Thursday 11 November 2021

Mert Culbert Finds Old Photo of His Brothers -- Under the Linoleum!

As a refresher, click here to see my Remembrance Day post from last year. In that post, you'll read the story about the Culbert brothers shown in this 1946 newspaper clipping ...

LUCAN VETERANS HONOURED: Left to right: Ken Culbert, a former Flight Sergeant in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF); Ivan Culbert, a former Sergeant who just recently returned from 6 years and 4 months of overseas duty; and Mel Culbert, a former RCAF Sergeant. The Free Press caption says the Culbert brothers were from Granton but it should say Lucan.

Fast forward 15 years, from 1946 to 1961. Merton Manford Culbert (1926-1998) was the younger brother of the World War Two veterans pictured above: Kenneth Arthur Culbert, Ivan Hector Culbert, and Milward Taylor "Mel" Culbert

Mert Culbert operated a painting/decorating business in Lucan, Ontario on Francis Street.

 

Brothers, Mert Culbert (left) and Mel Culbert (right) in the 1940s where Mel was stationed during World War Two.

On a July day in 1961, Mert Culbert was laying a new linoleum floor at the Lucan United Church parsonage.

Lucan United Church was located at 142 Main Street at the corner of Francis Street. Photo taken by Mary Jane Culbert on the church's last day of service on 31 May 2015. Many members of the Culbert family attended the Lucan United Church throughout its 153 year history.

The old linoleum had been padded with 15-year-old copies of the London Free Press. 

To Mert's surprise, the first paper he picked up contained the picture of his three brothers ...


And to my surprise, I found this clipping from the Exeter Times-Advocate that relates Mert's discovery ...

 

Source: Exeter Times-Advocate, 27 July 1961, page 14.

FAMILY TREE FOR THE CULBERT BROTHERS:

Ancestors:

John Culbert & Mary Ward (great-grandparents)

Richard Culbert & Jane Eleanor Fairhall (grandparents)

Myron Manford Culbert & Effie Pearl Taylor (parents)

Note: The Culbert brothers mentioned in this post (Kenneth Arthur Culbert; Ivan Hector Culbert; Milward Taylor "Mel" Culbert; and Merton Manford Culbert) also had two other brothers, Clifford Burton Culbert and Earl Culbert.