Gerald B. Stanford excelled in two divergent careers: The first, 27 years spent at sea, fulfilled a childhood dream; the second, as a lawyer specializing in maritime law, began after his retirement from the Royal Canadian Navy. Neither would have been possible had he not escaped from Nazi Germany in 1938.
Shortly before Kristallnacht in 1938, Walter received an anonymous message to “get the boy out,” and within days Gerry was en route to England, where he would spend the next eight years with his Harrison grandparents under his parents’ supervision in the Cheshire village of Alderley Edge. At King’s School, Macclesfield, Gerry found he had to be more English than the English to fend off taunts about his German origins. In later years, he would change his surname to Stanford.
Armed with some seagoing credentials, he joined the cargo vessel MV Maltese Prince in 1947. From merchant shipping, he joined the Royal Navy, thence to the Royal Canadian Navy, a move recommended by a Canadian naval officer. He was accepted into the RCN in Halifax in 1950. Gerry’s naval career saw him on both east and west coasts, with the final four years at the Maritime Warfare School, Halifax, where he lectured on the Law of the Sea.
Gerry’s favourite contribution to family life was as chef at weekend breakfasts, when he invariably toasted too many rolls, ending up eating them himself. This earned him the nickname Bunz, used by his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. In his last months, one granddaughter read him excerpts from Winnie the Pooh, a book he had read to her as a child.