TML o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2005-01-14 published
LINDO,
William▼
Joseph▼ "
Bill▼" (1921-2005)
Passed away peacefully at home, Wednesday January 13, 2005, following
a lengthy illness. He is survived by his devoted wife Bernice,
his loving sister, Margaret
McCULLOUGH, and his 7 children, Lorraine
HENNESSEY, Eleanore, Elaine, Marion
ZAKOS (Kingston), Christine
MILCAWICH,
Peter,▼ and
Marguerite.▼ He was proud and delighted
to have 15 grandchildren. Nothing was more important to him than
his family. Bill often said his greatest accomplishment was his
marriage to Bernice. Through her loving care and unwavering courage,
he was able to live out his final months as he so dearly wished,
at home, surrounded by those whom he loved, and who loved him
most. As a successful entrepreneur, Bill created several manufacturing
enterprises involving a wide range of products from the first
artificial fire logs in Canada to windshield wiper antifreeze.
His▼ flagship company,
TML
Industries▼
Ltd.,▼ the second largest
can manufacturing business in Canada, continues as his legacy,
operated by his son Peter, and daughters Christine and Marguerite.
He also leaves behind his last venture, a fledgling start-up
- Dr. Maggie Pet Food Supplements - operated by daughter Elaine.
Much of his success was due to the personal integrity and concern
for others that he brought to all his business dealings. His
longtime business partner, Joe
WOMERSLEY remained a lifelong
steadfast friend as did countless colleagues, customers and employees.
Bill was an exceptional athlete throughout his life. He especially
distinguished himself as a senior marathon runner and triathlete,
competing for the Canadian National Team in the World Champion
Triathlon in 1993 at the age of 72. His stamina and dedication
to physical fitness were amazing and inspirational, particularly
to those who knew him as a denizen of the Willowdale Fitness
Institute where he was a member for over 30 years. All of us
who were privileged to know him through business, sports, or
on a personal level, were touched by his generosity of spirit,
his love of people, animals, nature, music, and his unbounded
enthusiasm for life. We will remember him in so many ways for
so much that we shared - the illuminating ideas, the smiles,
the songs, the moments full of love and hope and striving, the
triumphs and failures that made up his meaningful and cherished
life. The family welcomes Friends to celebrate Bill
LINDO's life
at a memorial service to be held at the Scarborough Golf and
Country Club, 321 Scarborough Golf Club Rd., (Kingston Rd. east
of Markham Rd.) on Sunday, January 16 from 1-4 p.m. In lieu of
a formal eulogy, those who wish to, may relate their favorite
memories of life with Bill. Donations may be made in lieu of
flowers to the Canadian Cancer Society.
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TML o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2005-01-14 published
LINDO,
William▲
Joseph▲ "
Bill▲" (1921-2005)
Passed away peacefully at home, Thursday, January 13, 2005, following
a lengthy illness. He is survived by his devoted wife Bernice,
his loving sister, Margaret
McCULLOUGH, and his 7 children, Lorraine
HENNESSEY, Eleanore, Elaine, Marion
ZAKOS (Kingston), Christine
MILCAWICH,
Peter,▲ and
Marguerite.▲ He was proud and delighted
to have 15 grandchildren. Nothing was more important to him than
his family. Bill often said his greatest accomplishment was his
marriage to Bernice. Through her loving care and unwavering courage,
he was able to live out his final months as he so dearly wished,
at home, surrounded by those whom he loved, and who loved him
most. As a successful entrepreneur, Bill created several manufacturing
enterprises involving a wide range of products from the first
artificial fire logs in Canada to windshield wiper antifreeze.
His▲ flagship company,
TML
Industries▲▼
Ltd.,▲ the second largest
can manufacturing business in Canada, continues as his legacy,
operated by his son Peter, and daughters Christine and Marguerite.
He also leaves behind his last venture, a fledgling start-up
- Dr. Maggie Pet Food Supplements - operated by daughter Elaine.
