Dr. Thorpe

THORPE, Dr. Frederick John
1925-2018

Fred passed away suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Ottawa on Thursday, November 8 ^th 2018. He was predeceased by his parents, George Edmund and Ethel Thorpe (nee Long) and his beloved wife, Tetiana Chaly. He is survived by cousins in the Toronto area.

Educated in Toronto, Fred served in Europe in World War II. Before joining the Federal Public Service in the 1950s, he studied in Paris, preparing the M.A. thesis he later submitted to the University of Toronto. Fred's training in history and languages served him well during the Road to Resources Study, where he wrote an insightful paper on the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909. He then became Chief Historian of the Fortress of Louisburg Restoration, succeeding in 1964 to the Chief Historian position in the National Museum.

From 1969 to 1984, he published over 25 biographical essays on French military engineers in Canada, and several papers Samuel Holland, Canada's leading British military engineer, thereby creating the groundwork for a new field of study. This work was based on his doctoral thesis at the University of Ottawa , which in turn formed the basis of a monograph on French metropolitan fortification in Newfoundland and Cape Breton. He argued that the great expense of these works was warranted because they defended the cod fisheries from interlopers (read British) and richly supplied the home market with a major source of protein, to say nothing of supporting the country's dependence on valuable international trades in codfish. In short, it was a design not to advance geo-political control in Canada, but to forward the economic objectives of the Metropole. Fred's last paper went to press in September.

There will a visitation at the Westboro Chapel of Tubman Funeral Homes, 403 Richmond Road, on Wednesday, November 21, 2018 from 6-8 p.m., and a funeral service at Christ Church Cathedral, 414 Sparks St., on Friday, November 23, 2018 at 1:30 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations in Fred's memory may be made to a charitable organization of your choice. Condolences, donations and tributes may be made at www.tubmanfuneralhomes.com