Mr. Speaker, after 150 years, Kingsmill's Department Store closed its doors in downtown London. Everyone who shopped at the beautiful store fondly remembers riding on the old-fashioned manually operated elevator. They also remember the man at the helm of the store, Fred Kingsmill, who died this week at the age of 90.
I last had the opportunity to speak to this great businessman a couple of months ago. He had a smile that would light up a room and knew how important it was to give back to the community.
Fred was the president of Kingsmill's for 33 years and was the fourth generation to own and operate this historic department store. Fred was a farmer, a businessman, a philanthropist and a true gentleman. Two of his favourite sayings were, “Be of good cheer” and “Do well, doubt not”.
London will miss Fred dearly.