A self-described ‘old fart’ and retired radiologist has seen the town change over the past 50+ years, and he believes overall, it’s been for the better.
For this week’s edition of People of Collingwood we spoke with Don ‘Doc’ Paul, 91, retired radiologist.
Q: Where did you grow up?
A: I grew up in Northern Ontario, near Timmins.
For most of my life, I lived around South Porcupine, which is six miles away from Timmins.
I went to public school in Porcupine and high school in South Porcupine. I spent Grade 13 at Upper Canada College.
Q: After that, where did life take you?
A: I went to medical school in Toronto.
Q: When did you know that you wanted to go into medicine as a career?
A: I was probably about six.
My dad was a doctor. I liked the lifestyle my dad had. I liked what he could do.
I just liked the idea.
Q: What medical school did you attend?
A: I went to the University of Toronto. I graduated in 1959. In 1958, I married my wife.
I interned at St. Michael's.
Then, I came here.
Q: When did you come to Collingwood, and why?
A: In 1960, I came to Collingwood as a general practitioner. I did general family medicine for 11 years. Then, I went back and did a residency in radiology.
When I was interning at St. Michael's, I had to find a job, so I answered all the ads in the Canadian Medical Journal. I went to several interviews.
My wife was from Toronto, and she didn’t want to be too far away.
(Collingwood) appealed to me. I came up here for a year. I haven't left yet.
Q: What were your first impressions of Collingwood then?
A: I didn't know anybody. I was here to work.
We rented house up on Oak Street.
Being from from Northern Ontario and you come to a new town, where's the first place you go? You go to the rink.
So I went to the rink and watched the local team then: the Collingwood Shipbuilders intermediate team. They didn’t have a team doctor, so I took that on. Then I got involved in the management of the team.
I had played hockey in South Porcupine on a very good team. My teammates and I were close friends for years.
Q: When did you retire from your practice?
A: My memory is terrible. Maybe 20 years ago, ballpark.
Q: What did you do in your spare time when you weren’t working?
A: I played a lot of golf. I skied for sure, obviously, and we played a little pick-up hockey around here, softball and slow pitch.
And we raised a family. I have three kids. All three live in Collingwood. My daughter is a lawyer, and my youngest son, a teacher and superintendent. My middle son is a radiologist here and in Barrie. I’m pleased. I think he thought I had pretty easy life so he thought he’d follow that one.
Now, I have grandkids and great-grandchildren.
I went away to the radiology program for four years back in the late 1960s. When I came back, Darryl Sly had taken up the Shipbuilder charge.
During this time, Scotty Carmichael – who I thought was a fabulous man, wonderful guy and funny as the Dickens – started to talk about the town needing a (sports) hall of fame.
Back then, where the Scotty Carmichael room is now, was just a cement pad. We decided to build it into a room. That was good fun.
People were generous. Collingwood is a great volunteer place. Peter Dunbar, who was the town’s recreation director at that time, was the great impetus to get it done. There was an attitude of, we’ll do it now and ask permission later. It worked out very nicely.
I hate it when they won’t let everybody in.
We built that room for the people of Collingwood. It was Scotty’s vision that people in Collingwood should see who is in the hall of fame and what they’ve done for sports in Collingwood. They can’t see it if they can’t get in there. There should be no restrictions.
I hope the sports hall of fame carries on. It's a nice tradition.
Q: Since you retired, how do you spend your time?
A: I watch TV. I read. I go out a lot. I go to games for the local hockey teams.
Joan, my wife, died in 2019. That was sad event.
Q: Is there anything else you want people in Collingwood to know about you?
A: I love Collingwood. This is my home.
This town has definitely changed, but for the most part, it's been for the better.
Old Collingwood was good. I love the old people like Scotty Carmichael and all those guys.
It's changed because new people have come in and have become part of the town.
A lot of them came in and thought they were going to change the town, but not very successfully. A lot of people bring Toronto ideas up here. It doesn't hold wash very well with the old farts.
For our feature People of Collingwood, we speak with interesting people who are either from or are contributing to the Collingwood community in some way, letting them tell their own stories in their own words. This feature runs on CollingwoodToday every weekend. If you’d like to nominate or suggest someone to be featured in People of Collingwood, email [email protected].
