David Frank Tovee

To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.

Obituary

Just over a year ago, David (Dave) Frank Tovee of Whitby, ON , passed away on May 12th, 2025, in Oshawa General Hospital shortly after being diagnosed with incurable leukemia. In his last days, Dave was held with love by his two daughters, Christine and Camille (Craig Jackson) and his three cherished grandchildren, Scotia, Ainsley and Gage. He was 82 years old and is predeceased by his wife Marthe Alice Tovee nee Ouellet. The loss felt by his family has not been diminished by time.
David was born on September 8th, 1943, to Mary and Pat Tovee in High River, AB. The middle child of five, he is survived by his older sisters, JoAnn Higgins (Jack Higgins, deceased) and Carol Tovee as well as his two younger brothers, Allan (Joanne) and Ronald (Lynda). 
Dave’s early childhood centered around his Grandad Leman’s general store where, as a treat, he was given the ice cream tubs to lick out. He was allowed to read the comics on sale if he didn’t crease the pages. His first paying job was delivering groceries for McLeod’s store in High River. Mr. McLeod taught a slightly underage teenager to drive so that he could have the job in the first place. Moving on, David worked as a ranch hand on ranches in southern Alberta first on his uncle, Art Leman’s land and then for the Dennings family. The summers on the ranches were possibly David’s favourite times. He had no shortage of stories of ranch life, reminiscing often about the work, the food, and of course the horses.
Graduating from Turner Valley High School in 1961, Dave joined the Royal Canadian Air Force. His military service took him from his beloved Alberta east to St. Parent, QC for basic training. Little did he know that this move would be the start of a lifelong love affair with the Canadian west and east coming together. During his time in the RCAF, he trained and worked as a Radar Technician for the NORAD early warning radar system, notably the Pinetree Line . His final military posting was at CFB Falconbridge (callsign “Tomboy”) near Sudbury, ON. 
Upon leaving the RCAF in 1965, Dave joined the technical or “craft” team at Bell Canada and applied his skills to telecommunications. He progressed into management and oversaw an increasing pace of technology refresh as telecommunications moved from analog copper wire networks to the introduction of the first computers and then the move to digital switching equipment and fibre optics. His daughters were thrilled when he brought home computer programming punch cards as toys for them. They loved weekend visits tagging along with Dad to the “DNOC” switch installation, alive with the unending clicks of hundreds if not thousands of calls being connected one after another like notes in a symphony. He didn’t know it at the time, but these drop-ins fueled his youngest’s lifelong love of communication, through words, images, and eventually, pixels. He smuggled home a length of fibre optic cable for a certain daughter’s school science project. As a civilian, his work at Bell Canada continued to support the RCAF by maintaining the networks of NORAD’s radar installations and its headquarters in North Bay.

While at Bell Canada, he met Martha “Marty” Alice Ouellet (from Québec). They married in August 1968, and soon welcomed their first daughter, Christine, in 1969 and then Camille in 1970, completing their family.
David and Martha’s shared dream of building their own home came true in 1980 when they constructed a traditional Québecois style house combining local Manitoulin stone masonry with West Coast cedar wood siding for a truly unique Canadian creation. Throughout the year-long process, Dave would finish working and then drive to the lot where he framed, wired and plastered alongside the construction crew. He honed his skills to the point that he could customise and improve every successive home he and Marty lived in. He became Camille and Christine’s contractor of choice when they purchased their own homes. If he wasn’t travelling to Kapuskasing to fix a garage door, he made his way to France for renovations on Chris’ 1830s farmhouse. Not one to be without work to do, David kept busy during retirement by picking up his hammer once again and restoring slate roofs on churches with a local contractor.
Woodworking was Dave’s passion and his workshop was his “happy place”. He built furniture, wooden toys, and Christmas decorations. As long as Marty could draw a sketch, he could build it in wood. He learned to carve duck decoys and would spend hours burning and painting the feathering of each duck. These decoys have become part of his enduring legacy.
With devotion, he provided his daughters as much opportunity as possible to follow their dreams. He ferried the girls between gymnastics, guitar lessons, swimming events, and diving practice, sometimes clocking in 100km in the car per evening. He went beyond chauffeur and fundraiser, and every chance he could, he watched practices and performances with deep interest, sharing in his daughters’ challenges and triumphs. He encouraged excellence and stood for integrity and doing things “right”.
After his heart attack, Dave made walking an important activity in his life. He would join his daughter’s hikes, grumbling on one occasion about a “death march” of 20 km. He later took on the challenge of multi-day walking trips completing a solo circumnavigation of the Isle of Wight off the south coast of England. He and his brother, Ron, also walked the length of Hadrian’s Wall along the Scottish border.
In their retirement, David and Martha called Marchmont, near Orillia, ON, then Sudbury and finally Cobourg, ON home. In Cobourg, Dad found joy in gardening seeking to bring the breadth of colour to their backyard. He, as well as Marty, also volunteered for the student breakfast club at the local schools.
Due to his wife’s increasing care needs, they moved to the Lakeridge Heights Retirement Residence in Whitby. Both residents and staff were very fond of Dave. He was instrumental in the residence receiving its liquor license by calling up the mayor’s office to “facilitate” the fire department’s required inspection for the permit. After his wife’s passing, once a week, Dave would be down in the pub leading the conversation and introducing other residents to the practice of mixing tomato juice in their pint to make a Bullseye.
David requested that his ashes be returned to his beloved Alberta and spread near the Sheep Creek, the site of many childhood picnics. A small celebration of life will be held on Sept 3rd, 2026 in Toronto to mark the beginning of David’s final road trip to Alberta with his daughters. A memorial page, David Tovee Memorial Page, has been set up and details of the celebration will be published on the site. In addition, Camille and Christine invite you to contribute your memories and messages on this page.
The family wishes to thank the palliative care team at Oshawa Hospital for their kindness and support during David’s final days. They even allowed Missy the cat (jokingly referred to by Camille and Christine as the “sister they never knew they had”) into the hospital for goodbyes and a final pet from her beloved buddy.

Celebration of Life, September 3rd, 2026

David wished for his ashes to be returned to his beloved Alberta.  Please join us on September 3rd, 2026 in Toronto for a celebration of life to start Dave's road trip with his daughters across the country back to Alberta. 
                                     Location: 383 Sorauren Ave, Toronto, ON, M6R 0A4
                                      Time:       3pm-7pm ; programme will run from 3:30pm-4:30pm
                                      Contact: catovee@alum.mit.edu
                                      Access code (on the day): 6674
                                      Light refreshments will be served
                                      RSVP appreciated but not necessary
 Further details will be posted on this site.  Please sign up at the bottom of the page to receive updates.

Tribute- May 16th, 2025

In the early hours of May 12, David Frank Tovee left this world for the next, joining his beloved wife of 55 years, Martha.

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