Four heroes with ties to the Brockville area will have their legacy hewed in rock in a local schoolyard next month.
Corporal Laurie White, the late Andrew Moffitt, the late Second World War Canadian Warrant Officer Robert Moulton, and the late Corporal Randy Payne will be honoured on commemorative rocks as J.L. Jordan Public School completes its Yard Legacy Project on May 5.
"One of our goals has been to show the kids how to leave a legacy," said principal Paul Mantha. "It's builds civic responsibility."
Andrew Moffitt was a courageous young man who gave his life trying to help a friend attacked at an Ottawa bar in the late 1990s.
On the night of December 23, 1998, Moffitt, a 23-year-old University of Ottawa student was celebrating the end of first-term exams at a local bar and grill when he was stabbed while coming to the aid of a friend who had been attacked.
In the 14 years since his death, Moffitt's bravery has been marked with a trail in his honour in the community of Barhaven and a tree, plaque and scholarship at the University of Ottawa. Then- Governor General Adrienne Clarkson also presented the family with a Medal of Bravery in Andrew's name in 2003.
Now, with the pending honour in Brockville, each place that Andrew Moffitt lived will carry a monument to his life, his mother, Paulette, said.
"Everywhere he walked in his short life, he will now be honoured," she smiled. "Everywhere he breathed, there will be a marker."
Moffitt's father, Rod, is also pleased, saying he was touched when the school contacted the family about the honour.
"I thought that was a pretty special thing for there to be something for Andy in Brockville," he said.
For Sandra and Doug Tye, the honouring of Robert Moulton will also represent what they said is the first of its kind in Brockville in his name.
Moulton grew up in Brockville, attended Brockville Collegiate Institute, worked for Phillips Cable, was an avid hunter, fisherman and was well known in the community, Sandra, his niece, said.
He eventually enlisted in the air force, and reached the rank of Warrant officer, first class, said Sandra.
On May 4, 1943, Moulton's plane was hit by German aerial gunfire He is widely believed to have purposely steered the plane away from the Dutch town of Wilnis, before crash landing in a nearby bog. He was 30 years old.
Moulton remains revered in Holland. In 2006, his body, and those of his crew, were exhumed from the crash site as part of a $500,000 Dutch government project, and buried in a cemetery on the outskirts of Wilnis in a special Canadian military ceremony.
Sandra Tye said there is a marker in Brockville's Oakland Cemetery to her uncle, alongside the graves of his parents.
The pending honour at J.L. Jordan is one she said the family treasures.
"It's really nice," she said. "We are really pleased."
Biographical details for Corporal Randy Payne were provided by his wife, Jody. Randy Payne grew up in Gananoque, attended Algonquin College, and eventually pursued a career in military policing.
In 2006, he was deployed to Afghanistan as part of a close protection team. Payne and three other soldiers were killed in action on April 22, 2006, when an improvised explosive device struck their vehicle.
He left behind a wife and two children.
"Randy will always be our hero," Jody Payne wrote.
Born and raised in Brockville, Corporal Laurie White holds a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Ottawa and bachelors degree in physical education from Brock University.
She joined the RCMP in 1996. In November 1998, while executing a search warrant, White was shot in the right leg. The damage was extensive and the leg had to be amputated five inches below the knee.
White returned to work after 10 months of rehabilitation and says she is the only police officer in Canada to ever do so with a prosthetic leg.
Today, White is a frequent guest speaker, sharing with others her experiences living with a physical disability.
With only three weeks remaining until the May 5 build day, Mantha said the final push for donations to the J.L. Jordan Legacy Project is underway. He said the project is currently approximately $7,000 short of its fundraising target of $75,000.
