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| predecessor = [[Martin Dobkin]]
| predecessor = [[Martin Dobkin]]
| successor = [[Hazel McCallion]]
| successor = [[Hazel McCallion]]
| birth_name = Ronald Alfred Searle
| birth_date = {{birth date|1919|7|19}}
| birth_date = {{birth date|1919|7|19}}
| birth_place = [[Southampton]], [[England]]
| birth_place = [[Southampton]], [[England]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|2015|8|29|1919|7|19}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|2015|8|29|1919|7|19}}
| death_place = [[Mississauga]], [[Ontario]]
| death_place = [[Mississauga]], [[Ontario]]
| spouse = Mollie Searle
| spouse = {{marriage|Mollie Searle|1949|1999}}
| children = 1
| children = 1
| profession = Magazine publisher
| profession = Publisher
| nickname =
| nickname =
| allegiance = Canadian
| allegiance = [[Canada|Canadian]]
| branch = Infantry
| branch = Infantry
| serviceyears = 1939-1945
| serviceyears = 1939-1945
| rank = [[Sergeant#Canada|Sergeant]]<ref name="qeii golden jub medal">{{cite web|title=Searle, Sergeant Ronald Alfred, (Ret'd)|url=http://www.gg.ca/honour.aspx?id=33801&t=6|website=Honours Recipients|publisher=Office of the Secretary to the Governor General of Canada|accessdate=9 September 2015}}</ref>
| rank =
| unit = [[Toronto Scottish Regiment]]
| unit = [[The Toronto Scottish Regiment (Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother's Own)|Toronto Scottish Regiment]]
| commands =
| commands =
| battles =
| battles =
| mawards =
| mawards =
}}
}}
'''Ronald Searle''' (July 19, 1919 &ndash; August 29, 2015) was a British-born Canadian politician who served as the fourth mayor of [[Mississauga]], [[Ontario]] from 1976 to 1978.
'''Ronald Alfred Searle'''<ref name=heritage-miss>{{cite web|title=Searle, Ronald Alfred|url=http://www.heritagemississauga.com/page/Ronald-Alfred-Searle|website=Heritage Profiles|publisher=Heritage Mississauga|accessdate=9 September 2015}}</ref> (July 19, 1919 &ndash; August 29, 2015) was a British-born Canadian politician who served as the fourth mayor of [[Mississauga]], [[Ontario]] from 1976 to 1978.


==Background==
==Early Life==
{{refimprove|section}}
Searle was born in [[Southampton]], [[England]] on July 19, 1919 to Ruby and Theodore Searle. His mother was a seamstress and his father was a purser with the [[White Star Line]] and then a seaman with the [[Royal Navy]] during [[World War I]]. His parents were married in [[Edinburgh]], [[Scotland]] during the war. After the war, Theodore returned to the White Star Lines and was transferred to [[New York City]]. Theodore moved his family to New York but succumbed shortly after contracting [[dengue fever]] while on mercy missions in the tropics. Theodore's last wish was that the family relocate to [[Toronto]] where the family had relatives.
Searle was born in [[Southampton]], [[England]] to Ruby and Theodore Searle on July 19, 1919.<ref name=heritage-miss /> His mother was a seamstress and his father was a purser with the [[White Star Line]] and then a seaman with the [[Royal Navy]] during [[World War I]]. His parents were married in [[Edinburgh]], [[Scotland]] during the war. After the war, Theodore returned to the White Star Lines and was transferred to [[New York City]]. Theodore moved his family to New York but succumbed shortly after contracting [[dengue fever]] while on mercy missions in the tropics. Theodore's last wish was that the family relocate to [[Toronto]] where the family had relatives.


Searle attended [[Harbord Collegiate Institute]] in Toronto where he became friends with [[Ed Mirvish]] as well as [[Johnny Wayne]] and [[Frank Shuster]] (of [[Wayne and Shuster]] fame), among others. He admired many of his classmates and families who were new Canadians having moved to [[Canada]] from various European homelands where the [[Nazi]] tyranny had caused them to flee for their lives. Searle's son, Mark, recalled his father often saying that his relationships with these school friends further added to his resolve to do his part against the Nazis.<ref>{{cite |author=Mark Searle |title=Personal anecdote |date=January 2007}}{{Verify source|date=September 2015}}</ref> He joined the Toronto Scottish militia in the mid-thirties, which would eventually lead to his signing up with the [[Toronto Scottish Regiment]] immediately upon Canada declaring war against [[Nazi Germany]] in September 1939. Searle landed twice in France, once at [[Brest, France|Brest]] and once at [[Normandy]]. He was wounded in [[Verrières, Ardennes|Verrieres]] taking three machine gun bullets through his leg. After the war he began a career in magazine publishing. In 1949 he married his wife Mollie and together they raised one son. He died in Mississauga on August 29, 2015 at the age of 96.<ref name=obit>{{cite news |title=Former Mississauga mayor Ron Searle dead at 96 |url=http://www.mississauga.com/news-story/5820692-former-mississauga-mayor-ron-searle-dead-at-96/ |first=Peter |last=Criscione |newspaper=Mississauga News |date=August 30, 2015}}</ref>
Searle attended [[Harbord Collegiate Institute]] in Toronto where he became friends with [[Ed Mirvish]] as well as [[Johnny Wayne]] and [[Frank Shuster]] (of [[Wayne and Shuster]] fame), among others. He admired many of his classmates and families who were new Canadians having moved to [[Canada]] from various European homelands where the [[Nazi]] tyranny had caused them to flee for their lives. Searle's son, Mark, recalled his father often saying that his relationships with these school friends further added to his resolve to do his part against the Nazis.<ref>{{cite |author=Mark Searle |title=Personal anecdote |date=January 2007}}{{Verify source|date=September 2015}}</ref>


