Donald Arthur Clayfield (1920-1993)

Dates

Birth: 9 April 1920 121 Benton, Kitchener, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
Father: Benjamin Albert Clayfield 1891-1981
Mother: Dorothy May Roe 1898-1965

Marriage: Unknown
Wife: Earla Elsie Burger 1925-2013

Death: 3 August 1993 Kitchener-Waterloo Hospital, Kitchener, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
Buried: Parkview Cemetery, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

Children

Donald Clayfield 1940/75-a2016
Lynn Clayfield [Jewett] 1940/75-a2012

Notes

In the 1921 Census as Donald Clayfield aged 1, born in Ontario, and living with his parents (Bengiman born in Ontario and Dorathy born in England) at 121 Benton, Kitchener, Waterloo, Ontario. Another family were living at the same address.

There are five entries in Ancestry All Canada, Voters Lists, 1935-1980 for Donald Clayfield address 208 ERB Street West, Waterloo North, Ontario, other occupant Mrs Earla Clayfield (wife?) in 1957 to 1968 and Mrs Erla Clayfield (wife?) in 1972, occupations miller in 1957, operator in 1962, tank operator in 1963, blender in 1968 and distillery worker in 1965 and 1972.

Entry in FindAGrave for Donald Arthur Burger Clayfield born 8 April 1920 in Ontario, Canada, son of Benjamin A. Clayfield (1891-1981) and Dorothy Mae Roe (1898-1965), married to Earle Elsie Burger (1925-1993), two children, Don and Lynn, died 3 August 1993 at K-W Hospital, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, buried Parkview Cemetery, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. "Clayfield/Donald A/Clayfield/1920-1993/Earla E/Burger/1925-"

Entry in Geofun for Donald Clayfield ?-1993 buried in Parkview Cemetery, Section: A, 335 University Avenue E, Waterloo, Waterloo, ON.

In the obituary for Jack Clayfield died 97 December 2011 it states he was "Predeceased by [...] brother, Donald Arthur Clayfield".

Ken Murray has an entry in Ancestry Public Member Trees for Donald Arthur Clayfield born on 9 April 1920 in Ontario, Canada, parents Albert Benjamin Clayfield and Dorothy Mae Roe, a bombadier in Royal Canadian Regiment, Petawawa, Ontario, Canada, married to Earla Elsie Burger, and his death on 3 August 1993 in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. There are two other entries with similar information, and two more add a son and daughter.

Ken Murray has an entry for Donald A Clayfield, son of Albert Benjamin Clayfield and Dorothy Mae Roe, and married to Earla Elsie Burger.

Entry in Generations of Waterloo for Donald A Clayfield born in 1920 and died in Kitchener, Warerloo, Ontatio in 1993.

Entry in Seagram Collection:

In the mill, the grain kernels were ground into meal to expose starch particles. Working in the mill was a dusty job, and "millers' asthma" was a common affliction for the workers. The miller had to ensure that the grain was ground to the correct size and uniformity. Donald Clayfield, miller at the Waterloo distillery from 1948 to 1957, recalled that the grain “"was ground to the correct specification [and] we had to take samples down to the lab every day and they'd say if it was too fine or too coarse. If it was too fine, then we'd have to set the mills a little further apart and grind a little bit coarser."” Once it was ground, the meal was transported to a large tank, known as the mash tun, for cooking. “"[After] we had ... the dry grain all broken up, ... they [would] call for it down on the next floor to be cooked. They'd ring two or three bells, whatever they wanted, the malt or the main corn. Then you dropped [the grain] down. Then you had to get a government officer over to check the weight out to make sure it was right.

Lineshaft,
Waterloo, Ontario; circa 1880-1990; cast iron, steel; 84.41.1.
This lineshaft was used to operate the mill's elevators. Former miller Donald Clayfield recalled how the set-up worked: “"The elevators would elevate the grain from the bottom of the mills right up to the top floor then they would take them across and put them into these different bins. There'd be eight-by-ten buckets running on belts and they would just go up and down … and dumped [the grain] as they were filled.

Relationship

Donald Arthur Clayfield was the grandnephew of Ellen Kate Luff, wife of Frederick Baker, my first cousin twice removed.

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