On February 14, Branch 236 of the Royal Canadian Legion in St. Marys held a dedication ceremony for an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) donated through the Dave Mounsey Memorial Fund. The device was dedicated in memory of Frank and William Near, two brothers from St. Marys whose story of service and sacrifice speaks to the personal cost carried by so many Canadian families.
Before the war, Frank worked as a barber and William as a freight agent in St. Marys. Frank enlisted on June 28, 1915, with the 33rd Canadian Infantry Battalion. William followed less than two months later, enlisting on August 16, 1915, with the same battalion in London. On April 1, 1916, they sailed together from Halifax aboard the SS Lapland, crossing the Atlantic side by side into the unknown.
Though they tried to stay together, Frank was transferred to The Royal Canadian Regiment while William was diverted to the 7th Canadian Infantry Battalion. William applied to have Frank transferred to serve alongside him, but the paperwork never went through.
On October 8, 1916, during the Battle of the Ancre Heights at the Somme in France, Frank’s unit attacked the German position. The assault fell apart when other battalions encountered uncut barbed wire. Canadian forces suffered 1,364 casualties that day and Frank Near was listed as missing. His body was never recovered, and his name is commemorated on the Vimy Ridge memorial.
William carried on. A year later, during the Third Battle of Ypres at Passchendaele in Belgium, he served as a battalion headquarters runner, carrying messages through shellfire. His last diary entry, dated November 7, 1917, mentioned cold rain and writing a letter to his mother, Mary. The next night, William was killed while moving into the assembly trenches. He was buried in Belgium, but the location of his grave is lost to history. His name is inscribed on the Menin Gate in Ypres among the 54,000 missing.
It was this history that brought a small group together on Valentine’s Day. The ceremony was attended by Scott Rutherford of Perth County Paramedic Services, who demonstrated the AED and explained the Public Access Defibrillation program; Reg Rumble, Branch President; Mike Rumble, Veteran Services Officer; and relatives of the Near family.
The Dave Mounsey Memorial Fund was established by OPP Sergeant Patrick Armstrong in honor of Provincial Constable Dave Mounsey, who died in the line of duty in 2006. It donates AEDs to public buildings in memory of fallen law enforcement, fire, EMS, and military members. To date, the Foundation has donated 242 defibrillators, saving seven lives.
“Frank and William Near gave everything,” said Mike Rumble during the ceremony. “The Near brothers couldn’t come home. But because of them, and because of the Dave Mounsey Foundation, someone else can.”
The AED is now available for public use at the Legion.
A photo from the January delivery includes Patrick Armstrong and Tom Jenkins (Zone Service Officer) and Reg Rumble (Branch President). A photo from the February dedication ceremony features Mike Rumble (Branch Service Officer), Reg Rumble, Scott Rutherford, and representative of the Near family.
