The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

page 8 markhamstouffville hospital march 21 1990 jj markham stouffville hospital board a work of love for the care of all cumcil tffl wol rr ilixum ljm f tinas uniforms extends congratulations to the staff management of markham stouffville hospital conveniently located steps from the hospital tinas carries an extensive line of uniforms in many styles and a rainbow of colors stock also includes a range of shoes and accessories to meet the needs of all staff and all tastes tinas medical supplies include stethoscopes watches scissors small flashlights etc tina welcomes all inquiries and would be glad to help with any special orders 471 2434 6545 hwy 7 e unit 7 hwy 7 just west of 9th line south side in markham plaza philanthropist remembered m by deb bodine champion correspondent the life of art latcham is a ragstoriches tale filled with magic and good deeds considered in his time to be one of north americas greatest sleightofhand magicians using coins and cards he also worked magic in his beloved town of stouffville and its neighboring communities blessed with a midas touch when it came to real estate speculation he freely shared his gold to better the communities that he loved it was the generosity of art latcham in the 1960s that provided markham and wmsnowlne szjb3 latcham generously donated the 50 acre stouffville hospital ste 0n whch the hos stands his other contributions are widely known and the latcham name graces countless halls galleries and monuments from stouffville to port perry beginning with stouffvilles library latcham hall and latcham gallery over the years he bought up a number of old schoolhouses transformed them into community halls and donated them to the host communities countless other community facilities were renovated and refurbished uxpool in uxbridge zephyr hall curling and hockey rinks in port perry unionville and stouffville the stouffville pool and park facilitiesthe list goes on and on and the continuation of these good works was ensured even after his death when he established the art latcham charitable foundation in 1969 my father always had a soft spot for stouffville and the surrounding communities he did a lot for them said robert latcham one of two stepsons by art latcham s marriage to his late wife elaine i must admit he liked to get a pat on the back for what he did but that wasnt the reason he did it he wanted to help the community to make the community a better place mr latcham jr also suspects that his father provided for so many community gathering places in order to create audiences for his entertaining magic tricks a skill that he honed for hours each night instead of sleeping philanthropist millionaire art latcham was humbly born in 1895 in glasgow a small farming community in uxbridge township it was there as a child that he first became fascinated with the world of magic an obsession that drove him to walk 15 miles from glasgow to markham to purchase his treasured magic books and paraphernalia it was an enchantment that was to last his entire lifetime and many stouffville residents undoubtedly still recall art latcham charming young and old alike with his conjuring tricks after completing grade four he worked on neighboring farms until as a teenager he headed west to homestead in saskatchewan when world war i broke out he trained with the 10th canadian mounted rifles and served four years on the front line in france where he was wounded in one of the first ever tank attacks upon returning to civilian life in ontario he settled in toronto where he drove a streetcar on the bloor st line but the motorman job was just a front for his real duty to run for the city of toronto in the very rivalrous competitions between cities he was an olympic class runner and boxer during his 20s it was during this time of his life that he began dabbling in real estate the career that was to make him a millionaire and provide him with the means to give back to the community that was dear to him at the age of 48 art latcham married his wife elaine a woman 29 years his junior who had two young boys robert who lives with his family in thornhill and larry who now resides in florida elaine latcham was killed in a tragic car accident in 1976 three years before her husbands death he died at the age of 84 fortyfour year old robert latcham remembers his father as the most intelligent man i ever knew a great man even though he had very little schooling he was a quiet unassuming man with a sense of humor that sometimes got the best of his stepsons he recalls an incident when his father challenged them to see just how long a box of chocolates that was wrapped and tied in string could sit unopened before they succumbed to temptation days later they opened the forbidden box only to find that their father had beaten them to it by cutting a hole in the bottom of the apparently intact box it took me years to realize just how funny that was laughed mr latcham having made his fortune in real estate specrlation art latcham enjoyed the freedom to pretty well do whatever he wanted and that ofte benefitted his friends and neighbors though he and his family lived quite frugally an example of this occurred during the mid1960s when on two separate occasions the residents of markham and stouffville were treated to books written by dc jarvis md on folk medicine and home remedies because he believed so strongly that the citizens of the rural towns would benefit from their advice mr latcham had 5000 copies printed in winnipeg and personally delivered them doortodoor art latcham has been honored for his contributions in many ways in 1972 the citizens of stouffville honored their magicianinresidence by declaring dominion day as art latcham day the stouffville library houses the art latcham memorial magic book collection of 328 volumes dating back as early as the 17th century and the town hosts an annual magic festival in honor of their own patron magician for his prolific contributions to the community he also received the order of canada and a queens silver jubilee medal not only will he be remembered for these good works including the contribution of a 50- acre parcel of property 30 years ago that has allowed a stateoftheart medical facility to be constructed in the heart of his home community art latcham is just as likely to be remembered for his unique onehanded card shuffle and extracting a silver dollar from behind a wideeyed childs ear lobe