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In memory of those who have Crossed the Bar
ELSON, James Bryan - It is with deep sadness but above all gratitude for a long life, fully lived, that the Elson family shares their loss of Bryan who passed peacefully at the Dartmouth General Hospital on Monday, January 12, 2026.
Predeceased by mother, Eva Elson (Clarke); father, John Edgar ("Jack") Elson; brothers John and Michael; mother and father in law, Edmond and Mary-Ellen (Min) Greenough; brothers and sisters-in-law: Gerald Greenough, Sheila Greenough, Daniel Casavechia, Marjorie Casavechia, Lionel ("Junior") Cormier, Ralph Greenough, Earle Greenough, Barbara Greenough.
Survived by wife Maxine (née Greenough); son Christopher; daughter-in-law Kate Scarth; granddaughter Lucie; brothers- and sisters-in-law: Donald and Patricia Uhrich, Joyce Cormier, Jack and Shirley Greenough, Georgina Greenough; and a large number of nieces and nephews and great nieces and nephews.
Bryan Elson served in more than fifteen ships and submarines during his thirty-seven-year naval career including postings as Executive Officer, Commanding Officer, or both, in minesweepers, submarines, destroyers, and replenishment vessels. For four years, he commanded CFB Halifax. He was awarded the Centennial Medal, the Diamond Jubilee Medal, the Chief of Defence Staff Commendation (for rescue at sea), the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Medal with Bar, and the Order of Military Merit. His service education included Royal Roads, Royal Naval College (Greenwich, UK), and the Canadian Forces Staff School and Staff College. He obtained an Honours BA in Economics from Royal Military College and an MBA from Saint Mary's University.
After his retirement at the age of 55, he served briefly as a full-time reservist working on coastal defence projects and then as the civilian Deputy Chief of Staff Materiel, Maritime Command, during which employment he marked forty-two years of continuous service to Canada. Upon his second retirement, he turned his attention to management consultancy and his love of history and writing.
Bryan published three books of popular history focused on naval and military matters: Nelson's Yankee Captain, First to Die, and Bastions of Empire - all written in his seventies and published by Halifax's Formac Press. The deeply researched books were well received by both general readers and specialists. Bryan was characteristically modest about his talents and the reach of his work, but he was proud, for example, that First to Die may have helped to raise naval corporate consciousness of the fate of the Royal Naval College of Canada's first graduating class and the place of the Battle of Coronel in the RCN's origin story.
Bryan was a founding member of the Canadian Naval Memorial Trust, dedicated to the preservation of HMCS Sackville, the last WWII Corvette. He served twice as its Chair and fulfilled many governance roles while enjoying the camaraderie of this devoted group of volunteers and staff. He was also a founding Director of the Halifax Military Heritage Preservation Society and was active in the Portland-Estates-Portland Hills Residents' Association.
He greatly enjoyed attending and occasionally presenting at the World War I Club, a gathering of passionate WWI amateur and professional historians that has met regularly for years at Dalhousie and online.
In 2016, he was made a Knight of the Order of Saint George and was later promoted to Knight Commander in the Order.
In 1958-59, the well-named Royal Navy submarine, Ambush, spent an extended deployment in Halifax. Bryan met the charming and fun-loving local girl Maxine Frances Greenough and their whirlwind courtship led to marriage that summer (he proposed to her beside the sub's periscope). Maxine hit pause on her work with the Fisheries Research Station Atlantic and joined Bryan in Scotland where he continued a long secondment to UK submarines. They travelled frequently in the British Isles and Europe and enjoyed hosting Greenough and Elson family members while making some dear local friends in the Helensburgh and Portsmouth areas.
Over the years, Bryan came to see it as his responsibility to provide some guidance to the growing group of "outlaws," those men and women lucky and brave enough to marry into the Greenough clan with its arcane rituals and secret laws. He enjoyed his warm and large extended family and the many family functions. His relationships with various family members, including years of bridge and scotch with brother-in-law, Don Uhrich, were central in his life. He took an active interest in his many nieces and nephews and their life projects. They loved Uncle Bryan, or "Uncs," as Allan Uhrich, with whom he pursued a continuous stream of banter, insisted on calling him.
