Remembering James E. Cruise, former director and CEO of the ROM

From the second five-year-old James Cruise planted his first tree at his household’s farm in Marburg, Ont., he grew to become enthusiastic about vegetation.

That farm – and thoseplants – grew to become a working thread all through Cruise’s life. He went on to grow to be a professor of botany and a dean on the College of Toronto, after which CEO of the Royal Ontario Museum, the place he as soon as gave a private tour to Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. Regardless of his achievements, the Cruise remained – like his discipline of research – right down to earth, by no means straying removed from his Marburg farm.

Born in Port Dover, Cruise was the third of 4 youngsters of farmer William Edward Cruise and Annie Gertrude (Walker) Cruise. Together with siblings Eleanor, Isabel and George, he obtained his early training within the one-room rural faculty at Marburg.

In 1943, on the age of 18, Cruise entered the Royal Canadian Air Pressure the place he educated as a navigator. He obtained a Dominion Skyways Proficiency Award, ending first in his class upon commencement, and went on to show navigation to air crew trainees. Victory in Europe Day had been celebrated by the point he reached England in 1945, so henever noticed lively responsibility, however he did spend a while in Europe earlier than being discharged with the rank of Flying Officer in March 1946.

Understanding that he wished to work in a occupation that might permit him to dwell on the farm, Cruise entered an honours biology program by means of Victoria School at U of T in 1946. After graduating, he earned a grasp’s in plant physiology and a PhD in plant taxonomy at Cornell in Ithaca, N.Y. He taught there, at Princeton and one other New Jersey college, spending 13 years in america earlier than returning to U of T in 1963 as an affiliate professor of botany, and later as affiliate dean of the College of Arts & Science. Throughout this time at his alma mater, he additionally served as a dean of males.

In 1975, Cruise was appointed because the ninth director and CEO of the ROM. Throughout his 10-year tenure, he oversaw a $55 million enlargement, which included the addition of the Queen Elizabeth II Terrace Galleries on the north aspect and a curatorial centre on the south, and he received a Governor Common’s Medal in Structure. It was formally opened by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip throughout their 1984 Royal Go to. The College of Guelph awarded Cruise an honorary physician of legal guidelines and letters in 1982, and in 1997, he obtained the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Medal.

For greater than 22 years, Cruise cut up his time between Toronto and Marburg. After retiring from the ROM in 1985, he moved full time to Marburg, which he was a “horticultural showplace,” says his niece, Joan Smith. “He genuinely loved main a gaggle by means of the grounds. As a collector of oddities, his properties (at Marburg and later, on Freeway 6) have been additionally crammed with vintage items and curiosities.” For a few years, Cruise hosted church and household picnics, horticultural excursions, in addition to different guests who got here to marvel at his gardens. “Native bus drivers knew tips on how to navigate the turns within the driveway at Marburg,” Joan says.

He was drawn to uncommon and unique animals as nicely. At numerous instances, the farm was dwelling to llamas, piglets, peacocks, guinea fowl, English Fallow deer, swans, pheasants, fancy roosters and a Siberian goose.

Cruise served on the board of administrators for the Lighthouse Pageant Theatre and for a number of phrases chairedthe Dover Mills Heritage Affiliation. He additionally served on the boards of the Norfolk Historic Society, the Port Dover & Woodhouse Horticultural Society and the Grace United Church (the place he had gifted a Heintzman grand piano that was performed throughout his funeral service years later), and he was a member of the Royal Canadian Legion in Port Dover. For his efforts, the Ontario Heritage Basis and the Ontario Horticultural Affiliation awarded him longtime volunteer service awards in 2005. The next yr, he obtained the Silver Fir Award – the Ontario Horticultural Affiliation’s highest honour – and, in 2013, the title of honorary grasp gardener by the Grasp Gardeners of Ontario.

Via all of it, Cruise, who had by no means married or had youngsters, remained humble, says his nephew, Monte Smith, who says his unassuming uncle’s focus “was at all times on the present undertaking or upcoming backyard tour or a brand new plant or tree that had been added to the backyard or had been ordered. He was a builder, a instructor and a mentor.”

“He collected new pals in every single place,” says Joan. “He was additionally a spellbinding storyteller. He beloved so as to add nuggets of native historical past into his tales to offer them relevance, and he saved distinctive vintage gadgets and strange animals to spark extra alternatives for storytelling and educating. He beloved to have an viewers.

“He was a gentleman,” she says, “and a delicate man.”