Hugh Blagdon Tunnicliffe was - as the Irish would say - grand. His name was an uncommon one, stretching all the way back to his famous naval forebear, Captain George Blagdon Westcott, who sailed with Nelson at the Nile in 1798. But it was also a bit of a mouthful, so from boyhood he was known simply as Bud.
And what a boyhood it was. Bud was one of four children of Hugh Edward Tunnicliffe and Margaret Elizabeth Westcott. He was a fine athlete, good at everything but outstanding at baseball and football. In 1934, when he was 14, he single-handedly led R.H. McGregor Public School to the York County baseball championship, striking out 21 batters in a row. After the win, his dad simply said, "Good game, Bud."
After Bud graduated from East York Collegiate and had grown to 6 feet and a well-muscled 210 pounds, he played football as a halfback and kicker for Balmy Beach, a team in his era's version of the CFL. He capped this period playing in the 1940 Grey Cup.
Then came war service at the Trenton, Ont., military base beginning in 1942, followed by his long and successful career in the insurance business and his first marriage, to Bette Morris. Bud lost her in 1965, but not long afterward he found new happiness with his second wife, Eileen McLean.
Bud and Eileen shared more than 10 wonderful years together before she died of cancer in 1982. Bud never got over losing her, but he never felt sorry for himself either. Although he didn't have children, his life was full of activity, especially travel and sports, and he had a rare gift for companionship and friendship.
Bud was a devoted and long-suffering fan of the Maple Leafs and loved to watch the Blue Jays and Raptors. Playing golf and bowling every Wednesday morning rounded out his pastimes. But the greatest passion of his retirement years was ocean cruising. He averaged a cruise a year for the last 25 years of his life, visiting most of the major ports of the world. The highlight? Making port at Mombasa, Kenya, then driving inland to the Serengeti Plain where he climbed into a basket - flute of champagne in hand - for a hot-air balloon ride at dawn over the undulating expanses of East Africa.
To his nephews and nieces, Bud was the ideal uncle, a parental figure who was keenly interested in their lives and giving of himself along with his time and treasure. He will be lovingly remembered by them, as well as his great-nieces and great-nephews, his other family members and friends. There is intense sadness at his passing, but also much joy at what he meant to us. His 90 years were a superb demonstration of how to live right.
Brad Faught is Bud's nephew.