By Dan McCaffery for the Sarnia Observer
Sarnians can thank Paul Blundy for the fact that the City has a home for the aged today.
That’s because Blundy, who was Mayor from 1967 to 1974, led the Council that socked away $750,000.00 a year for three years in order to pay for construction of Marshall Gowland Manor.
Born in Sarnia on March 23, 1918, he served in the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War.
Shortly after the fighting ended he co-founded the McKenzie-Blundy Funeral Home with Partner Don McKenzie.
Blundy was extremely active in community life even before being elected Mayor. In fact, he served as an Alderman, Rotarian, and as a member of the Knights of Columbus. He was also a member of the Chamber of Commerce and sat on the St. Joseph’s Hospital Board.
He served for a dozen years as an Alderman, during which time Council agreed to establish Centennial Park.
After that he was elected the City’s 63rd Mayor in 1967.
The new Chief Magistrate pushed for construction of a home for the aged and for expansion of Sarnia’s boundaries.
Marshall Gowland was built before he left office but a 1977 bid to expand the City failed when the Ontario Municipal Board turned down Sarnia’s attempt to expropriate neighboring communities.
Other Mayors took up Mayor Blundy’s boundary crusade after he left office and the City limits were eventually moved from Murphy Road to County Road 26.
Blundy was one of the longest serving Mayors in Sarnia’s history, wielding the gavel for eight years before being defeated in 1974 by a young Alderman named Andy Brandt.
But the old pro turned the tables on Brandt a few years later, defeating him when the two ran for the job of Sarnia MPP.
BIundy served three years at Queen’s Park before Brandt made a comeback of his own, defeating him for a second time.
Blundy died in May 1992, while walking in Canatara Park. He was 74.