Board of Directors
Wolfe Island Historical Society
Board of Directors
Shauna Kingstone
President
Born and raised just north of Kingston, Ontario, my Wolfe Island roots run deep. My mother is
an Islander; my maternal grandparents, and my paternal grandmother were also Islanders, all of
whom were either born and raised at either ‘The Foot’ or ‘The Head’ of Wolfe Island. Holidays
and summer vacations were often spent visiting family all over the Island, camping at relatives’
homes or staying at my grandparent’s farm. I always felt the Island was a special place.
It's funny as you get older, how the curiosity of your ancestral roots and how ‘life as it was’
becomes a passion. When my mother and I decided to start collecting family information to
build our family tree for a family reunion, I was hooked. I have been building our family tree into
a forest ever since. I loved learning about how people were connected, what they did, and
where they lived. Looking at old photos, maps, and reading or hearing stories was fascinating.
That passion has only grown since then, and I am keen about sharing Wolfe Island’s past with
our future.
I have worked in various administrative positions in the area of healthcare for most of my career.
I joined the Historical Society a number of years ago as a member. I became involved with the
Wolfe Island Historical Society Board in 2019. I have enjoyed my time volunteering with this
organization ever since.
Sandy Kenyon
Vice President
Sheila MacDonald, my wife of 35 years and I purchased what we thought was
going to be a cottage property on Wolfe Island in 2017. During the build process we
soon realized that this was a much better place to live so we sold our place in Milton
and moved here in 2019. It turned out to be the best decision of our lives.
My background is in the Fluid Power industry and covered maintenance, sales,
system design, marketing and management for a Canadian industry leader in the
Hydraulic, Pneumatic and electromechanical markets. Prior to retirement I was in the
role of Product Manager and technical support for all hydraulic products for the 14
branches across Canada.
My volunteer experience has a filled a wide range of roles starting with writing
the master business plan for Orienteering Ontario in the late 70’s. A member of the
Milton Lions Club for 27 years where I filled the position as president and past president
for the last 10 of those years. I currently volunteer with the Friends of Haida on the
HMCS Haida, a WW2 destroyer museum ship. I serve in the roles of membership chair
and interruptive guide on board and am a member of her gun crew. HMCS Haida is also
the flag ship of the Canadian Navy. I am currently a member of the Kingston Genealogy
Society and serve on the Cemetery Committee. I also operate a non-profit entity to
clean and repair gravestones on Wolfe Island. Over the past 2 years I have been looking
after the maintenance and upgrading of the Wolfe Island Community Medical Clinic. In
2023 I built 33 lockers for the Wolfe Island Fire Dept. I volunteer at the transfer station
with the bottle program that provides about $15,000 to Wolfe Island non-profit
organizations. I have also been a member of the Wolfe Island Historical society for past
3 years.
Brian MacDonald
Treasurer
Despite missing the founding meeting for the Wolfe Island Historical Society in December 2005,
my name was suggested as a possible executive committee member. I helped write our
constitution and by-laws and have been a member of the Board of Directors continuously since
we became a not-for-profit corporation on May 6, 2006.
I am a 6th generation Wolfe Islander on my father’s side and at least five of my great-great-
grandparents and six of my great-great-great-grandparents are buried on the Island.
I attended Sacred Heart School on Wolfe Island for grades 1-8, Regiopolis College in Kingston
for grades 9-13 and Queen’s University in Kingston for a B.Sc. (Hon) in mathematics and
physics.
I was the first Regi student to break the 5-minute mark in the mile on a track and was a member
of the Track & Field and Cross-Country teams at Queen’s University where I once held the
Queen’s record for 800 m. indoors and was inducted into the Queen’s Track & Field and Cross-
Country Hall of Fame in 2003.
My father was born in January 1910, which is closer to 1799 than it is to 2024. So, 1800 wasn’t
all that long ago.
