BURK’S FALLS – Many people retire to Almaguin, but few can say that they enjoyed a long and full career after doing so.
Ina Trolove turned 96 last week, and since moving to the area in 1949, the Burk’s Falls resident has only recently taken time to look back on everything she’s done.
“I haven’t had much time to reflect on the past,” she said. “It’s always go, go, go.”
Born Ina Watt, she grew up in Longford Mills, just a few miles from Rama in the Orillia area.
Ina’s father worked for the Standard Chemical Company as a lumberyard foreman. She recalls the day he took her along on a log-scaling trip, leaving her in the care of the cook while he went about his duties.
“That was in the days when logs were floated on the water,” she said. “It was a terrific experience.”
Schooled in commercial studies at Orillia Collegiate, Ina returned to her hometown to work as a bookkeeper.
“I was there for a year, then the depression struck and everybody was laid off,” she said.
Answering an ad in the Globe and Mail, Ina took a bookkeeping job in Bala, where she worked for 15 years before joining the army.
“It was the thing to do,” she said. “We wanted to save Canada.”
As a member of the Canadian Women’s Army Corps during the Second World War, Ina supported the troops overseas by performing a supervisory job here in Canada. One of her last assignments was at the Long Point ordnance depot near Montreal.
“They had a staff of 3,000 civilians and 6,000 service people,” said Ina. “You can imagine the size of the depot. It was tremendous.”
Ina, with her staff of 35, was in charge of the Ford spare parts.
Social events at the depot featured live entertainment. Ina recalls a young piano player by the name of Oscar Peterson who would play for around $25 a night.
By the end of the war, Ina had reached the rank of captain, and might well have stayed in the army, had that been an option. With the war over, the powers that be wanted women out of the army, and in September of 1946, Ina was the second-last woman to be discharged.
“I had a tremendous experience in the army,” she said.
From the Canadian armed forces, Ina went to the Ontario government, where she worked promoting the province as a tourist destination for Americans.
Ina stayed single until 1948, when she married Ron Trolove. The couple met through mutual friends in Rama.
Ron was a seasoned RCMP officer who had worked all over Canada, including a number of one-man detachments in Ontario. When Ina met him, he was responsible for patrolling a vast area of Muskoka by horse, canoe and dogsled. When he was around Rama and needed a hot meal, he dropped in on a couple of lady teachers he knew. Coincidentally, they were also friends of Ina.
“Rama wasn’t much in those days to what it is now,” Ina noted.
By the time they were married, Ron was ready for retirement. At that point, they had a choice. Ron had an uncle in Australia who suggested they could enjoy their retirement there. They were also looking at a piece of land between Burk’s Falls and Sundridge. They chose the latter.
“I couldn’t see going to Australia and living a life of leisure when we could be doing something in Canada,” said Ina.
Based on one visit, Ron and Ina bought a 200-acre abandoned farm at Stirling Falls.
“In the early days, it was a town site,” she said. “One side of the road was all lots, but we never developed it.”
The only building on the property was a small office from the lumbering days, and the couple set out to build an addition at the onset of winter. After finally finding a contractor who would do it, they used a woodstove to thaw the ground, and melted snow to mix mortar. But the work went quickly enough that they had a fire in their new fireplace on Christmas Day.
Just the same, their home lacked many of the amenities we take for granted. There was no running water, and electricity was not available for the first five years. Eventually phone service came to the area, but Ina declined. She was already busy enough.
“I didn’t want people calling me up at all hours,” she said. “They could talk to me when I was in town.”
Living without basic utilities was quite an adjustment for Ina, who, ironically, had grown accustomed to a more comfortable lifestyle in the army.
“We had everything,” she said. “Then to come here without hydro or indoor plumbing. But it’s amazing how you can make do.”
Ina and Ron continued to improve their home and their property. Ron had long dreamed of planting a forest, having been saved by a tree on one occasion while pursuing an armed suspect. The couple spent countless hours planting seedlings, mostly red pine. Ron made the hole, Ina planted the tree and Ron tamped down the ground. Then they repeated, and repeated, and repeated. When daughter Liz was an infant, Ina brought her along in a basket.
The Troloves eventually planted 85,000 trees that have since matured.
Ina also returned to the workforce to supplement Ron’s pension, which was significantly less than police receive today. In 1957, she was approached by Grace Metcalfe. Metcalfe’s husband, recently deceased, was the owner of the John S. Metcalfe Agency in Burk’s Falls. The agency dealt in land conveyance and insurance, and Grace asked for Ina’s help in running it. Ina worked there until Grace died in 1972.
That wasn’t her only job, of course. Ina was also justice of the peace for 36 years.
Still, it was not enough work to prevent her from taking an active role in politics. A staunch Conservative supporter, Ina was helping out before she was old enough to vote.
“No matter who was running, if they were Conservative, that was where my interest was,” said Ina.
For many years, Ina was the riding secretary in Parry Sound-Muskoka at both the federal and provincial level. Only the presidents changed.
Ina sought the federal nomination in 1953, running against Stan Darling. That might be why she was a little bit apprehensive about going to work for him in 1972.
As Ina was cleaning out decades of accumulated clutter from the Metcalfe office, Darling came to ask her assistance. He was obliged to set up a constituency office and wanted her skills and community connections for just a few weeks, until the office was established.
Ina stayed for 17 years.
“I didn’t think we could ever live together in four walls, but we got along very well,” she said.
The work was hard. There was no time for vacations, and it seemed like the busiest day at the office was Monday, when it was supposed to be closed. Ina would sometimes go from church to the office.
“I was always there and always serving the people,” she said.
Darling left politics in 1993, and Ina found herself cleaning out another office.
“It took me two months,” she said.
At that time, Ina finally retired to Stirling Falls.
Ron passed away 19 years ago, leaving just Ina and Liz at home. They lived there until 2006, when they both cleared decades of their lives out of the family home and moved into Burk’s Falls.
Ina continues to be active in the community. She has long been involved with the Canadian Red Cross. She was a founding member in Bala, and remains involved to this day. She is also a member of the Friends of the Burk’s Falls and District Health Centre and of the Anglican Church.
As to why she has given so much of her time and energy over the years, Ina simply said that she has been looking after other people, trying to keep them happy. In so doing, she has made her own life fuller.
“I’ve had a very rewarding life,” she said. “Very rewarding.”
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