Neil Malcolm remembered as a community minded man
by Tracey Coveart/The Scugog Standard

On Friday, May 28, Scugog was saddened by the loss of Neil Taylor Malcolm - loving husband, devoted father, notable farmer, tireless community supporter, back room politician and friend to all.

Neil Malcolm spent his first 25 years on the family farm in Nestleton - or North Nestleton as he was fond of saying. He married Noreen Cook in 1945 and bought a homestead just south of Blackstock, where he farmed for 41 years, from 1945 to 1986, boasting one of the top dairy herds in the province at one time. But Neil’s real strength and the foundation of his business was buying and exporting Holstein cattle.

“He had customers all over the world,” recalled son Gordie, who learned Spanish from a foreign buyer who would stay with the family. “Western Canada, New York State, England, Mexico, Cuba. He shipped hundreds of bulls to Cuba to start their dairy industry in the mid-1960s.

An cattle auction operation, Malmont Farms Sales Arena, arose naturally out of that business in 1975 and continued to thrive with Neil at the helm until the early 90s. (Bruce Kellett Auctions currently operates out of the location.)

Neil was a steadfast Massey Ferguson man. “As far as dad was concerned,” said Gordie, “the only tractor in the world was a Massey.”

Last fall, Neil won a jacket at a farm meeting that was unfortunately emblazoned with a Case Tractor logo. “Dad hunted down a Massey Ferguson patch and went to three different seamstresses before he found one that could sew it on. He was proud to say that his $40 jacket became a $400 jacket!’

Neil had a fondness for the colour red. Despite living in a Conservative community, he was as loyal to the Liberal Party as he was to Massey Ferguson.

His political involvement only went as far as school board trustee for Cartwright, “but he was instrumental behind the scenes,” said Gordie. “He wasn’t inclined to run for office, but every Liberal candidate who visited Scugog came to Neil Malcolm first because they knew he would introduce them to the movers and shakers.”

But it was Neil’s community involvement that truly set him apart.

“Dad loved his community,” said Gordie. “Whatever needed doing, if somebody needed something, dad was there.”

A Brother of Fidelity Lodge #428 Port Perry and a Mason for 60 years (he just received his pin in March), Neil was also a lifetime member of the Blackstock United Church, serving as a church elder and chair of the church board for many years. In 1952, when the church underwent a massive renovation, Neil devoted his entire winter to the project.

A member of Holstein Canada for 65 years and past president of the Durham Holstein Club, Neil was involved in the Blackstock Agricultural Society for years and instrumental in starting the Blackstock Fair Parade.

“He was very well respected among his peers in the cattle business because of his honesty and fairness,” said Gordie. “He always wanted a good deal for the farmer. He would never try and get the best deal at another man’s expense.”

Neil was a life member of the Port Perry Community Curling Club (and came out for the 50th anniversary to throw a few rocks with his wife Toots), a member of the Port Perry Lawn Bowling Club and a founder of the Blackstock Shuffleboard Club.

A true sports fan and a diehard Leaf Nation citizen, Neil had a personal letter signed by Harold Ballard on Maple Leaf Gardens letterhead framed and sitting on his desk.

He was involved in horse racing and owned harness horses that competed at Greenwood, Mohawk Downs, Garden City and Kawartha Downs.

That love of sport translated into support for developing local athletes.

Neil sponsored Port Perry Minor Hockey’s Malmont Farms Atoms for 29 years. Green was the Malmont farm colour and Neil was determined that his team’s jerseys would represent. “They were the only green sweatered team in a sea of Port Perry red,” laughed Gordie. Known as the Green Machine, the team’s championship banners still hang from the rafters at the Port Perry arena.

Neil also sponsored ball teams: the Blackstock Squirts and the Malmont Jets, young men who played at the Malcolm Memorial Presbyterian Park at Nestleton Hall.

“Mr. Malcolm and his family were huge community supporters,” said Scugog Mayor Marilyn Pearce, “especially when it came to minor hockey. His role in that capacity will be missed in the Blackstock area.”

Most of all, however, Neil, 89, will be missed by his family, and especially his wife of 65 years, Noreen.

“Mom and dad did everything together,” said Gordie, “and after 65 years they still walked down the street holding hands. Not because they needed the support but because they loved each other.”

His kids and grandkids meant the world to him. “Dad was very supportive of us,” said Gordie. “It didn’t matter how badly we screwed up. He was always there. He wouldn’t even acknowledge what we’d done, he just figure out what we needed to do to fix it.”

Granddaughters Janelle and Natalie were very involved in sports and 4-H and grandson Brennan was heavily into baseball and hockey, “and dad was always there in the front row,” recalled Gordie, “sitting on his green chair and cheering them on.”

Neil Malcolm was laid to rest at the Cartwright-Union Cemetery in Blackstock on June 1.

“We had such an amazing turnout at the funeral home,” said Gordie. “It was a steady, unending stream of people. At the service, Blackstock United was full to overflowing. It was overwhelming and a testimony to the high regard in which dad was held by so many people.

“Dad and mom have both given so much to this community,” said Gordie, “and that’s not going to stop. You’ll still see mom volunteering at the hospital.

“Dad taught us that that’s what you do: you give back to your community,” said Gordie. But that’s just part of the gift left behind by a man who firmly believed that ice cream is one of the major food groups.

“Dad’s legacy to us,” said Gordie, “is to be honest with one another, to be fair to one another and to love one another.”

Neil Malcolm was a man who led - and lived - by example.

Neil Malcolm is survived by his adoring wife Noreen ‘Toots’ (nee Cook), children Gordie, Mary Lou (David Kellogg) and Jamie (Gloria), and grandchildren Brennan, Alaina, Jorden, Janelle, Jeana, Natalie and Jason. The sympathy of The Scugog Standard is extended to the family of our good friend Neil. Donations in Neil’s memory can be made by cheque to the Port Perry Hospital Foundation or the Blackstock United Church Memorial Fund.