Mr Ronald Edward Maitland

Mr Ronald Edward (Ted) Maitland (Field House, 1949-1953) 

Died 13th October 2023

The following obituary was kindly provided by Ted’s wife, Nancy. 

Ted was born in Jersey, Channel Islands in 1935. He and his  brother Malcolm lived through the German occupation of the Channel Islands during the war which marked him in many ways. Because there was little opportunity for formal education during the war, Ted and Malcolm attended Victoria College in Jersey to prepare for the Common Entrance Examination. Ted was accepted at Saint Edward’s School. He had fond memories of his housemaster R. H. “Bim”  Barff. By his own admission, Ted did not enjoy academic work, but he excelled at rowing. He was the cox of the 2^nd VIII. His favorite memory was his team winning the Marlow Cup in 1952.

 After leaving St. Edwards in 1953 Ted joined the Royal Marines and was posted to 45 Commando,  stationed in Malta. He later served in Cyprus and was seconded to a ski unit of the Lebanese Army to patrol the mountainous northern part of the country. However, disillusioned with military life, he emigrated to South Africa in 1957 where he worked as an industrial engineer in the mining and textile industries.  During his time there he discovered the joy of reading. He later wrote, “From then on, books became an important part of my life, and I have never since been without several within reach.” He also wrote, acted in and directed plays with community theatre groups in South Africa.

While in South Africa Ted married and had two sons, Nicholas and Christopher. He emigrated to the United States 1967. He wrote that “South Africa, with all its beauty, had become a country without a soul.” Living in Elyria, Ohio Ted worked as an industrial engineer and upgraded his education on a  part-time basis. In 1974 he was admitted to Oberlin College where he studied Anthropology and pursued archaeological survey and excavation in Israel and France. He graduated from Oberlin in 1977. From there he headed to SUNY Binghamton where he continued his studies in anthropology and conducted survey and field excavations in Alaska for the Army Corps of Engineers and U. S. Fish and Wildlife Services. He completed an MA in Anthropology at SUNY in 1979 and completed the course work for a PhD there.

In 1980 Ted emigrated to Canada where he married his wife, Nancy. Their daughter Sarah was born in 1984. Ted’s final career was as a business analyst for a large Canadian life insurance company from which he retired in 1999.

Ted died peacefully at home in Waterloo, Ontario in October 2023 after a long illness. He is survived by his wife Nancy, one daughter, two sons and seven grandchildren.

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