|
In memory of those who have Crossed the Bar
WORTMAN, Lynn - On Tuesday, April 23, 2024 Lynn passed away. He had a fall and never recovered from it. Lynn was born in Fairview, Alberta on December 13th, 1939. He was pre-deceased by his parents, William (Bill) and Kathleen Wortman.
On October 8th, 1958, Lynn joined the Navy. After basic training he was posted to Gloucester in the spring of 1959 for his Trade Group 1 course. His first posting after that was to Churchill, Manitoba which included a six month tour in Alert. His next posting was to Gloucester on an EW course. From there he went to the West Coast where he served on both the HMCS Fraser as well as the commissioning voyage of the HMCS Saskatchewan. In 1964 Lynn was posted back to Gloucester for a Trade Group 3 course. In 1965 he was then posted back to Churchill, not his choice by any means. In 1966 Lynn was promoted to Petty Officer 2nd class. In1967 back to Gloucester for Special Equipment course – that is where he changed trades to Rad Tech. He then went back to Churchill.
Lynn and I met in February of 1965 and were married on July 9th, 1966. Lynn was in Churchill at the time. This was my first posting with Lynn. In 1968 we were posted to Bermuda where our son, Rob, was born. We spent almost three years in Bermuda. After that Lynn took an out of trade posting to Penhold Alberta. While there, he became very involved in the community and the Community Council. Some of his achievements were, the organizing and operating a Little League Baseball program, coaching and winning the Prairie Region small base championship in flag football, Vice President of the Curling Club etc. We were in Penhold until March of 1974 and then Lynn was posted to Ottawa. This was our final posting.
Lynn was on a special team with the military – the Technical Security Inspection Team. In 1978 Lynn retired as a Petty Officer 1st Class (PO1) after 20 years in the Navy and joined the RCMP as a Civilian Member. He worked in the Security Engineering Branch as part of the Counter Technical Intrusion Unit (CTIU). While with the RCMP Lynn invented a piece of electronic equipment which checked for the presence of eavesdropping devices in electronic telephones, as well as for the presence of carrier-borne audio in electrical power lines serving the area which the CTIU may be required to inspect. For this he received the Commissioner’s Commendation and a monetary stipend. He traveled extensively with this team. He enjoyed his time with the RCMP and finally retired in 1996 after 17 years.
At one of the SUPRAD Oldtimers Reunions and after a tour of Ops, Lynn was talking to George Fraser and said there wasn’t much of a record of what their trade was all about. That’s when Lynn, with George’s help, decided to write, “The History of Canadian Signals Intelligence and Direction Finding.” He enjoyed doing the research and published the book by himself. Lynn said he’d be lucky if they sold 100 copies. In the end over 300 were sold. Last year Lynn received the, “Communications and Electronics Association Heritage Award”.
Lynn and I had a good marriage (57 years) with lots of travelling and visiting family and friends across Canada and elsewhere. We both enjoyed curling and participated in many mixed bonspiels. Lynn, Wayne Moore, Aubrey Callan and Butch Whitlaw did some bonspieling together as well, possibly there might have been a drink or two involved!
Lynn was a devoted Father to our son, Rob, involved in all the sports that he participated in, even coaching some. He will be sadly missed.
Ships served in: HMCS SASKATCHEWAN - Commissioning Crew CFB PENHOLD NDHQ OTTAWA
|
