Cecil Blake Dawdy was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on April 18, 1908, the son of Blake Laverne Dawdy (born in the United States) and Frances Hasard (nee Graham, born in Ontario) Dawdy. Cecil had one brother, Carmen Wesley (born 1906) and one sister, Laverne (born 1913). When Cecil was seven years old, his family moved to Medicine Hat, Alberta. His father Blake recorded his occupation as merchant-jeweller. Years later, Cecil would marry Miranda L. Dawdy of London, Ontario. Cecil and Miranda would reside at 18 Wolseley Avenue, London, Ontario, and while there, Cecil was employed as a salesman. Cecil would lose his father, who died in 1938, and his mother then moved to Edmonton, Alberta.

Cecil Dawdy would join the Canadian Army, becoming a member of the Royal Canadian Regiment, attaining the rank of Captain. On July 21, 1945, Cecil Dawdy would lose his life in an accident, in Willow Lake, Kitchener, Ontario. The war in Europe had ended on May 8, 1945, and the war in Japan would end less than one month after Cecil Dawdy’s death. Cecil Dawdy would be officially listed as, Died as a result of a broken neck suffered in diving accident, Kitchener Waterloo Hospital. Thirty-seven year old Cecil Dawdy is buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, London, Ontario, Military Plot Sec. X, Grave 69. On Cecil Blake’s headstone are inscribed the words, Rest in Peace.

SOURCES: A, B, C, D, E, F, L, 2C, 2D