Person Record

Metadata

Name

Maher, Nelson

Othernames

Nels Maher
William Verne Nelson Maher

Born

Nov. 14, 1933

Places of residence

Owen Sound, Grey County

Titles & honors

Paul McGaw Memorial Conservation Award (2000)
Tree and plaque at Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre (2006)
Nels Maher Side Trail located on the Bruce Trail (2006)
-Volunteer of the Year Owen Sound (2004)
-Conservation Foundation Interpretive Plaque in honour of Nels Maher (2008) mounted at the head of the "Fern Trail" (an offshoot of the main trail between Inglis Falls and the Conservation Authority offices.
-Nels Maher Print Shop at Grey Roots Museum & Archives

Father

George Maher

Mother

Marie

Nationality

Canadian

Education

St. Mary's School, Owen Sound, Ontario
O.S.C.V.I.

Notes

Stan Brown Printers was established over 50 years ago by Stan Brown, in 1949. In 1973, when Stan decided to retire, two of his long-term employees, Nelson Maher and Jack Osadzuk, took over the business. The two ran the business successfully for many years until, in 1995, they too, decided to retire. Nels Maher therefore helped work on the printng of various local history books.

MAHER, William Verne Nelson
Suddenly at Grey Bruce Health Services, Owen Sound on Friday, August 26, 2005. Nels MAHER of Owen Sound in his 72nd year. Beloved husband and best friend for 49 years of Jean (née WEIR). Dear father of Brian and his wife Cindy and Clare and his wife Stephanie all of Barrie, Lenore and her husband Brad GERVAIS of Allenford, Shannon and her husband Paul WEITENDORF, Nadine and her husband Bill McNABB and Karen and her husband Darcy KING all of Owen Sound. He will be sadly missed by his grandchildren Terra MAHER, Lisa and Erin WEITENDORF, Chandra and Ashley GERVAIS, Jessamyn and Jacob McNABB, Clarissa and Amber KING and William and Joshua MAHER. Also survived by two sisters Rosemary KELSO of Wiarton and Sharon McLAREN of Owen Sound. Predeceased by a grandson Matthew MAHER. Friends are invited to the Tannahill Funeral Home for visiting on Tuesday from 2:00 to 4:00 and 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. The Funeral Mass will be celebrated at St. Mary's Church on Wednesday morning at 10:30 a.m. Interment, St. Mary's Cemetery. Parish prayers will be held at the funeral home on Tuesday evening at 8:30 p.m.

Nels greatly enjoyed raising baby ferns. He would cultivate them in plastic produce packaging on his windowsills. He also was very keen about protecting our aboreal diversity. His goal to create an inventory of the trees in Owen Sound was realized after his death when the Owen Sound Field Naturalists built on his vision and published EXPLORING AN URBAN FOREST: OWEN SOUND'S HERITAGE OF TREES (2007).

In 2008, the Grey Sauble Conservation Authority unveiled an interpretive plaque in honour of Nels. It was to be mounted at the head of the "Fern Trail" (an offshoot of the main walking trail between Inglis Falls and the conservation authority offices). Nels had scouted out the ferms and laid out the pathway for this trail.

Nels Maher had been a director of the GSCA's foundation from 1993 until his death at age 71 on August 26, 2005.

His wife, Jean Maher, said that Nels was self-taught and developed his interest in botany through a friendship with Alex Johnson of Cape Croker, who was knowledgable about native plants, and her brother, John Weir, an avid gardener. "His interests included photography, scouting, camping, hiking and bird watching, but he became widely known for his expertise about ferns and orchids. He often led local tours and catalogued rare species, and had a hand in many local books about the natural world" (Sun Times, June 19, 2008)

Nels mentioned to Joan Hyslop that he had started printing at a very young age. His father, George, was a printer in Owen Sound, but was away overseas during the Second World War. Nels decided to set up and print a form for a breeding chart for his rabbits. He had to get a crate to stand on so that he could operate his Dad's platen press (without permission, of course).

In the book A GUIDE TO THE FERNS OF GREY AND BRUCE COUNTIES, he was acknowledged thus:
"Nels Maher for being the source of inspiration for this book. An enthusiastic naturalist in the Owen Sound area from his earliest youth, Nels and his brother-in-law John Weir became interested in naturalized fern gardens about twenty years ago, and Nels is now the recognized expert on ferns in this area. He guides fern field trips for the Federation of Ontario Naturalists and many other nature groups, and with the aid of his wife Jean, has promoted much interest in this fascinating group of plants. He has been a fountain of information on the ferns of Grey and Bruce Counties, including their distribution and relative abundance. He was responsible for the major part of the writing, proof reading and editing of this book. His collection of silhouettes, produced by him from specimens that he collected, and his photographs, have provided the illustrations. His long experience as a printer has been applied to the layout and production of this book".

When Nels was a boy, about five years of age, he was a hockey team mascot for the Sun Times Industrial league team, which his Dad coached. The Sun-Times newspaper was then owned by Howard Fleming. Howard's son, George Fleming, played hockey on the team, and also would babysit his Coach's three kids in the 1930s. When he babysat, George Fleming would bring along his hockey card collection and quiz Nels on the hockey players on the cards. In 1939, the Second World War began for Canadians, and George Fleming left Owen Sound to train as a Royal Canadian Air Force pilot. Before he left, he made his last visit to the Maher household and gave his 75 hockey card collection to Nels.

Two years later, George Fleming went missing during a mission over the English Channel. The Owen Sound Daily Sun-Times ran a brief report on Sat. August 16, 1941 that he was missing. It quoted a message to his parents: "Regret to inform you that your son, Pilot Officer George Howard Fleming, is reported missing as the result of air operations on August 15, 1941. Any further information will be communicated to you immediately. Should news of him reach you from any source please inform this department." No trace of George Fleming or his crew in the Wellington bomber was found. Nels kept the hockey cards in a small tin box, but it went missing. Thirty-five years later, Nels and his wife Jean were cleaning an attic crawlspace at their home, and the tin was discovered underneath some of Nels old Boy Scout memorabilia. Nels showed the hockey cards to Jim Algie of the Owen Sound Sun-Times in 2003, and three of the cards, showing local hockey players Clarence Day, Frank Clancy, and Cecil Dillon,as well as an image of George Fleming in his Sun-Times hockey uniform, were published in a Remembrance Day article.

Occupation

Commercial Printer
Naturalist / Conservationist (Fern Expert)
Boy Scout organization
St Mary's Catholic Church
Volunteer at County of Grey-Owen Sound Museum (served on the museum board)

Publications

-A Guide to the Ferns of Grey and Bruce Counties, 1999, p. 4.
-Welcome To Owen Sound. The Fern Capital of Ontario.
-"City Trees Catalogued: New Book Documents Owen Sound's Arboreal Diversity", THE SUN-TIMES, Wed. August 8, 2007, p. 1.
-"Nels Maher Honoured On "His" Trail", THE SUN TIMES, Thursday, June 19, 2008, pp. 1 & 2.
-Algie, Jim,
"More Than Memorabilia: George Fleming Gave Nels Maher A Special Gift Before He Shipped Off to War", OWEN SOUND SUN-TIMES, November 11, 2003, p. B1

Relationships

Nels has two sisters, Sharon (married Don McLaren) and another sister Rosemary (married a Mr. Kelso).

Groups he belonged to:
Boy Scouts
Owen Sound Field Naturalists