Much of his success was due to the personal integrity and concern
for others that he brought to all his business dealings. His
longtime business partner, Joe
WOMERSLEY remained a lifelong
steadfast friend as did countless colleagues, customers and employees.
Bill was an exceptional athlete throughout his life. He especially
distinguished himself as a senior marathon runner and triathlete,
competing for the Canadian National Team in the World Champion
Triathlon in 1993 at the age of 72. His stamina and dedication
to physical fitness were amazing and inspirational, particularly
to those who knew him as a denizen of the Willowdale Fitness
Institute where he was a member for over 30 years. All of us
who were privileged to know him through business, sports, or
on a personal level, were touched by his generosity of spirit,
his love of people, animals, nature, music, and his unbounded
enthusiasm for life. We will remember him in so many ways for
so much that we shared - the illuminating ideas, the smiles,
the songs, the moments full of love and hope and striving, the
triumphs and failures that made up his meaningful and cherished
life. The family welcomes Friends to celebrate Bill
LINDO's life
at a Memorial Service to be held at the Scarborough Golf and
Country Club, 321 Scarborough Golf Club Rd. (Kingston Rd., east
of Markham Rd.), on Sunday, January 16 from 1-4 p.m. In lieu
of a formal eulogy, those who wish to, may relate their favourite
memories of life with Bill. Donations may be made, in lieu of
flowers, to the Canadian Cancer Society.
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TML o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2005-03-14 published
Crossing the finish line his specialty
Bill LINDO swam, cycled and ran almost to the end
Top triathlete was also a successful businessman
By Catherine
DUNPHY,
Obituary
Writer
This is a story of a life in the fast lane. A very long fast
lane.
Bill LINDO, 83, is believed to have been Canada's oldest triathlete,
entering and often winning the Olympic distance races of 1.5-kilometre
swims, 40-kilometre cycles and 10-kilometre runs.
He thought it was easier than marathon running -- although he
did a lot of that as well, including a personal best on April
13, 1981, his 60th birthday, at the prestigious Boston Marathon.
He'd been planning to stop running marathons after that one --
he always over-trained and he always sustained some injury or
other -- but he did so well, easily conquering Heartbreak Hill
at Mile 22, and felt so good crossing the finish line, he decided
to revise that plan and keep on running.
There were plenty more finish lines for
LINDO. He ran marathons
in Toronto, Ottawa, New York, Chicago, a couple of more times
in Boston, and he had the T-shirts to prove it. In 1992, when
he was 71, he competed for the Canadian national team at the
world championship triathlon event held at Deerhurst Inn in Muskoka,
the first time ever in Canada. He crossed that finish line looking
as if he had just run around the block.
Perhaps that is what it felt like, too.
LINDO had been training
hard for that meet, three hours a day, six days a week, swimming
six, cycling 120 and running 80 kilometres. Actually he'd been
training to compete in Hawaii's famous Iron Man, infinitely more
gruelling as it includes a full marathon run, and he'd been travelling
around the province's triathlete circuit. He was spotted at a
Guelph event and urged to try out for the national team. He qualified,
but he had to be talked into competing at the world championship
because it meant he would have to miss the Iron Man event.
"He told us that he couldn't say no, that they were giving him
all this great stuff," his daughter Elaine
LINDO said. "Red-and-white
warm-up pants, swimsuit, hat, singlet, all kinds of stuff. He
couldn't resist."
He was the only Canadian competing in the over-60 age categories
there were nine athletes over 70. Wearing red and white and the
number 1104,
LINDO came fourth.
"He was the hometown hero. Everybody knew who he was," Elaine
recalled. She remembered that the crowds went wild when her father
came into view. "When he crossed the finish line, he looked so
fresh, like he could do another triathlon. The Japanese guy could
barely make it across the line."
The photo Elaine took of her father crossing the line is reproduced
here. Of all the photos of all his finishes, this one was his
favourite. He was upright, he was fresh and he was laughing.
LINDO died at home on January 13.
"He liked winning his categories to the point where he was the
only one in his age category," said another daughter, film director
Eleanore LINDO. "He wanted to compete until there was no one
left."