Some other highlights of family life and work and their intersections include the following: An arctic deployment aboard HMCS Protecteur in 1978 to deliver a prefabricated building destined for CFS Alert to Thule Greenland was a unique experience, particularly given that young male dependents were permitted to sail with the ship. The crossing of the line (Arctic Circle) ceremony was exciting for son Christopher and even more so for dear nephew John Uhrich, who distinguished himself by resisting King Boreas's guards, defending himself by spraying hoarded ketchup, and hiding for hours in the ship. The three enjoyed a tremendous six-week bonding experience.
At the time of the Polish Crisis in 1980, Bryan was in command of HMCS Fraser with the NATO Standing Naval Force Atlantic. Exceptionally, STANAVFORLANT remained together in the UK over the Christmas holidays in anticipation of uncertain events, and it was Maxine who took a quiet but effective leadership role at home helping to ensure the well being of the ship's company's dependents. During this same deployment, Bryan as Captain and the ship as a unit were awarded Chief of the Defence Staff Commendations for the daring rescue of the crew of a fishing vessel foundering in extreme conditions in the North Sea.
His time as Deputy Director of the Naval Reserves coincided with the transfer of Naval Reserve Headquarters to Québec City. There was an opportunity to make several trips to Québec and the family's love of 'la vieille capitale' was born and further enriched by regular trips over the ensuing years.
The 75th. Anniversary of the creation of the Canadian Navy in 1985 was a highlight for Bryan and Maxine as it fell during Bryan's tenure as Base Commander. They enjoyed the public-facing dimension of the role: hosting events at the lovely, and perhaps even haunted, official residence, Wilkie House (RIP), and participating in many events in the city and region that special year.
When Bryan curated a trip in 2014 with family and friends to follow in the footsteps of his father's WWI experiences with the London Scottish Regiment, he also launched one of his books at the Abbey Bookshop in the Latin Quarter of Paris. Outside this funky Canadian bookshop on a warm evening, Bryan read extracts from his biography of Benjamin Hallowell, Nelson's Yankee Captain, and answered questions from an eclectic audience of avant garde musicians, history professors, and former intelligence operators. It was memorable.
Bryan remained in many ways a prairie boy at heart and there were regular visits to his family and old haunts in Saskatchewan, sometimes involving cross-country winter rail trips with Maxine and Christopher; it was a great way to see Canada. In the mid-to-late 1990s when Christopher was a faculty member at the University of Regina, they enjoyed several road trips into deepest Saskabush in a rented Jeep Liberty. Maxine came along once and there were other jaunts with the Domoslai crew, including Harvey, the sailor turned veterinarian of whom Bryan was very fond.
These explorations often ended up in some of the scattered and now fading small towns where Bryan had grown up with his teacher parents (Golden Prairie, Hudson Bay, Herschel, to name three special ones). Bryan and Christopher sought out more difficult to find spots (both on and off the grid roads), places like the Forks where the two branches of the Saskatchewan River meet, or the near-mythical "Last Mountain" or "The Loop" where they enjoyed an al fresco lunch with tumbleweeds and vociferous coyotes while considering the complex interaction between river banks and neighbouring provinces.
Maxine and Bryan lived in a number of homes in Dartmouth after their return to the area in 1976. 55 Stewart Harris Drive deserves special mention with the amazing neighbourhood of lifelong friends-the Clarkes, the Wilsons and the Rocheleaus.
The Elson's built a new home in Portland Estates in 1992 where they have been ever since, by far their longest stay at a single address. Some of us noticed that in the past year or two of decline, as his mobility failed, Bryan seemed to take a special interest in the beautiful lakeside garden that Maxine has cultivated over the course of thirty-plus years.
