Canada

London veteran to be honoured with Quilt of Valour

By Jaclyn Carbone 980 CFPL

Posted April 7, 2018 11:35 am

This photo shows suitable cotton fabrics for Quilts of Valour sewn in a maple leaf pattern,. Quilts of Valour - Canada

A local veteran is being honoured with a Quilt of Valour.

Enlisting in the airforce on Nov. 18 1942, Art Lee held the rank of lead aircraftman.

During his service, Lee was stationed in St. Thomas and also had postings in New Brunswick, Saskatchewan and Quebec.

Lee also served Canada overseas in England, Belgium, Holland and Germany.

He was honourably released on May 8, 1946.

“[When] they do a quilt, they take a swatch and get some information about the person that it’s being presented to — his rank, serial number and some other things about them to make it an intimate, personal item,” said Renne McKinnon, member of the London’s 427 Wing, Royal Canadian Air Force Association.

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“The people are usually senior, retired and some of them are not in good health, but I think they acknowledge the fact that it’s recognition of what they did for their country,” McKinnon said.

Quilts of Valour – Canada was founded in 2006 in Edmonton Alberta to acknowledge the significant contributions made by injured Canadian Armed Forces members and veterans.

The quilts are handmade by volunteers, using donated materials. Each quilt features the name, rank, years of service and branch of service the veteran served in.

“They do this all across Canada, I think they’ve done seven or eight thousand,” said McKinnon.

Surrounded by family and friends, his wife of 68 years and MP for London-Fanshawe Irene Mathyssen, Lee will be presented with his quilt in the Activity Room at Chelsey Park Long Term Care Facility at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.