HomeMy WebLinkAbout2550Now-
Mrs. M. Black
Funeral service for Mrs. Mor-
ley Black, the former Luella
Shaw of Millbrook; will be held
Jan. 7 at 2:36 p.m. at the Pick-
enng Funeral Home.
Mrs, Black died Jan. 5 in the
Ajax Hospital after a serious ill-
ness of several months. She was
66 years old.
Burial will be in the Green-
wood Cemetery in Dunbargon.
She was born and educated in
Carmel and Millbrook respec-
tively. She lived on her parents'
farm for 22 years before moving
to the Pickering area.
Mrs. Black was the' daughter
of the late Robert Shaw and late
and former Elizabeth Barker.
She was predeceased by her
brother, Jack Shaw; who died in
August of 1969 in Oklahoma.
She is survived by her bus
band, Morley and son, John,
both of RR 4, Pickering; by two
sisters, Mrs. Earle Doxsee
(May) of Kirkland Lake and
Mrs. A. H. Stephenson (Kay) of
TiQlsonburg, and two brothers,
Robert of Owen Sound and Ken
of Port Hope.
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Morley Black: Changes at Liverpool Corners
TIII this summer, yesterday
and today confronted each
other face-to-face at the
function of Liverpool Road
and Highway 2 in Pickering,
Ontario. To the east were the
mammoth Sheridan Mall and
a Canadian Tire store and
gas bar. Westward stood the
two -pump station and store
of long-time Gulf Canada
dealer Morley Black and the
uninhabited, sagging -porch
remains of the once -graceful
Liverpool Arms Hotel.
But this fall things are
changing, Plans are in the
works for three modern
eateries - hamburgers,
pizza and chicken - to sur-
round the hotel; and by
year's end a self -serve gas
bar, car wash and Hurry
Lube will replace the station
that served Morley so Tong
and so well.
"I hate to think of it." Morley
says of the coming renova-
tion. But then, you can hardly
expect him to be enthusias-
tic when you consider that he
operated his station there for
54 years and lived more than
40 years in the adjoining
house he built himself. Sen-
timentality aside, however,
he can't be too unhappy
about a business deal that
offers both time and money
to retire and please himself.
Morley has been at the
crossroads since the early
1920s when he arrived from
Omemee, near Peter-
borough, looking for a place
to settle- While lodging at the
hotel. he learned' from the
owner that the vacant lot
across the road - a one-time
farmers' market - was for
sale. Morley bought it - at
$2.000 it was a fraction of the
half -million dollars he says
he later turned down - and
started his British American
station, (Incidentally, looking
at inflation, Morley recalls his
first year's tax bill was $6,
while now it's more than the
original cost of the property.)
A 1927 photo shows Mor-
ley filling the tank of an
American customer's car,
while Fred Stork, still a
neighbour, watched. The
photo survived better than
the station - it burned down.
However, Morley rebuilt,
adding a general store and
the separate house. He had
tourist cabins for a while -
not a bad idea since Fren-
chman's Bay, on nearby
Lake Ontario, was "quite a
place at one time," as Morley
recalls. Now the bay serves
as marina for pleasure boats.
Even though the general
store has been phased out
for_spme tinV,. Jparettes.
cold pop, newspapers and
candy were always available
at the station - providing a
good excuse for friends and
long-time customers to drop
to and say hello.
Morley, who says he has
always enjoyed meeting
people, delights when adults
stop by now to say, "Re-
member mer' Often he last
saw them 35 or 40 years ago,
when they bought provisions
for a fishing trip with their
parents.
Lately, 81 -year-old Morley
has left much of the station's
running to son John, al-
though he spends part of
each day in his place by the
station's front window, and
filling a tank when he's
needed. At home, he does
some cooking, house-
keeping and bookkeeping.
John and Morley say they
used to be open from 7 a.m.
to midnight, but "gradually
we cut down the hours, and
we're not open Sundays
anymore," says Morley. But
the station has been a tie and
they're both looking forward
to a relaxing of the respon-
sibility.
In retirement, John (1), til w%y
Black will remain next door to the
Hurry Lube that will replace the
Pickering, Ontario, station.
In retirement they're not
going far away. First item on
the construction agenda is to
move the Blacks' house to
the side of the lot furthest
from the corner. Morley and
John agree they're doing the
right thing by staying on the
property - as John says,
"Dad would go crazy on a
-Z.
fel
back road where he couldn't
see what's going on." With
the new arrangement, Mor-
ley and John will be in the
thick of the action, able to
keep an eye on changes at
Liverpool Corners.
Morley at the ready
Morley Black pumped gas locally you may remember this favourites pose
for 58 years before retiring. Many of by the window.