Bryan gave a spirited speech at Kate and Christopher's wedding in 2019. He was delighted with the newly extended family and felt that he had been graced with the ideal daughter-in-law in Kate. They enjoyed wide ranging conversations about mystery novels, Britain's evolution, Canada and World War One, and of course, family histories.
He
developed a friendship with his opposite number, Hazen Scarth, and the two
enjoyed email and in-person discussions. Bryan was an enthusiastic reader
and
Beyond Maxine's steadfast attentions, the last years and especially months at home were made possible by the support of Home Instead's staff. Bryan took an interest in these home care workers, so many of whom were immigrants or temporary foreign workers; their backgrounds reminded him of his father's Indian experiences, and he loved saying words like "Punjab" and discussing India with them.
The staff at Dartmouth General were immensely helpful and caring. He insisted multiple times that he could not be getting better care in his situation, and they seemed to enjoy his jovial and gentlemanly manner, in spite of some of his less successful attempts at humour. Our appreciation goes out to all those who visited Bryan at the DGH and helped behind the scenes. Wendall Brown, Don Uhrich and Doug Thomas showed particular dedication in helping to ease Bryan's isolation and boredom.
His
last years were immeasurably brightened by the arrival of his granddaughter
Lucie in 2022. The "little rascal" was truly "the apple of
his eye." In his final weeks at Dartmouth General Hospital, Bryan
eagerly anticipated her visits. A cherished photo of the two of them
together was beside him at the end.
There will be a Memorial Service at the Stadacona Faith Centre (Chapel) at CFB Halifax, Saturday January 17 at 11 am followed by a reception at the nearby Officer's Mess (in the Sea Room).
Family flowers only. Donations in memoriam to the Canadian Naval Memorial Trust would be greatly appreciated.
Ships served in: * Appointed Naval Cadet, UNTD, RCN(R) - 1951 HMCS MALAHAT - Served in MALAHAT for UNTD * Transferred to the RCN HMCS ROYAL ROADS - Appointed to ROYAL ROAD - 1952 * Appointed Midshipman, RCN (seniority 01 Sep 1953) * Appointed Acting Sub-Lieutenant, RCN (seniority 01 Jan 1955) RMS SCYTHIA - Boarded RMS SCYTHIA 17 Apr 1955 for passage to the UK HMCS NIOBE - Appointed to NIOBE for General Education and Warfare Course at the Royal Naval College Greenwich HMS/m AENEAS * Appointed Sub-Lieutenant, RCN (seniority 01 Jan 1956) HMS/m SERAPH - Appointed to SERAPH Jan 1956 * Appointed Lieutenant, RCN (seniority 01 Nov 1956) HMS/m EXCALIBUR - Appointed to EXCALIBUR Spring 1962 as First Lieutenant HMS/m SIDON HMS/m EXPLORER HMS/m OSIRUS * Notes: He was instrumental in setting up the first Canadian Oberon Training Course along with Peter Haydon in Halifax in 1965-66. He served in the RN 6th Submarine Squadron in Halifax and is mentioned in the 6th Submarine Squadron Book Ambrosia, written by Stephen Jenner. HMCS THUNDER - Appointed to THUNDER 1967 - 4th Commanding Officer HMCS SKEENA - Appointed to SKEENA 1968 - 10th Commanding Officer * Appointed Lieutenant-Commander, RCN (seniority 01 Jul 1968) * Promoted Commander (MARS), C.A.F. (seniority 01 Jan 1976 HMCS FRASER - Posted to FRASER 1978-1981 - 14th Commanding Officer. Cdr Elson was Commanding Officer of FRASER when she, along with the NATO squadron, proceed to the Baltic as a show of force due to the crisis in Poland. FRASER spent Christmas in Portsmouth, England; the first Canadian ship not to be home for Christmas since the Korean war. * Promoted Captain (N) (MARS), C.A.F. CFB HALIFAX - Posted to CFB HALIFAX 1985 as Base Commander
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