Sgt. Rudy St. Germain (R/AG), crew 141 (31 missions)

P/O  Rodolphe “Rudy” A. J. St. Germain was born in Buckingham, Quebec in 1920, the second of four children and the oldest boy. While he was still an infant the family moved to Timmins, Ontario:  no doubt lured by the booming goldfields. Family problems forced him out of school early to help support his family.  So in 1937, at the age of 17, Rudy started work at the Hollinger Gold Mine in Timmins as a surface boy. Over the next four years he worked in the timber yard and the mill, leaving to serve in the war.

In 1941 Rudy underwent training at North Bay, Ontario, enlisted in the RCAF and was stationed at Dauphin, Manitoba. There he met LAW Chrissie (Christina) Anderson, RCAF-WD, from Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.

They were married in Winnipeg in February of 1944. Two months later Rudy was sent to England, where he served with 434 Squadron, in the Halifax and Lancaster, as a rear gunner and later as mid-upper gunner.  He flew upwards of 25 missions with the Terry Coghlan crew (141) and rose to the rank of Pilot Officer. It seems he also served with the Jenkins crew (150) near the end of the war. Certainly he returned to Canada in June of 1945 on “Lady Orchid” with Ron Jenkins’ crew, spending time in the Azores as they waited for aircraft repairs. Despite the wait, they still made most of the trip home on only three engines! 

After the war they returned to Timmins, and Rudy was back at Hollinger, as a tailings pipeman and mill clerk.  In 1947 he moved to the Ventilation Dept as Assistant Ventilation Engineer. By 1951 he had transferred to the Survey Department, Then became a time study trainee in the Production Engineering Division.  This earned him a position as an underground Standards and Methods Engineer.

Fishing, camping and hunting were his favorite pastimes but he also found a passion in Mines Rescue training. From 1951 to 1962 he spent long hours training, instructing and competing in regional and provincial championships as a member of the Porcupine District Mines Rescue Team. Rudy captained the team for several years, and they won many competitions.

In 1963 the mine announced its upcoming closure (although it reopened years later).  Rudy was hired by the Federal Government and began work with the Unemployment Insurance Commission in Ottawa, traveling often across Canada. In his travels Rudy did connect with Ron Jenkins in Calgary on at least one occasion. Sent to Denver, Colorado to study the new world of computers, this became his new area of work with UIC.  In 1967 Rudy led the team in the installation of UIC’s first computerized centre in Montreal, with other centres following quickly. His pictures of banks of massive computers filling a “sterile” room were a source of pride for him - and I wonder what he would think of our home computers of today.

Rudy’s failing health forced an early retirement. By then, he had risen to the position of Systems Analyst, quite an accomplishment for a man who had not completed the 9^th grade. He passed away in Ottawa in 1984 with his wife at his side, leaving to history the personal demons that had dogged him since the war.

Grandsons Rob and Dan Evans explore a Lancaster at the Calgary Airport in 1992

Rudy was pre-deceased by a son and is survived by a son and a daughter, three grandchildren and two great-grandsons.

“Rudy” A.J. St. Germain was 63 years old.

He was my father.  …………   Suzanne St. Germain