===Military career===
==Politics==
After joining the Toronto Scottish militia in the mid-1930s, Searle later signed up with the [[The Toronto Scottish Regiment (Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother's Own)|Toronto Scottish Regiment]] immediately upon Canada declaring war against [[Nazi Germany]] in September 1939. During [[World War II]] Searle landed twice in France, once at [[Brest, France|Brest]] and once at [[Normandy]]. He was later wounded at [[Falaise, Ardennes|Falaise]] in [[Ardennes (department)|Ardennes]] when he took three machine gun bullets to his leg.<ref name=torstar-obit />
In 1962, he was elected to Mississauga town council and served for fourteen years.<ref name=obit/> He ran for the [[Progressive Conservative Party of Canada]] in 1965, for the riding of [[Peel (federal electoral district)|Peel]], finishing a distant second.<ref name="1965 results">{{cite news |title=Results in political ridings across the nation in Canada's federal election |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=November 9, 1965 |page=10}}</ref> He was elected mayor of [[Mississauga]] in 1976 and served one term until 1978. In 1978 he was defeated by Streetsville mayor [[Hazel McCallion]] by a margin of 28,005 to 25,029 votes.<ref>{{cite news |title=Plain talk in Mississauga wins Hazel mayor's job |newspaper=Toronto Star |date=November 14, 1978 |page=A14}}</ref> He remained active in local Conservative politics, being highly critical of [[Tim Peterson]]'s installation as the [[Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario]] candidate in 2007 after crossing the floor, remarking that the process was "a violation of the democratic principles the Conservative Party has stood for over the years".<ref>{{cite web |title=A nomination like no other |author=John Stewart |date=June 19, 2007 |url=http://www.mississaugablogs.com/2007/06/a_nomination_like_no_other.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080905110141/http://www.mississaugablogs.com/2007/06/a_nomination_like_no_other.html |archivedate=September 5, 2008}}</ref>

===Post-war life and family===
After the war he began a career in magazine publishing.<ref name=missnews-obit>{{cite news|last1=Chriscione|first1=Peter|title='Good mayor' and 'gentleman' Ron Searle dead at 96|url=http://www.mississauga.com/news-story/5824587--good-mayor-and-gentleman-ron-searle-dead-at-96/|accessdate=9 September 2015|work=Mississauga News|date=2 September 2015}}</ref> On December 10, 1949 he married his wife Mollie and together they raised one son, Mark William Searle.<ref name=heritage-miss /> The Searles were married for 50 years until Mollie Searle's death in 1999.<ref name=missnews-obit />

==Political career==
Searle first entered politics when he was elected president of the Orchard Heights Homeowners Association in 1959.<ref name=torstar-obit>{{cite news|last1=Corbeil|first1=Laurent Bastien|title=Ron Searle, former mayor of Mississauga, was an early advocate for affordable housing|url=http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/09/07/ron-searle-former-mayor-of-mississauga-was-an-early-advocate-for-affordable-housing.html|accessdate=9 September 2015|work=Toronto Star|date=9 September 2015}}</ref>

In 1962, he was elected to Mississauga town council and served for fourteen years.<ref name=missnews-obit/> While on council Searle fiercely debated with sitting mayor [[Martin Dobkin]] in both municipal and regional council meetings on many issues, including increased municipal funding for [[Day care|child care]] and [[legal aid]].<ref name=torstar-obit /> Dobkin, who referred to Searle as "the official leader of the opposition", noted that despite the political opposition the two enjoyed a friendly personal relationship.<ref name=missnews-obit />

Searle was elected mayor in 1976 amid a corruption scandal in the municipal government and a massive real estate boom throughout the city. With increased home prices driving lower-income citizens out of Mississauga, Searle made affordable housing a central issue of his administration and told a reporter for the ''[[Toronto Star]]'' shortly after his electoral victory that "My concern for [affordable housing] overrides all other concerns."<ref name=torstar-obit /> Throughout his term in office he lobbied for cheaper homes and opposed the federal government's cuts to housing grants.

