Obituary of Earl Young

At Wingham & District Hospital on Saturday, January 28, 2023, Earl Young of Wingham, in his 94th year.

Earl is survived by his wife Isabell (Barbour; Montgomery) Young of Wingham; his son Robert Young (Jane Swan) of East Garafraxa, and his granddaughter Laura Young of Guelph.  Earl was predeceased by wives Doreen (Hays) and Shirley (Heimbecker); by daughter-in-law Joanne (Fitzgerald) Young; and by his brothers Elwin ("Bill"), Meredith and Worthy Young and sisters Marjorie (Jackson) and Myrtle (Barwick; MacDonald).

Earl Wesley Young was born July 27th 1929, in Goderich, and followed several of his family into a career at sea, rapidly rising to the rank of mate. After the birth of his son, Earl ‘came ashore’, eventually gaining an engineering accreditation. Earl moved his young family to the Sarnia area to participate in the startup of a chemical plant, but returned to Wingham after just a few years, purchasing and operating Wingham Bowl, while continuing as a stationary engineer at Bruce Nuclear and later at CFB Clinton, where he was Senior Civilian.

Earl left his formal engineering career behind, focusing on business, adding school buses, a courier service and a sporting goods store to his bowling business. Earl provided out-of-town transport for the Wingham Ironmen Hockey team and spent considerable time with the club.

A lifelong musician, Earl had a love of old country music and guitar which led him to an active role with the Barn Dance Historical Society. Life on the water remained a passion for decades, and Earl enjoyed owning a series of speedboats and cabin cruisers in pursuit of that passion. He was also an active member of Royal Canadian Legion Branch 180, a Life Member of Masonic Lodge 286 in Wingham and a former Shriner. 

‘Uncle’ Earl enjoyed a special relationship with his many nieces and nephews. He will be fondly remembered by his entire family, and by friends made in pursuit of his many interests.

Visitation will be held at McBurney Funeral Home, Wingham on Wednesday from 2:00-4:00 p.m. A Masonic Lodge Service will be held at 1:30 p.m. The funeral service will take place in the funeral home chapel on Thursday at 1:00 p.m. with reception to follow at the Wingham Legion.

Earl's service will be live-streamed, please click here to view the service. 

Interment will take place at Wingham Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, donations to the Wingham & District Hospital Foundation would be appreciated.