Decades after his father started school chats about the military, war and Canadian veterans, Rick Boon, a retired teacher, was still getting calls and well-wishes about the impact those carefully delivered stories had on students all those years ago.
Such was the skill and precision of Art Boon, otherwise a quiet and humble man, that he could light up a classroom with important recollections about his time serving his country in the Second World War, his son recalled, masterfully connecting a tragic event from the past with no emphasis on the glory or pain, just the importance of lives lost, and how the youngsters in front of him ought to remember that and be thankful for their freedom.
Those calls increased in frequency this week when Art passed away after a short illness at the age of 98.
"He put a spark into history for the kids," Rick said this week, looking back on his father's visits to local schools. "He wanted them to understand that their freedom came at a heavy cost because others did not make it back to this country and gave their lives for (them)."