Sometime between 1960 and 1986, while my father was running his tourist business, one of his clients referred to him in an article he wrote for a magazine as the Best Damn Guide in Northern Ontario. After that, my Dad would often sign letters and marketing pieces with B.D.G.I.N.O. which is one hell of an acronym but he was one hell of a guy; he was also one hell of a father.

To say that my father, William (Bill or Esher) Ritchie, inspired me is a tremendous understatement. He is pictured on the right at about the age of 20 just after he married my Mom. Bill Ritchie was a man who was in many ways larger than life. His talents were almost endless, he could play the piano and accordion, he was a sign painter, a carpenter, an electrician, a hockey coach, an excellent woodsman and guide and a fabulous story teller to mention only a few of his capabilities. Beyond all of that, he was an excellent teacher and father. I can remember working on building cabins for our fishing lodge, and one of us would hit our thumb with a hammer. My dad would say, “That is not pain, it’s the feeling of experience going into your body; you will be smarter now”.  

He was also a frustrated inventor; he used to have a little book of his “inventions” than he kept for many years. I was recalling over dinner this week with my oldest bother Lark, that one of those inventions was a “child’s flying disc” which he “invented” as a young boy throwing the lid of a 50 lb lard pail back and forth with his friends. Whamo beat him to the patent office with their Frisbee, but that was about 30 years after he had thought of productizing the toy. There were many other ideas in his little book that didn’t make it to the patent office either but one did; the Bill Ritchie Broadhead. This was an arrowhead that was designed to kill its prey quickly and humanely, even if the archer was unable to get the killing shot that he or she intended. It was used by several of our clients with very good results and was even written about in sporting magazines. Unfortunately, it was never mass marketed so it didn’t make him (or his kids) millionaires ;-)…

Our dad had one of those magnetic personalities; more like the gravitational pull of the earth on the moon or the sun on the planets. He drew people toward him and he seemed to cast them in his spell as he told his jokes or stories of growing up or hunting with friends and clients. We had clients that would come back year after year, even if they were unsuccessful, only to be near him and to be part of the experience and the things that were happening around him. Many of these turned into life-long fiends and some became free interns that worked as guides for many years for my father and his clients. Chuck in the picture below was one of those intern guides.

As a father, he was also a great man to look up to and to aspire to. He was always positive and supportive and seemed to walk the fine line between educating and giving you enough freedom to learn things on your own. I remember after my Dad helped me buy a small motorcycle when I was 12, I got fined by the police for driving on the dirt road that Chapleau called a street, in front of our house.

I thought I would be severely punished but he was not angry with me; he was angrier with the policeman who charged me instead of providing a stern warning which would have achieved the objective. Here's a shot of me about to tear up the streets of Chapleau on my new Yamaha Enduro 60 c.c. motorbike.

My Dad and I went to defend ourselves in front of the judge but my Dad got court the time wrong by an hour and we missed our case and were handed the fine; he laughed, I cried and he paid the fine.

Unfortunately, my Dad passed away far too early at the young age of 67, one week after our first child Kaitlin was born in 1986. He did get to meet her while he was in the hospital in his last days. He held her in his lap and patted he on the head and said “she looks like a good one; I think she’ll be able to carry a 14 foot canoe”. Last year, 27 years later, Kaitlin did rent a canoe with her friend Kate and yes, she did carry the canoe from her Jeep to the water and back again after their paddle. So I guess my Dad was right, she’s a pretty good one but he was a pretty good one too. In fact, I would have to say he was the Best Damn Dad In Northern Ontario.  

Love you Dad; Happy Fathers Day!!!

For more on Bill Ritchie, you can visit his Kamazooie tribute page at  http://www.kamazooie.com/profile/WilliamJohn

P.S.  I DO know that there were actually LOTS of great dads in Northern Ontario, and elsewhere in the world, and our Dad is only one of the many, but, to us, of course, he was the best. 

Happy Fathers Day all you great dads out there!!!

Dad helping me with something in our first house in Sault Ste. Marie in 1986.

Mom and Dad picking blueberries with Duke (not so amused) around about 1984 likely on the Abitibi Road just west of Prairie Bee lake.