THOMAS, Hugh David

Husband to Jean Thomas (Beeton), father to David and Glynis (Jake Brogan) and grandfather to Holly, Eric, and Christopher, passed away peacefully in Camp Hill Veterans’ Memorial Building, QEII on April 15, 2020 age 95. The family conveys our gratitude for the exceptional care he received there, particularly the staff of V6E. Hugh was born in London, England to parents Edward and Susannah Thomas (Evans) and grew up on a dairy farm, one of three children. He volunteered for military service during the Second World War which brought him to Canada for flight school training in the RCAF system in Goderich, Ont. Hugh took back many pictures of Canada and a maple leaf pressed between pages of his flight log books not knowing if he would ever return to Canada. Northern Scotland at the Royal Navy’s wartime home base in Scapa Flow, is where he finished his training as a Fleet Air Arm pilot. He flew many sorties in a British built torpedo dive bomber (Fairey Barracuda) with 814 Squadron from the flight deck of the carrier HMS Venerable. He later flew American F4 U’s and always regretted not getting time in a Spitfire cockpit. Military service sent him to the Pacific theatre with notable deployments in: Australia, Sri Lanka and Myanmar. The war finally ended for him with the liberation of Hong Kong and the arrival of his carrier group to liberate British and Commonwealth prisoners of war. After the war, Hugh trained and apprenticed in the south of England to obtain a Royal Chartered Quantity Surveyor (RCQS) designation in the construction industry. In 1955 he returned to Canada to build a life, initially in Vancouver with his wife, Jean, whom he met while completing his training. His wartime experiences created a desire for travel and exploration and coupled with career demands resulted in many moves and trans-atlantic crossings back and forth to England, Montreal and Toronto as well as stints in both Jamaica and Ghana where his daughter, Glynis was born in 1962. In 1976, Hugh became the first CEO of the Halifax Waterfront Corporation with the mandate to revitalize the waterfront areas in the downtown core. Hugh came to Nova Scotia and never left. The pathways, ferry terminals and repurposed historic buildings in this now vibrant section of downtown Halifax are a lasting legacy of his love for architecture and the preservation of old buildings (likely born from the destruction he witnessed in war torn England). Hugh retired in 1991 and had enjoyed life on St. Margarets Bay, and then in Bedford. Always with a view of the ocean. Hugh will be remembered as a doting and caring husband to Jean, and a loving father and grandfather. He was widely respected in the industry for his honesty and integrity. We will miss his endless detailed stories of adventure, humour, mishaps from his travels and wartime memories from this last survivor of squadron 814, deployed on HMS Venerable. Condolences can be sent to J.A. Snow Funeral Home, Halifax. In lieu of flowers, any donations could be made to War Amps or charity of choice.