But then
LINDO decided what he really liked about the triathlon
was biking, so for his 75th birthday, and in honour of what was
supposed to be his retirement, he flew one of his titanium racing
bikes to Amsterdam, where he rode around Holland. He then flew
to Paris and rode through that city and France, and then on to
to Switzerland, where he told his family he biked halfway up
the Matterhorn.
Sure, they said. But maybe he really did, as his wife Bernice
and their seven children well knew.
LINDO started getting fit sometime around his 50th birthday.
He was out on the golf course kibitzing with some Friends and
business colleagues when he commented on the girth of one of
the men. Then he found out the man wore waist size 44: the same
as LINDO. He joined the Y -- his family thinks it might well
have been the next day -- taking up racquet ball, then squash.
Then he joined the Fitness Institute the first year it opened
and got really serious about his workouts. Around the club he
was famous for his endurance and fitness level, especially on
the stationary bike, where he could go faster and longer than
the professional hockey players working out next to him.
"Dad used to say they were wusses," said daughter Christine
MILCAWICH.
Here was a man who used to bike from his Beach-area home to Picton
Provincial Park, bike around the park and then back home, all
on a Sunday afternoon. "He had to do everything full force."
LINDO had at least two collisions with cars while training; the
emergency-room doctors at Toronto East General Hospital once
teased Bernice that she had brought her husband in more than
all of their seven kids combined.
Sometimes he'd come in from training sessions looking tired and
drained. "But he'd walk up the stairs, have a shower and be fully
recovered when he came back down," his wife said.
Five years ago, he and Eleanore took up tennis. "He used me as
a backboard," said Mayfair Lakeshore Racquet Club tennis coach
Scott HURTUBISE. "He was remarkable. Only a small handful of
people have his agility and tenacity."
LINDO grew up in Toronto's east end, where he was known as the
"singing delivery boy," working at the grocery store of his buddy
Steve STAVRO's father, at the corner of Queen St. E. and Coxwell
Ave. A dropout after Grade 11, he was serving in Italy driving
a supply truck in the middle of the action at Anzio when he vowed
that if he got out of the war, he was going to settle down, get
married and make something of himself. His mother decided she
knew just the right girl, whom she took with her to the train
station to welcome home the returning soldier. He and Bernice
settled in his old family home at 11 Cherry Nook Gardens and
had seven children in 10 years.
He worked in sales for a chemical company for years, taking his
university degree in chemistry at night. In the early 1960s,
LINDO formed a can distribution company that became the second
largest in the country. His flagship company,
TML
Industries▲
in Pickering, is run today by daughters Christine and Marguerite,
and by Peter, his only son.
LINDO and his best friend Joe
WOMERSLEY also started up Linwo
Industries, a chemical packaging company. "Bill was a wizard
at figures. He could set up a big quote in his head in 10 minutes,"
WOMERSLEY said. Entrepreneurial and adventurous, they also kick-started
the first company in the country to make aerosol packaging, then
another business making heavy-truck accessories, and later a
company manufacturing the first artificial fireplace logs in
Canada.
If things were getting tense at a meeting, or slow at a convention,
LINDO would stand on his head and sing "Old Man River." If circumstances
permitted, he'd stand on his head, drink a beer and belt out
the song.
LINDO ran his businesses the way he ran his races, one after
another after another. Soon he and
WOMERSLEY were setting up
a plant in Edmonton making plastic gallon jugs for antifreeze
and another facility in Buffalo to wind 2.4 million cases of
Stretch 'n' Seal for Colgate Palmolive in five years.
Then there was the Weed As You Walk weed killer. Dr. Maggie's
Pet Food Supplement was his last business venture.
LINDO was still working four days a week and working out even
more often when he was diagnosed with cancer. The last year of
his life was the only time in which he'd ever been sick. Eleanore
said he never gave up on the idea that he would do another triathlon.
As his long-time friend
WOMERSLEY said, "His heart was like a
diesel motor. You can't stop that running. It was only his body
that disintegrated and in the end gave out."
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