Testimonials

Discovering Marie and being able to work with her to find the families who lost loved ones in the RCAF crash of 1946 has been a highlight of my life. It allowed my personal genealogical sleuth to blossom and me to enjoy contact with many members of the RCAF story, far and wide. When my mother died in 2012, we had treasures to sort, including boxes of photos in which I found someone in RCAF uniform who wasn’t my dad. I could recall she had told me his name was Max, but not his surname, and that he had died in a plane crash ferrying planes back to the US after the war. I did not know to ask more questions. After her death, there was no one to ask. The photo went back into a box, but was not forgotten, because it had become an intriguing mystery. Then, in 2018, while I was wintering in Arizona, the CBC ran a story which I read with great interest. It talked about a plane crash on September 15, 1946, in which 21 airmen had died….and it listed the names of the victims. There was Max…Thomas. Yes, it came back to me. It was only then I realized he had died in a crash with 20 other servicemen. I had to contact Marie as soon as I got back to Regina. She had a lot more information and she introduced me to Lester Hinzman who had engaged an artist to create a sculpture with the faces of the airmen. Lester was bound and determined that Marie would write a book about the airmen. She had already discovered a number of families, but she needed me and a few others to continue digging while she began to write the stories. It gave me a tingling sensation each time I discovered someone, especially Max’s family. We could hardly contain our excitement as we searched online, made phone calls and compared notes. Even going door to door in Tucson, AZ, for the son of one airman. And the tales began to flow, thanks to Marie. They almost became members of our own families as we reached out and grasped their memories. Most heartening of all was the excitement many felt because WE were able to help them find missing members of THEIR families….. from UK, Greece, USA, and every province from Ontario to the West Coast. Together Forever in the Clouds is a book that cried out to be written. And Marie was the very person to do it. She made the families come alive. She allowed us to share their grief, but also to walk with them through life’s challenges and happy times. Albeit some 75 years later, Marie brought closure, and in so doing, kept alive the memories of 21 special people who gave their lives for their country. This book is ageless. It will not grow old, for the story of these men will never grow old.