True and Fascinating Canadian History
Vet of the Month: December, 2016
Reg.#12613, Sergeant Reginald Waldo James
RCMP Vets. Ottawa, ON
I wish to acknowledge the wonderful support which I received from Ms. Sandy James, a close relative of Reginald Waldo James. In recent weeks, Ms. James has kindly provided me with the historical context for this short story, as well as her recollections of Reg James and some memorable family photos of him.
Reginald Waldo James served with the RCMP commencing in 1935. A close family relative, Ms. Sandy James said, "My real grandfather died when I was an infant, and so Reg James was grandfather to my siblings and to me. He was a wonderful, joyful individual, but he never spoke of his confidential work with the RCMP even decades later -- although I do know that he was a guard for the Russian spy Igor Gouzenko, and I also know that some years earlier Reg was involved in surveillance for German weather stations in the Maritimes."
Reg James had broken service with the RCMP. After his intitial engagement with the Force, he left the RCMP on two different occasions; the first time was after Reg’s first wife Mary Olga Patricia was murdered in their Ottawa home by a house painter. She was pregnant at the time. Ms Sandy James recalled that the murder trial was a very public, sad and sensational event. In the end, the murderer was eventually declared insane.
After the murder trial, Reg wrote to the Ottawa press saying how disappointed he was that justice was not done. Reg felt very strongly that capital punishment should remain on the books for the murder of police officers. It was a deterrent. Reg thought that a shooter could decide in a split second either to wound a police officer instead of killing him or her, and that capital punishment was a deterrent factor in the killer's decision to use firearms. Reg left Ottawa on his motorcycle and worked in the Maritimes for a few years before returing to Ottawa.
The second break in Reg's RCMP service came sometimes later. The James family had two cottages side by side in the Gatineau hills, and one of the cottages was sold to Prime Minister Mr. & Mrs. Lester B. Pearson. Ms. James recall that her father told her that when Mr. Pearson was in Parliament Reg had noticed that Mrs. Pearson had purchased a copious amount of jewelry. That time period seems to have coincided with the second break in Reg's RCMP service.
The James family settled in the Maritimes from about the 1830’s onward. Reg was born in Sackville, NB according to his birth certificate which was found on-line. Reg’s father was born in Young’s Cove NB andhe moved to Ottawa in the 1910’s to take a federal government job. He worked in the Department of Finance.
Reg James was one of four boys and his mother called him: "Reckless Reg”. The James family is from a long line of United Church ministers, including one that died in church while giving a sermon. There is a church in New Brunswick named after him -- that particular minister would have been be Reg’s grandfather.
Reg died in January 1992 in Daytona Beach, Florida one month after the death of his second wife Jean. A heartbreaking letter held by Ms. James was written by Reg after Jean’s death. The letter revealed that Reg and Jean were true soulmates -- the north and south points of a compass. Reg found living without Jean impossible. Reg’s son David is now retired and he lives in Georgia, USA. He has two children.
Reg James' exact place of burial is not yet known. His granddaughter said that his ashes were scattered, most probably on Daytona Beach, Florida where he ran his motel after his retirement fromthe RCMP.
Reg had always said that he would be cremated and put on the piano, and when Jean got tired of looking at him she could feed him to the ocean.
Reporting from the Fort,
J. J. Healy
December 23, 2016
Reg.#12613, Sergeant Reginald Waldo James
The exact location of the photo is not known.
