Donations boost Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association's mission
When asked what the association does, Wagner explained that their mission is 'vets helping vets'.
The giving is on! San Angelo Gives 2025 kicks off
'We do whatever we can to help prevent anyone from becoming another statistic of 22 a day,' said Wagner.
In the past, Beddo explained that the group helps its veterans in various ways, like building ramps for a veteran with Texas Ramps. Wagner added that they used donations to help pay bills for a veteran going through chemotherapy.
'When we give, we help out anyone that asks us for help,' said Wagner.
San Angelo shelter helps families facing domestic violence
Visit the San Angelo Gives website to donate to the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association or find other local organizations and associations to donate to.
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Hamilton Spectator
31-07-2025
- Hamilton Spectator
Lively's Gerry Wagner got married on D-Day, then went to war
To reach 100 years old is quite the milestone. It is with sadness that the family of Gerald (Gerry) Wagner share that their dad is no longer here to recount his memories. He was in otherwise good health right until his last days. Born March 24, 1925, and leaving us on July 19, 2025, Wagner represented a chapter of Canadian history that is soon to disappear. 'I am writing to let you know of the passing of Private Gerald Wagner, of Lively, the last known member of The Royal Hamilton Light Infantry (RHLI) who served in World War 2,' posted Captain (retired) Tim Fletcher. As a young man, Wagne joined 'RHLI late in the war and fought through some of their toughest battles towards war's end,' said Fletcher. 'I was supposed to meet him last year. The fates conspired against us getting together. I was in the Army Reserves for 36 years. I try to stay involved with as many veterans as I can.' Wagner served in Italy, then France. After hospitalization, he caught a returning English convoy to Belgium. In Holland, he was at Nijmegen, then off to Essen and ended up with the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry. He was then part of the occupation of Germany as part of the Queen's Own Rifles. 'The loss of someone like Pvt. Wagner is a loss not just for our regiment but for all Canadians, Fletcher said. 'His experience was a reminder of the human condition and that we have to work towards something better. It is an erosion of memory.' For this reason, donations to the Royal Canadian Legion Branch #564 Lockerby Poppy Fund would be appreciated. His daughter Kathy O'Neill recalled her father's last days. 'We were just loading the motorhome on the ferry to Newfoundland and in the lineup. We got the call. We came back fast. I even offered to drive. Dad was in hospital and he waited for us. My sister was here. We were soon all here.' Like many pensioners across Sudbury, Wagner had long service with Inco (34 years.) He had been living at the Meadowbrook community (a Chartwell retirement residence in Lively) since 2015. 'So many people have come up to us and said such nice things,' O'Neill said. 'In Lively, drivers used to honk and wave to our dad. He used to be at the corner. Messages on Facebook recall him being there. He said before he passed that he just wanted peace and love.' I had an afternoon to talk with Wagner this spring. It was soon after he received the King Charles medal on his birthday. He was musing about letting his hair grow; maybe to even – he said jokingly - consider a ponytail. 'I was born in Pembroke. My dad was a diamond driller. I was later with the same company. There were five children, and I was number four. It was a happy childhood ... 'In 1941, I came up north to join my Dad. I've been here ever since. I ended up in Creighton. I met a good-looking girl. I knew she was the one for me.' Ivy (nee Hodgins) predeceased in 2009. 'It was Christmas. I proposed with a box of Laura Secord chocolates. Robert Brown Jewellers sold me a ring. There was a tray of rings. My Mum chose, and I paid in full. 'I drove my Dad's green Buick out to Creighton. I put the ring in the centre spot of the box. Ivy did not see it. She took the box, thanked me, and put the chocolates to the side. It was only when her grandmother said that Ivy should have a second look inside that she realized what was there.' Wagner had to get permission from the Canadian Army to get married. 'I was just a private. We got married on D-Day (June 6, 1944.) The church was packed … I thought they were there for our wedding, but actually the doors were open for everyone and anyone to pray. They all stayed.' The ceremony was delayed for hours. 'I was waiting patiently for Ivy as she and her parents went into town to get her flowers and found everything was closed. We were 65 years married when Ivy left us. I had no appetite, but I had my little dog.' Beauty was a Bichon and the love of Meadowbrook. She was close to Wagner's heart. 'She took sick and suffered, and she had to leave me. She was 15.' For this reason, donations to Pet Save is another of Wagner's wishes. What was the secret to his long and rewarding life? 'I quit drinking, I eat well, and no, I don't exercise,' he said in the spring. 'I moved in here. I have been in the same suite. I have been happy here.' In the summer on a nice day, you might have spotted Wagner. 'Any day I go out to the corner, and I sit and watch the cars driving by. Sometimes I get a toot-toot. I get very suntanned over the summer. 'It's been a good life. Have loving children, four grandchildren and four great grandchildren … and another coming. Life is what you make of it. If something is broken, go and fix it. If it isn't broken, don't mess with it.' Bluesky: @ X: @SudburyStar Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Bloomberg
29-07-2025
- Bloomberg
An Abandoned Art-Deco Landmark in Buffalo Awaits Revival
On a rainy afternoon, Buffalo Central Terminal looms like a specter over the East Side of the city in Western New York, its 15-story tower overlooking a landscape of deepening poverty. The last passenger train left the Art Deco rail station in 1979; by then the once-bustling neighborhood surrounding it had descended into a white-flight induced decline. The vacant terminal, a massive dun-colored complex of brick and stone designed by the architectural firm Fellheimer & Wagner, became a shell of its former self. Over the decades, vandals and salvage companies descended, stripping its ornate lighting fixtures and shipping pieces off to far-flung places like a restaurant in Hong Kong.