When gas was in a Mass
cylinder, and double ice
cream cones cost 5 cents
a piece, Morley Black
served it up with a smile
In 1923, service station attendant
Morley Black came to Liverpool Rd.
and Hwy.2 after being with Ford
Motor Co. in Detroit for three gears
and aquired land from the Department
of Highways. No one could have
foretold that the gasoline and garage
business he started would still be
running 58 years laterl
Born in Warkworth on Jan. 17, 1898,
Morley attended school in many
places, mainly because his father,
Rev.John A. Black, was a Presbyter-
ian minister. He assisted Morley in
constructing a garage building with
living quarters above, located on the
south west corner of Liverpool Road
and Kingston Road. All gasoline had
to be pumped by hand up into the old
upright glass , double cylindrical
reservoir gas pumps until the Hydro
came in 1928.
In 1927, Morley married Della C.
Shaw of Millbrook and they built the
first tourist cabins between Toronto
and Oshawa. Gasolene, garage work,
hot dogs refreshment, 5e double ice
cream cones and taxi service were all
part of the busy day that ran from
7 a.m. to 1 a.m. the following morning,
7 days a week. A sun, John, was born
in the mid -thirties and later a grocery
business was added to replace the
tourist cabins. In 1939, a disasterous
fire almost burned the family dwelling
and Mrs.Black had to pull Morley
out of the burning building when he
was overcome by smoke.
In 1955, another fire burned the
old garage and store building down
and a new and larger store building
was constructed. Lucky? Morley had
worked in the Belleville Nttro-glycer-
ine munitions plant during World
War 1 and had just left the plant
when it blew up. He had also been a
cowboy at Mort -Lae, Manitoba,
and near Gravelburg, Saskatchewan
and took these set backs in his stride.
Gradually, with the advent of super
markets, the grocery business faded,
and Morley relied on the gasoline
trade until he retired in September,
1979. That gave him 56 years of
uninterupted business in one location!
Mrs. I*clla Black passed away in
1971 and very recently, on August 2,
19151, Morley also left the corner
and the people he cared about so
much.
Although the Black family does not
directly pump gasoline any more,
their son John still owns, controls
and lives on the property his father
bought 58 years ago. Morley lived to
see a modern gasoline facility on his
property, complete with a car wash,
the only thing he didn't have on the
site in all the 5b years he operated it.
From:
Leslie Lynch
EDITOR, DEALER
PUBLIC AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT
October 25, 1979
MR. MORLEY BLACK
I'm enclosing several copies of the
issue of Dealer which contains the story
on your station. I have also attached
your photograph from earlier days.
It was a pleasure meeting you and
John earlier this summer and I hope that
before too long, I'll be able to get out
to take a look at the changes on your
corner.
Best Wishes,
DILACw
Entered info rest at the Akw-
Picker ino Hosplial, on Sun-
dav August 2. t"I. MOrlev
Munroe Black. of Liverpool,
(Town of Plcker"Wl, In his
54th vow - Beloved husband
of the laf. Luella C. Show.
Lov" Bother of Jahn Robert
Block. deer brother of John
Black 01 Oshawa. Jean (Mrs.
wotson), of Peterborough.
Eileen (Mrs. Grothier). of
Mallorylown, and Prvde-
deased by Freda (Mrs.
Pope). of Bron ilon. Mr-
Black is resting at
the mcEoav I* Funeral
Mottle, n Kingdon Rd, Wrest.
Pickering. *2 Highway,
Pickering Village, (Town of
Alm). Funeral service in ttw
CA apel on Tuesdov August 4.
at 1- 30 p.m. Interment Er-
skine temeterr. The family
will recti" vlslars at the
funeral home from 2-9:30
P.m - on mor4ov.
GULF CANADA LI M ITEC
P.O. BOX 460, STATION "A", TORONTO, ONTARIO M5W 1 E5 • (416) 924-4141
PUBLIC AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT
August 26, 1981
Mr. John Black
1283 Kingston Road
Pickering, Ontario
L1V 1B5
Dear John:
Thank you for thinking to notify me of your father's
death. I was sorry to hear of it -- it's odd how, in a
job like mine, it's possible to meet someone for only a
short time, yet get to know them fairly well because of
asking so many questions to fill out a story. I feel
I've a lot of friends in the Gulf Canada family -- but
they're people I may have met only once or twice.
Certainly you and your dad are among those. Like you,
I can only think that for someone so active and
interested as he had been, disability would have been a
great trial.
I was delighted to hear of his pleasure in the article
in Dealer magazine. Since hearing from you, I've taken
a look through the file from that day and have had
printed several of the photos which were taken. I hope
you'll enjoy having them.
Thank you again for your letter -- all best wishes to
you.
Leslie Lynch
Co-ordinator - Communications
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SLACK'S SERVICE STATION
GAS, OILS, TIRES AND ACCESSORIES
KINGSTON RD. DUNBARTON
JANUARY
1929
SAT.
Lad Quar.
2nd
New Moon
10th
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