We regret to advise of the death of a Second World War Royal Canadian Engineer veteran, Sapper Owen David Atkinson (Ret'd) of Wedgeport NS on 8 January at Veteran’s Place, Yarmouth NS. Owen would have been 103 on 19 January 2026.
Born in Clarke’s Harbour NS, Owen lost his mother when he was eleven and was taken out of school the following year to fish with his father to help support the family. A few years later, during the Second World War, he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Engineers, where he trained as a heavy truck driver and served in Canada.
After the war, Owen bought a lobster license for twenty-five cents, and took a skiff out onto the ocean. From this humble start, he became a successful and well-respected lobster fisherman.
Owen was a proud lifetime member and founding member of the Wedgeport Legion Branch 155. He was also a fourth-degree member of the Knights of Columbus.
A funeral mass will be held at 10:00 a.m. on 13 January 2026, in St. Ambrose Co-Cathedral Church in Yarmouth. The reception will be held at the Wedgeport Royal Canadian Legion branch, following the burial in St. Michael’s Catholic Cemetery in Wedgeport.
Online condolences can be sent to the funeral home. Donations in memory of Owen can be made to the Gilles Boudreau and Friends Cancer Help Fund