Lawrence MacEachern: Fisherman. Handyman. Leader. Fiddler. Born July 16, 1935, in Creignish, N.S.; died July 14, in Antigonish, N.S., after a stroke; aged 88.
Lawrence MacEachernCourtesy of family
Angus Lawrence MacEachern grew up in Cape Breton in a fishing and farming household with his parents Alex and Bessie MacEachern. Younger brother Joseph arrived as he was ready to leave home. Seeking adventure, Lawrence left home and school at 16, and got into the welding trade in Halifax. He worked on some of Canada’s major infrastructure projects of the 1950s; the Canso Causeway and the St. Lawrence Seaway. He returned home to work with Stora Forest Industries until his retirement.
Lawrence met Clare MacDonald at a pond hockey game in 1958. He offered her and her cousin a ride home and Clare made sure she was the one to sit closest to Lawrence. After four years of dating and saving to build a home they set a date to get married in 1962. On his way to their wedding, police had a main road blocked due to a burning car. Lawrence insisted on getting through even though he was told “do so at your own risk.” The risk paid off in 62 years of marriage.
Lawrence was a quiet man and his love for his six children – Larry, Elaine, Garry, Shelley, Todd and Donna – shone in his actions. He took them camping and made them laugh with funny voices. He drove them anywhere until they had cars of their own. When Donna took her unreliable ride to Halifax, Lawrence drove three hours to follow her back home in case her car broke down. He was always the first person his kids called if they had car trouble.
Lawrence laughed uncontrollably at slapstick comedy. He had a sweet tooth and up until his death he would climb on a chair to access the peppermints he kept on a high shelf. He always shared them with his children and grandchildren.
He inherited his father’s lobster license and fished after work until the age of 80. Being on the water was his happy place. He might take one of his children out to help but would do most of the work on board.
Lawrence had a deep love of Scottish music and taught himself to play the fiddle; an interest that his teenage children didn’t always appreciate. TV shows in the den were often interrupted by his stomping foot and squealing bow. But Celtic music was in the kids’ DNA and everyone learned to step dance and Scottish square dance. Lawrence and Clare regularly attended square dances over the years.
As Lawrence neared retirement, he took up bowling and golfing. His hole-in-one certificate still hangs in the den. Saturday nights were often spent in front of the TV watching the Leafs, or Clare and Lawrence would head out to play cards. They were serious contenders and competed in seniors games.
Lawrence liked to fix things. He was the go-to-guy, at any hour, for repairs at Stella Maris Parish church. He kept the family cars running and those of family friends. He was the welder, mechanic and often the auto body repair guy. He also fixed up antique cars – a 1956 Pontiac and a 1972 Mustang, among others. His children were often called into action to do things like pump the brakes during a repair, while he yelled commands from underneath the car.
He was also a self-taught carpenter and woodsman who stashed enough logs away to keep the furnace running all winter. Until recently he could be seen fixing an appliance or climbing scaffolding to paint his house. Even an aortic aneurysm at 71 didn’t slow him down.
But a stroke, five days shy of his 89th birthday did. Lawrence was buried in the Stella Maris cemetery as was the tradition for all of his ancestors, since arrival from Scotland in 1791. Heaven gained a new handyman.
Larry MacEachern is Lawrence MacEachern’s son.
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