Terrance Louis Barro

Divisions Served: “A,” “B,” “H”

Medals & Honours: Long Service Medals for RCMP and Nova Scotia

Pillar Location: Pillar VII, Row 20, Column C

Story: 

Terrance Louis Barro was born April 7, 1939, in Donkin, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. It was an age of discipline and hard work. My older brother and I helped our father tear down a large older home, salvaging the lumber and nails. We then spent countless hours straightening out those nails to reuse in building our new family home on the site of the old homestead. With a love for sports and some spare time between working and schooling, we played softball, baseball, soccer and hockey, not in sports arenas, but on dirt fields and homemade rinks.

I was interested in police work, in particular the RCMP. I applied to join after high school graduation. On August 26, 1959, I was sworn into the Royal Canadian Mounted Police at the Sydney, Nova Scotia “S” Division. I was given a train ticket to Regina which included a sleeper and meals, departing the following morning. When my parents dropped me at the station, for my first trip away from home, I had $20.00 in my pocket. It was a lonely three days to my final destination.

There I joined the “D” troop, 32 members from Newfoundland to British Columbia. At first, it definitely felt strange bunking in one big dorm, meeting the members and trying to remember names. But friendships were forged as you made your way around “Depot”, lined up for meals and endured your first skinhead cut for 25 cents! We commenced training which was filled with ups and downs. I injured my back in an incident off the high diving board. I was also kicked on the thigh by a horse who took a dislike to me while we were cleaning the stables. I survived!

As D Troop was the senior troop when Governor General George P. Vanier was scheduled to visit Regina in June, 1960, extra ride training was necessary to accustom the horses to the city’s traffic and familiarize us with the routes to be taken during our escort duties. That was a colourful event.

Graduation in June, 1960, was an emotional time for all of us as we received postings across the country. I was posted to “A” Division, Ottawa, Protective “S”/Division. Security was the main duty, referred to as Red Serge, “spit and polish.” We had to look good for the cameras!

My first actual police work posting was to “B” Division, Newfoundland. During the next 7 ½ years, I served in Corner Brook, Springdale, Grand Falls and Lewisporte Detachments. My wife, Dianne (nee Robertson) and I were married in 1965. She worked as an R.N. at the Grand Falls Hospital. Our first child, Kelly, was born in 1967. It is widely known that the people of Newfoundland are in a class by themselves, and we formed many friendships, some lasting to this day. Work was rewarding and activities were plentiful. In my spare time I helped coach a youth hockey team. My local hockey team in Lewisporte won an all Newfoundland Intermediate Championship. My fastball team placed second in an all Newfoundland Tournament and I received a trophy for the Most Valuable Player with a .500 batting average.

In 1969, while visiting a friend in Lewisporte to fish for tuna in the waters off Notre Dame Bay, I hooked and landed the largest tuna caught in Newfoundland that year, weighing in at 809 pounds. In addition to receiving two trophies and a letter from the Newfoundland Tourist Department, I had an article published in the magazine Field and Stream by a well known author and avid fisherman himself, Lee Wolff. He had been fishing for tuna on a nearby boat.

Pleasant memories and some not so pleasant linger. Just prior to leaving Lewisporte, my partner and I, while on patrol, were involved in a head on collision with a vehicle driven by an impaired driver. Concussions and minor injuries resulted, but fortunately we all recovered. The time spent in Newfoundland will always be very special to me.

In August, 1968, I was transferred to Customs and Excise Branch, “A” Division in Ottawa and in October of 1969, I was promoted to Corporal as a shift supervisor, Protective “S”/Division. I was part of a team sent to Kingston, Ont. to interview correctional officers on duty during the prison riot at Kingston Penitentiary. Our son Gregory was born in Ottawa in 1970.

In 1971, I was transferred to I/C Kirkland Lake Detachment. I played with the Ontario Provincial Police Team in a hockey game against the renowned “Flying Fathers”, a group of Catholic Priests. While investigating a tip about someone in Elk Lake who was making “moonshine”, my partner and I came upon an interesting 89 year old gentleman. We learned he was a former gold prospector turned landscape artist, who said he liked to enjoy “a sip” while painting. His still was destroyed and no charges layed.

My last posting, in July 1973 was to “H” Division, Nova Scotia. Our third child, Jennifer was born here in 1977. As a Juvenile Court Liaison Officer, I helped set up the first Restorative Justice Program in the Province.

Throughout my career I attended numerous courses, most notably the Tech Accident Investigation Course held in Chicago, Illinois; Fitness leadership, Tactical Troop, VIP Security and Advanced Driver Training courses were valuable. These last two qualified me for security duties when dignitaries such as Pope Paul 11, Prince Andrew, Prince Charles and Princess Diana visited Nova Scotia. I served in Nova Scotia for 22 years, retiring as I/C Material Managing Branch on April 28, 1995, after 35 years, 8 months and 2 days of service. I value my long service awards from the RCMP and the Province of Nova Scotia.

Retirement for me meant the time to continue my lifelong love of sports, regular exercise and to work on postponed hobbies, projects and travel plans. I was an assistant baseball coach with the Dartmouth Juvenile Team which won a Bronze Medal at the Nationals in Dartmouth in 1988. I still golf, waiting to get the elusive “hole-in-one”. I enjoy hunting with friends for big and small games. Hockey has always been my number one sport. As a member of the “Rusty Blades”, we played in a league consisting of military teams. I played in local tournaments, as well as the International Tournament in Montreal.

In January 2004, while playing hockey, I suffered a heart attack. By luck, I was rushed to the hospital by especially trained medics in a new ultra equipped ambulance which enabled them to start treatment immediately. After three days in ICU and a week in a ward, I was discharged under the watchful care of my wife. With diet, exercise and medications, and to the chagrin of my wife, I returned to the ice and was active in local leagues for the next 15 years, until I “retired” at age 78.

Many of my projects are carpentry related. I made extensive renovations to our family home, purchased in 1973, as well as my daughter’s first home and several houses my sister-in-law and I flipped over the years. For a “jack of all trades and master of none”, as they say, some undertakings were major, such as a garage I built and the enlargement of our summer bungalow on the beautiful Mira River in Cape Breton. I also repaired my own cars, appliances, and any odd job which required a “Mr. Fixit” person.

As for travel plans, my wife and I have traveled extensively since my retirement visiting places such as Hawaii, Vimy Ridge, Oberammergau, Ireland, Alaska, Vegas and the Caribbean. My family surprised me with a Caribbean cruise for my 80th birthday.

I am proud of my family and the stability my wife, Dianne and I provided our children as we moved from post to post. Our daughter Kelly is a Registered Nurse married to Paul Currie. Their son, James, is a Registered Nurse and their daughter, Lauren is in university. Our son Gregory is a lawyer married to Kimberly Stead. Their daughters, Emily and Sydney, are in school. Our daughter, Jennifer, a School Teacher, married to Jason Ralph, has a daughter, Mackenzie and a son William Terrance, both in school.

I am proud of the way I conducted myself during my career. I am grateful to the Family within the Force and the numerous friends made along the way, grateful for their guidance and influence on the person I am today. I’ve tried to be kind, respectful, and considerate of all and to make wise choices. Although I did not attend University, I like to say I graduated with a Masters Degree from the School of Common Sense. Whatever path you choose to follow, you should enjoy to the fullest. Life is sometimes too short for some of us. Looking back over my 35 years of service in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, I will be forever proud to have worn the Uniform which is known and respected the world over.