Our Family
Ross & Sherri Family in Barrie, Ontario
Ross works in the parts department of Currie Trucks in Bradford. This is an ideal job for him as he has had a life long fascination for 18 wheeler trucks. Sherri operates an office cleaning business in Barrie.
Tyler (29) has moved into an apartment in Mississauga with his girlfriend Monica Niebrzydowski. Tyler is working with Kilmer Environmental.
Ryan (27 is working with eBay Trading Cards. Ryan and Kaitlyn are in the process of moving to Markham to be closer to Kaitlyn’s work as a Naturopathic Doctor.
Gavin (23) has graduated this spring in Computer Science from the University of Toronto and has moved back to Barrie where he is working again with Pickard Utilities Services.
Erica and Family in Paris, France
After 2 years in Jakarta, Indonesia, our daughter, Erica, her husband Andrew Auerbach, and their two sons, Atticus and Roman, moved back to Paris, France in 2023. Our daughter Erica, is now the head librarian at two ESCP business college locations in Paris. Atticus (21) and his girlfriend, Maelhya Paul Pecorella, are studying in Paris. Atticus is starting his third year at a College majoring in Computer studies. Maelhya is taking a Masters degree at the Sorbonne. Roman, (19) has finished his first year of Film Studies at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, along with several of his friends from his school in Paris. He is now back in Paris for the summer to work before returning to Concordia for his second year.
The Parents: Ray Burnham and Jeanne (Frew) Burnham
We met shortly after we had graduated from University. Jeanne, from Montreal, had a degree in Math and Physics from Bishops University in Quebec in 1964. Ray, from Florenceville, NB, earned a degree in Electrical Engineering at Mount Alison, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia Tech, now part of Dalhousie University in Halifax, in 1963. We both were working at Bell Canada in Montreal in the engineering department. Jeanne was transferred to the growing Computer (IT) division the next spring. We were married on December 30, 1965, at a time when federal tax was based on the number of days you were married that year. Since we had been married just one day in 1965, we were able to use our tax refunds to go on a Laurentian Ski Zone flight to Switzerland in January for a three-week skiing holiday. We travelled with friends and had a great time on the snowy slopes of Europe and the parties in the local pubs. (Spoiler alert: the tax rules have changed since then. Now your taxable income is now based on your annual income regardless of your marital status.)
Our two children were born in Montreal, Ross in October 1968 and Erica in August 1970. By that time, troubles in Quebec prompted Bell to suggest that Ray move his family to Ontario, where his lack of French was not a problem. Our first home was in Mississauga, in September 1970, where we stayed for six years. Ray continued with Bell, taking the train downtown to work, while Jeanne was home with our two young children.
Our next move was to Ottawa in September 1976, where Ray worked at Bell again. Jeanne taught skiing at Camp Fortune the first winter and then went back to school and graduated with a Degree in Teaching. Ross and Erica went to new schools. Erica, in Grade 1, in the newly established French Immersion program and Ross, continuing in Grade 3 in the English program. Since there were no teaching jobs available that year, Jeanne renewed her IT experience and managed to get hired by a consulting firm at the same time as Ray was asked to transfer to London Ontario.
Off we went in 1980, Ray to work with Bell and Jeanne to work in the IT department of Canada Trust, which was eventually taken over by TD bank. Erica was accepted in a new French School and Ross went first to the local elementary school and then to High School.
Our final move was twelve years later, back to Ottawa in 1992, without our children. Ross was studying Automotive Marketing in Barrie, followed up with a year in Michigan for further Automotive Marketing Studies. Erica went to McGill University in Montreal, first earning a Bachelors Degree in Anthropology and Women’s Studies, then returning to earn a Masters degree in Librarian and Informational Studies. Ray took advantage of an early retirement from Bell in January 1994. Ray joined the Ottawa Bicycle Club, where he became President for four years. Ray also went hiking with the Wednesday Walkers, completed hiking the 46 Peaks in the Adirondacks with friends, and cross country skiing in the Gatineau each winter.
Jeanne continued working at an IT consulting firm in Ottawa for another six years. We did fit in ski trips during the March school holidays, which often included our two children, to the mountains in both Western Canada and Western United States. Ray was introduced to hiking in Nepal in 1991. That led to Jeanne joining in for the next Nepal hike in 1995, and Ray returning on his own in 1997. Once again we couldn’t resist a return to Nepal for both Ray and Jeanne in 1998.
That was when we both decided to make our dream a reality to retire and travel to several countries we had talked about.
Jeanne retired from her job in September 1999, and joined five other women friends for a trip to the Netherlands, led by our friend Ginny Arnold, who had lived in the Netherlands for several years. A month later, Ray and Jeanne left for another visit to Nepal in October- November 1999, followed by three months exploring South East Asia. We followed the advice of a friend and used the Lonely Planet Guide book travelling to Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia.
We enjoyed our first trip so much we have continued travelling for several months each year, ever since.
(see the Paris section for photos and write-ups of the Auerbach’s years in Paris)
We were fortunate that the Auerbach family were able to visit Canada from Indonesia for two weeks in August 2021. We all celebrated with Ross and family for a weekend in Kingston, Ontario. It was great to get together again and catch up on all we missed over the previous two years. We discovered that our grandchildren are now over 6 ft tall delightful young men!
Click Kingston August 2021 to see an album of photos
Click Family Gatherings to read and see photos of more of our events.
(see the Travels section for photos and write ups)