Sheila MacDonald
Secretary
While my husband and I moved to Wolfe Island in 2019 after retirement, my ties to Wolfe Island
date back to the 1800s. My ancestors settled on Wolfe Island in the mid 1800s. My mother Rita
Greenwood, was born and raised here as were my grandparents, great-grandparents etc. Growing
up, my family would travel to Wolfe Island from our home in northern Ontario every summer to
visit with our family here. I also recall my mother sharing stories of growing up here. So, my ties
are very deep and I have many relatives here.
Prior to moving here in 2019, I worked for Royal Bank for 38 years retiring as the Director of HR
Service Centres in Canada, Europe and Asia.
I have a strong interest in history and also genealogy and when this opportunity became
available, I was excited to join the Board and volunteer.
Henriette deVette
Board Member
My parents emigrated to Wolfe Island from the Netherlands in 1958. I grew up on their dairy
farm with an admiration for the tight-knit agricultural community’s willingness to help each
other out and an appreciation for the Island’s multi-generational family history.
I left the Island in 1977 to get an engineering degree at Queen’s and returned after a 40-year
career as a project and change management consultant in technology and defence in the
Canadian private and public sectors. During that time, I married another 1 st generation Islander
and moved back to my parents’ farm. In the process of restoring our 100-year-old farmhouse, we
became curious about the stories of its builder and the families that lived there before us. Brian
MacDonald happily answered our questions and an interest in the history of Wolfe Island began.
I look forward to serving the Wolfe Island Historical Society in any way I can.
Hendry "Hank" Connell
Board Member
Hank has multi-generational ties to Wolfe Island, Garden Island and Kingston and has always appreciated the unique history and culture of the area. He built a home in Marysville in the 1970s, where he and his family lived for many years and continued to support the community by volunteering with numerous community-focused organizations and events. Hank helped establish the Early Years Nursery School, Wolfe Island Library, Wolfe Island Business and Tourism Association, the Wolfe Island Classic Run and the Historical Society. He also volunteered with the Volunteer Fire Department and was a fishing guide at Hitchcock House, Woodman House and Wolfe Island Inn.
Hank is a lifelong learner, he pursued a career in education after being educated at KCVI and Queen’s University in Kingston, the University of Waterloo and Springfield College, Massachusetts, where he was appointed a teaching fellow in Biology. After teaching in Toronto, the opportunity to return to Kingston brought him to the Frontenac County Board of Education and the Queen’s Faculty of Education.
As an accomplished sailor, he won the North American Junior Championships with his crew and numerous other accomplishments. This experience led him to Olympic Race Committee duties when Kingston hosted the sailing events as part of the 1976 Olympics and later as a technical director at CORK.
Currently, Hank’s interests in Biology and Agriculture have led him to establish the Wolfe Island Vineyard & Winery with cold hardy grape varietals appropriate to the Wolfe Island climate using information gathered from the Northern Grape Project U.S. Department of Agriculture, the University of Minnesota, Cornell University and Penn State University.
Don Bayne
Board Member
Don Bayne is a partner with Bayne, Sellar, Ertel, Macrae. He received his LLB. from Queen’s University, an L.LM. from the London School of Economics and Political Science, an M.B.A. from Queen’s University and an LLD. (Hon.) from Queen’s University. Mr. Bayne has practised criminal law exclusively for more than 51 years. He has been designated a specialist in criminal litigation by the law Society and has conducted trial and appellate advocacy at all levels of courts in Canada and at public inquiries (Somalia, Arar, Iacobucci). He has defended all manner of criminal charges including murder, complicated conspiracies, war crimes cases (in Canada, the Soviet Union, Ukraine) and charges against corporations. Mr. Bayne was the 2006 recipient of the G. Arthur Martin Award for “an individual in Canada who has made a significant contribution to criminal justice”, the 2011 Ottawa Advocate Honoree awarded by the Advocates Society of Ontario, the 2016 Catzman Award for Professionalism and Civility and the 2016 William Carroll Award for Case of the Year. Mr. Bayne is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, a member of the Advocates Society, a past Director of the Criminal Lawyers Association, a past Director of the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, as well as a past member of the Board of Trustees of Queen’s University.
Bruce Horne
Board Member
Gay Stonehouse
Board Member
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