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Mary Elizabeth Johns was born in Stratford on
May 17, 1856, the eldest daughter of Joseph and Ann
Johns. Her only sibling, Edwin John Johns was born in
1858 and passed away in 1929 unmarried. On August 5, 1891, she
married George Edward Tune, whose father, James, had owned a bakery
and confectionery business on Norfolk Street in Simcoe prior to
locating to London, where his family operated a thriving bottling
company
,
James Tune and Son. James had three sons: Charles Henry, George
Edward, William Alfred and John Albert, the first three of whom were
successful bottlers: Charles Henry entering into partnership with his
father in London; William Alfred also conducting business in London. In
all, the Tunes were influential businessmen in the bottling
industry from 1880 until 1932. Following in
the footsteps of his father, in 1884 George Edward Tune opened a
bottling plant at 132-134 Huron Street, Stratford (the corner of Huron
and St Vincent Streets, presently the site of a medical centre),
manufacturing ginger ale, ginger beer, soda water mineral
water and seltzer. He retired from the
manufacturing business in 1918 and during the First
World War, he worked as a machinist at the Stratford Brass Company at
the corner of Erie and West Gore Streets. Following his
career as a mchinist, he
worked as a comercial traveller. Mary took an active
interest in the affairs of St. James' Anglican Church, being a member
of the choir for many years, as well as a supporter of many charitable
organizations in Stratford. |
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George Tune met with
much misadventure in his later years. He was reputed to have had
a problem with alcohol. Local lore relates that he used to retire
to the garage to enjoy imbiberment. Word spread that George
Tunes was the place to go for en evening of imbibement and tall tales
and soon the garage was dubbed the "Sin Bin." (Today, Glenwood is
a stop on the Stratford city tour where visitors are entertained by the
story of the Sin Bin's former glory and an entertainment spot.)
On November 4, 1928, as he was driving between New Hamburg and
Stratford, George was involved in a head-on collision with a car driven
by
Harry Fetter from Centreville. Mrs Fetter, a 45 year old mother
was killed as was a 3 three-year old passenger, Jackie
Fraser. Harry and his 22- year old son, George, and George
Tune and his passenger Fed Peller of Stratford were all seriously
injured. The the headlines of the Stratford
Beacon-Herald of November 5, 1928 gave the sad account. The residents of
Stratford were saddened by the details of the tragic
incident. On November 7, the wrecked cars made quite a
spectacle as they were towed to a local garage. On November
29, an inquest was conducted at Shakespeare, George was to appear at
a preliminary hearing before Magistrate J.A. Makins on May 10,
1929.
George Tune recovered from his
injuries
and died at Glenwood House at 5:00 AM on Tuesday February 2,
1939 and was buried at Avondale cemetery. Mary died
at the Stratford
General Hospital at approximately 8:45 AM on Wednesday February
15,
1942 after a five-year illness. She was laid to rest beside her
husband and brother and near her parents.
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