COURTNEY McCLURE, for The Standard
SCUGOG: A fresh flurry of winter snow didn’t stop James Lane and the rest of his family from wishing his father, Wes Lane, a happy 90th birthday this past Friday.
Although his friends and family couldn’t be directly beside him this year, they found another way to wish Mr. Lane a happy birthday.
Currently, Mr. Lane is a resident living in the Villa in Port Perry, so they weren’t able to celebrate inside. Instead, the Lane family and friends took to the street just behind the Port Perry Villa, holding up large signs with “Happy Birthday Wes” and similar messages scrawled across them.
His children also called him, passing a cellphone around so everyone who had attended could wish Mr. Lane well on his special day. “It was a big family,” said Wes’ son, James Lane. Growing up, Mr. Lane had 15 siblings, and they lived just outside of Port Perry. The family’s house was on Union Avenue.
Although Wes Lane’s family had 15 children, not all of them survived. Some of them passed away because of complications during childbirth. Mr. Lane has four siblings who are still alive, three brothers, Roy, Eric, Ross, and a sister named Helen. He grew up to have three children of his own, James, Carol and Gerry.
Mr. Lane owned a heating and plumbing business, which he started in the 1950s. He gave up his plumbing and heating business after undergoing intensive surgery in the 1980s. After he recovered, he started working at Philips Pontiac and Buick. After retiring, Mr. And Mrs. Lane became one of the many snowbirds in the area, frequently traveling back and forth from Port Perry to Florida.
He and his wife, Joan, frequented the United Church in Port Perry. According to their son, James Lane, that’s how Mr. Lane knows the mayor of Port Perry, Bobbie Drew. There was an addition built onto the United Church in 1968. Wes Lane helped to build it.
So, he was involved with the church, and he owned his own business, too. He was and still is well known in the community. “It’s kind of interesting when you have a copy of some of this stuff,” said James, referring to photographs he had of the church addition and other old publications regarding his father.
The Standard thanks Mr. Lane for his many contributions to Port Perry and extends a heartfelt, happy birthday to him.