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.
Brian Johnson
Vice President
Retired captain after 35 years of the Wolfe Islander III ferry and after 40 years with the Ontario
Ministry of Transportation, Eastern Region Ferries. A certified Master 500 Near Coastal
certificate of competency, Brian has spent more than 50 years in his trade.
A mainlander today, Brian’s family goes back five generations on Wolfe Island. Researching
their history became a labour of love for this would-be historian. A writer of sorts and an
amateur historian, Brian was the Founding President of the Wolfe Island Historical Society in
2006. He continues to serve as a Director on the WIHS Board contributing to Windword, the
annual journal of the WIHS featuring historical events and people living or who have lived on
Wolfe Island. During this time, he co-edited a book titled Growing Up on Wolfe Island with Sarah
Sorensen, a compilation of stories and adventures of dangerous ice crossings and life around
his father’s time, 1920 to 1960. Very popular, the book has sold very well locally. He was also a
relief captain for the St. Lawrence Cruise Line’s Canadian Empress visiting various historic ports
from Kingston to Quebec City on the St. Lawrence River and Kingston to Ottawa on the Ottawa
River. Retired from that as well, he spends his time nowadays continuing to write stories of the
folks he has met both aboard and along the waterfront ports of the St. Lawrence River over the
years.
Besides Windword, Brian continues to write for The Kingston Whig-Standard; Thousand Islands
Life – a monthly e-magazine; Inland Seas magazine; County, Then
and Now – the original magazine of Prince Edward County and Historic Kingston, the annual
journal of the Kingston Historical Society, receiving an award for his historic articles in 2010.
Collecting stories about everyday people in their everyday lives is fun for him. Someone
unknowingly will drop a hint about a deed or occupation their aunt, uncle, father, brother or
grandparent did. Or he’ll overhear – by accident of course – an interesting conversation taking
place somewhere. Even graveyard tombstones hold a tale – just waiting to be told.
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.
Bruce Devine
Board Member
Born in Belleville, Ontario, I began working part time in radio at CJBQ Belleville in 1965 and
have worked for various stations in Ontario and Quebec since then. I currently run the visiting
radio studio for the Montreal Canadiens hockey team. Since 1991, I am also a self-employed
insurance broker, Life Health & Group Benefits.
I’ve had a lifelong fascination with history. My mother, the late Minnie Woodman was born in
1919 in the Woodman House (today the Blue Moose Bed & Breakfast), and I spent my
summers there. It was a fascinating old house, full of antiques. In the house lived my
grandmother Dottie Campsall Woodman and my Great-Aunt Lillie A. Woodman (1881-1960).
Lillie loved to walk and she would take me through the village pointing out who had lived in
various places, tragedies etc. She also filled my head with stories about how she and her
friends used to picnic at Ardath House (the Old Castle) prior to WWI. My love of history started
with the Woodman House and my Great-Aunt Lillie
The Woodman House was a fishing and hunting lodge. I have my grandfather’s 1921 guide boat
which I continue to run each summer around the waters of Marysville.
Although I wasn’t born on the Island …I’ve felt like an Islander for as long as I can remember.
Sandy Kenyon
Board Member
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.
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
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