Town renames local park to honour Fort Erie war veteran Burd Sisler

Burdett Sisler’s name will no doubt live on in the memories of many, and it will now be memorialized in the form of a new name for Bowen Road Park.

Fort Erie councillors supported a motion at the September 14 council meeting to have the Niagara Parkway site renamed after Sisler, who was known affectionately as Burd. Sisler died in April, just a few weeks short of his 111th birthday.

“I’m very pleased to see staff is recommending that there be a name change here,” said Mayor Wayne Redekop.

Sisler’s son Norm formally requested the name change to honour his dad in July.

“Renaming would keep his legacy alive as the person that put Fort Erie on the map for a lot of people, the oldest Canadian at the time and oldest WW2 veteran in North America,” Norm wrote in his letter to the Town.

However, Redekop put forward a slight amendment to have the park be renamed the Burdett T. Sisler Bowen Road Park, which was accepted by council. The alteration keeps the name that Sisler would have known it as when he was taking his children there, while also maintaining recognition of the Bowen family, who were early settlers to the area.

The Bowen family themselves had military ties: Cornelius Bowen served with the Butler’s Rangers while other family members served in the Lincoln Militia.

“I think that’s an excellent compromise because it reflects the history of the park at the time Burd Sisler was alive and raising his family but it also recognizes Burdett T. Sisler for the remarkable individual he was,” said Redekop, who added he had brief discussions with some of Sisler’s family members and they were open to the change.

Sisler was born in Ohio but moved to Canada with his family when he was three years old. He enlisted with the Canadian artillery in 1943, but poor eyesight in one eye kept him from joining the Royal Canadian Air Force.

“While waiting deployment overseas he volunteered to participate in a trial using mustard gas. He was also working on radar and telecommunications equipment that was top secret at the time,” Norm wrote.

While he never served overseas, his contribution was nonetheless important to the war effort.

After the war, he also ran a repair shop for a time and spent years working as a customs officer at the Peace Bridge.

He became a Canadian citizen in 1950 and volunteered for many organizations.

Last October he became the oldest known living Canadian and the oldest Second World War veteran in North America.

“He was a wonderful gentleman and well known in all of Canada,” said Councillor Ann-Marie Noyes.

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