THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS associate NCEMer Art Acton was not likely to meet anyone he could call his elder, at least not age-wise. Art passed away on October 22 at the age of 105.
Art and his first wife, Dorothy, joined NCEM in 1949 to serve in northern locations, including Deschambault Lake, northeastern Saskatchewan. At Art’s funeral it was noted that the fruit of their ministry there included two “tough” and influential brothers, whose resulting positive Christian witness continues. Their descendants were among those who spent over six hours driving from Deschambault to attend the gathering in Meadow Lake, SK.
The Actons left the mission field in 1966, but continued to help out at NCEM’s Headquarters for several years. Dorothy passed away in 1992, and Art rejoined NCEM as an associate member in 1994 after marrying honorary missionary Marjorie (Leroy) Markel. (Marjorie passed away in 2014.)
Art had a longing to visit Deschambault one more time, and in September 2017 NCEM Field Coordinator, Jon Siebert, took him back. “Only those who were young back then would have remembered Art,” Jon noted, “but many in the community were grateful for the opportunity to meet Art and honour him. The genuine gratitude of the people was very evident.”
