Terry Fox

Birth Name: Terrance Stanley Fox

Date of Birth: July 28, 1958

Place of Birth: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Date of Death: June 28, 1981

Place of Death: New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada

Ethnicity: Dutch, English, French-Canadian, Irish, Scottish, 3/256 First Nations, as well as remote Belgian [Flemish, Walloon], Cornish, French, and Norwegian

Terry Fox was a Canadian athlete, humanitarian, and cancer research activist. In 1980, after one of his legs had been amputated due to cancer, he went on a cross-country east-west run through Canada to promote and raise money for cancer research, known as the Marathon of Hope. He ran 5,373 kilometres, eventually stopping due to the disease. The Terry Fox Run in his name continues annually.

He was the son of Betty Fox and Rolland Murray “Rolly” Fox, a switchman for the Canadian National Railway. His mother also became a cancer research activist. He was raised in Surrey and Port Coquitlam, British Columbia.

Terry’s paternal grandfather was William Rodney Fox (the son of William Adam “Matt” Fox and Edna Beulah Carpenter). Terry’s grandfather William was an American emigrant, from Sauk Centre, Minnesota. Terry’s great-grandfather William was of Irish descent. Edna was the daughter of Horitio Newton Carpenter and Nancy Catherine Veeder.

Terry’s paternal grandmother was Bertha Aubrey Shale (the daughter of Edward Shale and Salina Maud Punshon). Bertha was an English emigrant, from Sunderland, England. Edward was the son of Andrew Shale and Mary Horn. Salina was the daughter of John Punshon and Eleanor “Ellen” Martin.

Terry’s maternal grandfather was John Frederick Wark (the son of Frederick Wark and Mary Elizabeth Cawston Aitken). John was born in Whitewater, Manitoba. Terry’s great-grandfather Frederick was the son of Irish emigrant, James Wark, of County Donegal, and English emigrant, Mary Ann Terry, of Portsmouth, Hampshire. Terry’s great-grandmother Mary Elizabeth was the daughter of Scottish emigrant, Andrew Aitken, of Glasgow, and Canadian-born Helena Ann Crawston, who was of English and Scottish descent.

Terry’s maternal grandmother was Marie Anne “Marion/Mary Ann” Gladue (the daughter of Claude Gladu and Marie Adeline Dubois). Terry’s grandmother Marie was an American emigrant, from Belcourt, Rolette County, North Dakota. Claude was the son of French-Canadian emigrants Charles Gladu and Léocadie Martel, both of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Charles’ matrilineal great-grandmother, Marguerite “Utiniwasis,” was First Nations. Terry’s great-grandmother Marie was the daughter of French-Canadian emigrants Alexandre Dubois, of Fort Alexander, Manitoba, and Rosalie Pilon, of Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Terry’s matrilineal ancestry can be traced back to his fifth great-grandmother, Mary, who was also First Nations.

Sources: Genealogy of Terry Fox – https://www.geni.com

Terry’s paternal grandfather, William Rodney Fox, on the 1910 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
William Rodney Fox on the 1916 Canadian Census – https://familysearch.org

Genealogy of Terry’s paternal great-grandmother, Edna Beulah Carpenter – http://carpentercousins.com

Genealogy of Terry’s paternal grandmother, Bertha Aubrey Shale – http://www.wikitree.com