucky to live next door to Kent’s Confectionery at 209 Dundas Street, also known as G.W. Kent Lunch & Ice Cream Parlor...

Kent's Confectionery was an ice cream parlor that served lunch and pastries, too. This photo was taken in 1941, just a year after Ken was living in the apartment  above The Joy Shop next to Kent's. This would have been what the view from Ken's window looked like.

It was also during these years in London that Ken met his bride-to-be: the bright and beautiful Helen Needham.

Ken Culbert and Helen Needham in the late 1930s or early 1940s.

Helen recalls their meeting:

My family’s house in London backed onto an Anglican church. A friend asked me to come along to a New Year’s Eve dance in the church building. I guess that Ken must have had his eye on me that night because when an announcement came on telling the women to choose a partner for the next dance, Ken slid in front of me!

Ken and Helen married 19 October 1940 at Robinson Memorial United Church on Richmond Street in London, Ontario.

 

Robinson Memorial United Church at the corner of Richmond Street and Sherwood Avenue before it became a condo development.

Ken and Helen's wedding day, 19 October 1940.

Helen told me, “Nobody had money for a honeymoon at that time (World War Two) so we went straight to our nice new home: the Jarvis Apartments in London at 390 Princess Avenue near Colborne Street.”

 

Built just five years before Ken and Helen's wedding, the Jarvis Apartments were considered modern and desirable accommodation. The bedrooms had Murphy beds and the building was air-conditioned. This building still stands today although it's been renovated and has a different name. Photo via London Public Library.

Nine months after their wedding, their first child, Kenneth Campbell "Cam" was born in July, 1941.

Ken Culbert with first-born child, Cam in 1941.

Around this time, Ken and Helen moved into the main floor of a duplex at 386 William Street, London, near the corner of King Street. I don’t suppose they had any complaints about noisy neighbours -- the house next door was a funeral home.

384-386 William Street (left) as it looked in 2018, many years after Ken and Helen lived there. The white building was a funeral home owned by G.L. Ferguson, undertaker.

During the same year as Cam’s birth (1941), Ken joined the Royal Canadian Air Force (R.C.A.F.) and took operational training as a wireless air gunner at 111 Operational Training Unit (O.T.U.) in Nassau, Bahamas. His squadron was in Transport Command, flying V.I.P.s and secret documents between Dorval, Quebec and Prestwick, Scotland. He was then transferred to Coastal Command at Comox, British Columbia, flew on anti-submarine patrols, and was discharged with the rank of F.O. (Flying Officer) in late 1945.[2]

Ken Culbert (left) with his brother, Mel Culbert, 1940s, hamming it up for the camera. Both were members of the Royal Canadian Air Force (R.C.A.F.)

Ken must have had leave at some point as another son, Brian Gregory "Greg" was born in December, 1943. With Ken away at war from 1941-1945, one can’t help but marvel at how Helen coped on her own with two babies.

During the post-war years, Ken held various jobs. In 1949, he joined the Protective Association of Canada, a general insurance company with their head office in Granby, Quebec. He was appointed assistant general manager in 1952, and moved his family to Granby the next year. 

Ken and Helen's sons, Greg Culbert (left) and Cam Culbert (right) in front of their house on Vittie Street in Granby, Quebec in 1956.

Ken climbed the corporate ladder at Protective Association of Canada and by 1961 he was chief executive officer (CEO). At this time, the head office moved to Toronto, along with Ken and his growing family. A third child, Mary-Lynn had come along in August, 1959.

#7 Blithfield Avenue, Toronto, off Bayview Avenue. Their home from the early 1960s onwards.

In the early 1960s, Ken was a management consultant to several life insurance companies. In 1970, he became a full-time consultant to Eaton Financial Services and remained there until his retirement in 1981.

Ken could often be found on the golf course where he had a lifetime membership.

"Funny story about his "lifetime" golf membership," says Ken’s daughter, Mary-Lynn. "He got kicked out of the golf club because instead of golfing, he spent most of his time scavenging for golf balls hit into the rough, the water hazards, etc.  Then he would clean off the balls, package them up in packs of six, and sell them out of the trunk of the car in the club's parking lot.  Club management took exception.  We found this out because he came home in a big, red-faced huff one afternoon. We caught him unloading dozens of cartons of balls and trying to stash them secretly in the basement.  That was one of the many things we had to deal with after his death - disposing of dozens of cartons filled with golf balls.  Like a squirrel with nuts, he'd stashed boxes of them all over the house and garage. A "hustler" indeed!"

Left to right: Cam Culbert (Ken's son), Terry Culbert (Ken's nephew and son of Mel Culbert), Ken Culbert (the year before he died), and Greg Culbert (Ken's son), 1999. Photo by Mary-Lynn Culbert.

On 12 April 2000, Ken died of multiple myeloma in North York General Hospital, age 83. Ken was the last of Myron and Effie’s six sons to die, and he was the son who enjoyed the longest life.

Ken Culbert with his brothers and parents. Back row, left to right: Ken Culbert, Mel Culbert, Mert Culbert, and Earl Culbert. Front row, left to right: Cliff Culbert, Myron Culbert, Effie (Taylor) Culbert, and Ivan Culbert.

Footnotes:
[1] "A History of the John Culbert-Mary Ward Family and Their Descendants 1828-1995, Volume 1, Branches 5-6-7-8-9" by Grant W. Taylor, page 96.
[2] Ibid., page 97.

Kenneth Arthur Culbert's Family Tree:
Ancestors:
John Culbert & Mary Ward (great-grandparents)
Richard Culbert & Jane Fairhall (grandparents)
Myron Culbert & Effie Taylor (parents)
Descendants (Children):
Kenneth Campbell "Cam" Culbert
Brian Gregory "Greg" Culbert
Mary-Lynn Culbert