Hamilton Spectator
22-07-2025
- Hamilton Spectator
Last Second World War veteran from Hamilton's Rileys dies at 100
The last soldier known to have served in the Second World War fighting for the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry regiment has died. Gerald (Gerry) Wagner, who turned 100 in the spring, died July 19. He had been living in a retirement home in Lively, a small town near Sudbury. Wagner, who grew up in the Ottawa Valley and Sudbury, enlisted in 1944 at 18 to serve in the war against Hitler's Nazi Germany. At 19, overseas, Private Wagner joined the RHLI — known as the 'Rileys' — as the regiment engaged in heavy fighting to liberate the Netherlands in the final months of the war. In a 2021 article in The Sudbury Star, Wagner recalled his unit coming under fire at nighttime, hearing the 'whistling' of enemy shells overhead, waiting for the silence that preceded an explosion. Gerald Wagner enlisted to serve in the Second World War at 18. Believed to be the last surviving veteran from the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry to serve in the war, he died July 19 at 100. 'All of a sudden you'd hear that stop. Well, as soon as it stopped, you hit the ground and put your hands over your head … We had our days.' Among the medals he received was the King Charles III Coronation Medal, presented to him by a Sudbury-area MPP in April, shortly after his 100th birthday. As was the case with many Second World War veterans, Wagner rarely spoke of his combat experiences. His daughter, Kathy O'Neill, told The Spectator that only recently, while listening to him give an interview, did she learn of an incident that long haunted him. Her father was recalling the time his unit came under fire in a village from a German sniper positioned high in a bell tower. Wagner's commanding officer called for a marksman. 'And my dad said, 'so I stepped up.' He said he had to eliminate the sniper. I looked at my father — I was in shock. I had never heard that he was a marksman, or I guess people would call him a sniper. But he was trained for it.' O'Neill learned her father, a man of faith, had feared he would not make it to heaven for having killed, and that a few years ago, he met with his church minister to share his feelings. Gerald Wagner on his wedding day in June 1944, having married Ivy Hodgins. They were together 65 years, before she died in 2009. Wagner rarely talked about his wartime experiences. Wagner's obituary notes that he had long been active, volunteering at Trinity United Church in Lively. The RHLI has a long and storied history dating back 163 years, but is perhaps most known for bravery and sacrifice in the ill-fated raid on the French coastal town of Dieppe in August 1942. The raid was a precursor to the successful D-Day landings two years later. Nearly 200 Rileys were killed in the Dieppe operation. A striking memorial to their sacrifice stands in Hamilton's Beach Strip community . RHLI Honorary Colonel Glenna Swing offered a comment about Wagner's passing, saying that 'when a veteran dies, grief can be felt by an entire country. Private Wagner's service made a difference to his unit and Canada and for that he will always be remembered.' She concluded her statement with ' Semper Paratus,' the RHLI motto that means 'Always Ready.' Wagner's daughter said her father had hoped to continue living until at least August, so he could meet his soon-to-be-born fifth great-grandchild, expected by her son, Ryan, who lives in Waterdown. Wagner had been close to all of his great-grandchildren, she noted, among them Ryan's seven-year-old, Kadence. During his final days in hospital up north, Kadence asked her dad to give Wagner one of her stuffed toys, an elf, to keep him company. 'Kadence hugged it really tight, and said 'give this to great grandpa and tell him I put all my love into it.' When we walked into his hospital room, there he was, snuggling with that elf.' Jon Wells is a reporter at The Hamilton Spectator. jwells@ A letter home from Private Gerald (Gerry) Wagner to his brother, Douglas, dated April 27, 1945, just over a week before Nazi Germany surrendered in the Second World War. He writes that he is typing the letter on a 'jerry machine' that he found in a German house. 'Jerry' was a nickname given to German soldiers by the Allies. Page two of Private Gerry Wagner's letter home. Wagner references his wife, Ivy, and adds that he hopes to be home soon and that his unit is about to launch perhaps their 'last attack' of the war. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
