Donald Crighton’s grandfather, Arthur Crighton, was a church minister who moved to Canada from England in the 1890s with his wife and five sons. They spent some time at Portage la Prairie, Manitoba before settling in Toronto by 1901. In 1906, Arthur’s second youngest son, William, started working at Edward Hawes & Company, a firm that sold polish for furniture and cars until the 1980s. In 1913 he married Lola Etta McCallum whose family had moved to Toronto from Waterloo. The couple lived near Ossington and Dupont at 16 Burnfield Avenue. Their first child, Arthur Donald, known as Don, was born June 22, 1915. A daughter was born in March 1917 but died the next month.

In 1918, the Spanish flu swept the world, killing more people worldwide than World War I. Unfortunately Lola was a victim of the pandemic, leaving William a single father to young Don. A hundred years ago, larger families meant that Don’s many aunts, uncles and grandparents would have helped to look after him.

When Don was nine years old, his father married Franklin Hope Thompson. Don’s grandfather Arthur had retired from the ministry and became a real estate agent. He operated his business out of his home at 2092 Gerrard Street East on the northwest corner of Brookside Drive and Gerrard Street. Don’s family moved into an apartment in the building and in September 1924 Don started Grade 4 at Norway School. They were members of St. Aidan’s church on Queen Street. Two years later they moved down the street to 60 Brookside and in 1928 Don’s half brother William was born. Soon another half brother Edward completed the family. Don graduated from Norway in 1929 and entered Malvern. In 1931, the family moved again, to 99 Scarborough Road.

Although Don wore glasses, at Malvern he participated in basketball, baseball, football and rowing. He also liked to play chess and was involved in the Scouting movement, eventually becoming a King’s Scout. His subject interests were Maths and Sciences. More importantly, it was at Malvern that he met Lorna Fletcher, the love of his life. She and her family lived at 92 Balsam Avenue and were also members of St. Aidan’s.

After graduation in 1934, Don started working at Hawes with his father. By now William was vice president of the company which was located near Dundas and Parliament. Don spent a year working in the factory. He transferred to the company office and for two years he took night school Business courses at Shaw College. He was involved with St. Aidan’s Young Men’s Bible Class and was its secretary.