Searle ran for re-election at the end of his term in 1978, but he was defeated by former [[Streetsville]] mayor [[Hazel McCallion]] by a margin of 28,005 to 25,029 votes.<ref>{{cite news |title=Plain talk in Mississauga wins Hazel mayor's job |newspaper=Toronto Star |date=November 14, 1978 |page=A14}}</ref> He later made another unsuccessful bid for the mayoralty in 1982, but lost to McCallion again.<ref name=torstar-obit />

While still a councillor, Searle also ran as a [[Progressive Conservative Party of Canada|Progressive Conservative]] candidate for the riding of [[Peel (federal electoral district)|Peel]] in the [[Canadian federal election, 1965|1965 federal election]]. He finished a distant second to [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal]] candidate [[Bruce Beer]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Peel, Ontario (1867-1968)|url=http://www.parl.gc.ca/About/Parliament/FederalRidingsHistory/hfer.asp?Language=E&Search=Det&Include=Y&rid=538|website=History of Federal Ridings since 1867|publisher=Library of Parliament|accessdate=9 September 2015}}</ref>

==Later life and death==
Following his failed 1982 election bid, Searle remained active in the community. He would often represent homeowners' interests at city hall,<ref name=torstar-obit /> and was a frequent participant in veterans' events and events at the Port Credit Yacht Club.<ref name=missnews-obit />

He also remained active in local Conservative politics. In 2007 he was highly critical of [[Tim Peterson]]'s installation as the [[Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario]] candidate for [[Mississauga South (provincial electoral district)|Mississauga South]] after [[crossing the floor]] from the [[Ontario Liberal Party]], remarking that the process was "a violation of the democratic principles the [Progressive] Conservative Party has stood for over the years".<ref>{{cite web |title=A nomination like no other |author=John Stewart |date=June 19, 2007 |url=http://www.mississaugablogs.com/2007/06/a_nomination_like_no_other.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080905110141/http://www.mississaugablogs.com/2007/06/a_nomination_like_no_other.html |archivedate=September 5, 2008}}</ref>

In late August 2015, Searle was admitted to [[Trillium Health Centre|Mississauga Hospital]] for [[pneumonia]].<ref name=torstar-obit /> He died in hospital on August 29, 2015 at the age of 96.<ref name=missnews-obit /> The City of Mississauga set up an official book of condolences at the [[Mississauga Civic Centre]] and lowered the flags at all city-owned buildings in his honour from August 29 to September 11, 2015.<ref>{{cite web|title=City of Mississauga Honours Ron Searle 1919 - 2015|url=http://www.mississauga.ca/portal/cityhall/pressreleases?paf_gear_id=9700020&itemId=5000670q|website=Newsroom|publisher=City of Mississauga|accessdate=9 September 2015|date=31 August 2015}}</ref>

==Honours==
The following honours were conferred on Searle:
* {{flagicon|Canada}} [[Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal]]<ref name="qeii golden jub medal" /><ref name=heritage-miss />
* {{flagicon|Canada}} [[Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Searle, Ronald|url=http://www.gg.ca/honour.aspx?id=207348&t=13|website=Honours Recipients|accessdate=9 September 2015|publisher=Office of the Secretary to the Governor General of Canada}}</ref>
* {{flagicon|France}} [[Legion of Honour]]<ref name=torstar-obit />


==References==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}

==External Links==
* [http://www.heritagemississauga.com/page/Ronald-Alfred-Searle Profile at Heritage Mississauga]


{{Mayors of Mississauga}}
{{Mayors of Mississauga}}

Revision as of 03:56, 9 September 2015

For the cartoonist and illustrator, see Ronald Searle.
Ron Searle
4th Mayor of Mississauga
In office
1976–1978
Preceded byMartin Dobkin
Succeeded byHazel McCallion
Personal details
Born
Ronald Alfred Searle

(1919-07-19)July 19, 1919
Southampton, England
DiedAugust 29, 2015(2015-08-29) (aged 96)
Mississauga, Ontario
Spouse
Mollie Searle
​
(m. 1949⁠–⁠1999)​
Children1
ProfessionPublisher
Military service
AllegianceCanadian
Branch/serviceInfantry
Years of service1939-1945
RankSergeant[1]
UnitToronto Scottish Regiment

Ronald Alfred Searle[2] (July 19, 1919 – August 29, 2015) was a British-born Canadian politician who served as the fourth mayor of Mississauga, Ontario from 1976 to 1978.

Early Life

Searle was born in Southampton, England to Ruby and Theodore Searle on July 19, 1919.[2] His mother was a seamstress and his father was a purser with the White Star Line and then a seaman with the Royal Navy during World War I. His parents were married in Edinburgh, Scotland during the war. After the war, Theodore returned to the White Star Lines and was transferred to New York City. Theodore moved his family to New York but succumbed shortly after contracting dengue fever while on mercy missions in the tropics. Theodore's last wish was that the family relocate to Toronto where the family had relatives.

Searle attended Harbord Collegiate Institute in Toronto where he became friends with Ed Mirvish as well as Johnny Wayne and Frank Shuster (of Wayne and Shuster fame), among others. He admired many of his classmates and families who were new Canadians having moved to Canada from various European homelands where the Nazi tyranny had caused them to flee for their lives. Searle's son, Mark, recalled his father often saying that his relationships with these school friends further added to his resolve to do his part against the Nazis.[3]

Military career

After joining the Toronto Scottish militia in the mid-1930s, Searle later signed up with the Toronto Scottish Regiment immediately upon Canada declaring war against Nazi Germany in September 1939. During World War II Searle landed twice in France, once at Brest and once at Normandy. He was later wounded at Falaise in Ardennes when he took three machine gun bullets to his leg.[4]

Post-war life and family

After the war he began a career in magazine publishing.[5] On December 10, 1949 he married his wife Mollie and together they raised one son, Mark William Searle.[2] The Searles were married for 50 years until Mollie Searle's death in 1999.[5]

Political career

Searle first entered politics when he was elected president of the Orchard Heights Homeowners Association in 1959.[4]

In 1962, he was elected to Mississauga town council and served for fourteen years.[5] While on council Searle fiercely debated with sitting mayor Martin Dobkin in both municipal and regional council meetings on many issues, including increased municipal funding for child care and legal aid.[4] Dobkin, who referred to Searle as "the official leader of the opposition", noted that despite the political opposition the two enjoyed a friendly personal relationship.[5]

Searle was elected mayor in 1976 amid a corruption scandal in the municipal government and a massive real estate boom throughout the city. With increased home prices driving lower-income citizens out of Mississauga, Searle made affordable housing a central issue of his administration and told a reporter for the Toronto Star shortly after his electoral victory that "My concern for [affordable housing] overrides all other concerns."[4] Throughout his term in office he lobbied for cheaper homes and opposed the federal government's cuts to housing grants.

Searle ran for re-election at the end of his term in 1978, but he was defeated by former Streetsville mayor Hazel McCallion by a margin of 28,005 to 25,029 votes.[6] He later made another unsuccessful bid for the mayoralty in 1982, but lost to McCallion again.[4]

While still a councillor, Searle also ran as a Progressive Conservative candidate for the riding of Peel in the 1965 federal election. He finished a distant second to Liberal candidate Bruce Beer.[7]

Later life and death

Following his failed 1982 election bid, Searle remained active in the community. He would often represent homeowners' interests at city hall,[4] and was a frequent participant in veterans' events and events at the Port Credit Yacht Club.[5]

He also remained active in local Conservative politics. In 2007 he was highly critical of Tim Peterson's installation as the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario candidate for Mississauga South after crossing the floor from the Ontario Liberal Party, remarking that the process was "a violation of the democratic principles the [Progressive] Conservative Party has stood for over the years".[8]

In late August 2015, Searle was admitted to Mississauga Hospital for pneumonia.[4] He died in hospital on August 29, 2015 at the age of 96.[5] The City of Mississauga set up an official book of condolences at the Mississauga Civic Centre and lowered the flags at all city-owned buildings in his honour from August 29 to September 11, 2015.[9]

Honours

The following honours were conferred on Searle:

References

  1. ^ a b "Searle, Sergeant Ronald Alfred, (Ret'd)". Honours Recipients. Office of the Secretary to the Governor General of Canada. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d "Searle, Ronald Alfred". Heritage Profiles. Heritage Mississauga. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
  3. ^ Mark Searle (January 2007), Personal anecdote[verification needed]
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Corbeil, Laurent Bastien (9 September 2015). "Ron Searle, former mayor of Mississauga, was an early advocate for affordable housing". Toronto Star. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Chriscione, Peter (2 September 2015). "'Good mayor' and 'gentleman' Ron Searle dead at 96". Mississauga News. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
  6. ^ "Plain talk in Mississauga wins Hazel mayor's job". Toronto Star. November 14, 1978. p. A14.
  7. ^ "Peel, Ontario (1867-1968)". History of Federal Ridings since 1867. Library of Parliament. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
  8. ^ John Stewart (June 19, 2007). "A nomination like no other". Archived from the original on September 5, 2008.
  9. ^ "City of Mississauga Honours Ron Searle 1919 - 2015". Newsroom. City of Mississauga. 31 August 2015. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
  10. ^ "Searle, Ronald". Honours Recipients. Office of the Secretary to the Governor General of Canada. Retrieved 9 September 2015.

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