(below) Former Earl Rannie Guenther residence.
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“Henry and Jane (Rennie) [sic] were the parents of Earl, Euloeen, Leeland, Homer, Gladys and Grace. [Ed. note: Jane’s maiden name was actually “Rannie”; she was the daughter of Samuel and Leah Rannie of Slabtown in Hay Township.] Earl Rennie [sic] Guenther (1896-1989) married Clarice Hooper and later Joy Stickney. Earl’s father was killed in 1910 [sic] while driving the stage coach carrying mail, passengers and freight, from Dashwood to Parkhill. [Ed. Note: Henry Guenther actually died in the accident in April of 1913.] After Henry’s death, his wife Jane, ran the business. Earl took over the Exeter, Dashwood and Grand Bend route.
Earl went overseas in 1917, with the 3rd Division, 8th Battalion, Canadian Engineers. He came home in 1919 and bought the business from his mother. Earl received a dozen horses and six or eight rigs in the purchase. He bought a Ford truck to use on the route from Exeter to Grand Bend. He also purchased an International stake truck and started a transport service to London. He began a regular route to Toronto in 1924, a nine hour drive because of bad roads and slow trucks. Earl kept building his business, Guenther Transport, until he had 21 pieces of equipment.
Earl began busing students students to South Huron High School in 1944 and two years later, began picking up students from Stephen, Hay and Usborne Townships. The buses were known as Exeter Coach Lines. Earl was also the Dashwood postmaster from 1923 to 1966. He sold his transport business to Ben Tuckey in 1952. The business was re-named Guenther-Tuckey Transport. Exeter Coach Lines, with its 21 buses and 17 routes, was sold to the Charterways Company in 1968. Earl always drove one of his school buses and would bring the mail into Dashwood for R.R. #1 Hay with his daughter Shirley Kipfer. He operated a mail contract route and delivered to Hay, Kippen, Hensall, Zurich, Dashwood, Grand Bend and Crediton in the morning, reversing the route in the evening. He turned the route over to his grandson, Jim, in 1980. After retirement, he kept busy around his buildings and died in his 94th year.
Earl and Clarice had three sons and two daughters: Lloyd, Ross, Ray, Ruth and Shirley. Lloyd (1920-1995) worked for his father driving trucks. He joined the army in 1943 and returned home in 1946 to drive truck and bus. He married Vera Oesch in 1949 […].
Ross (1922) the second son of Earl and Clarice, worked for his father driving trucks until he joined the army in 1942. He was discharged in 1946 from the Fort Gary Horse Regiment, Winnipeg. He married Pauline Eagleson. […] After the war, Ross again drove transport trucks and then school buses. He registered the first school, Safer Way Driving, to teach driving, in 1963. Ross taught driver education at South Huron High School from 1971 to 1985. He also drove school bus to Stephen Central for the Huron Board of Education for 17 years. Ross is now retired.
Ray (1924-1965) son of Earl and Clarice, also drove transport and bus for his father. Ray joined the army in 1943 and served with the Highland Light Infantry until 1945. He worked as a dispatcher for Guenther-Tuckey Transport in Exeter. Ray married Jean Anne Wilson in 1951. […]
Ruth (1926), daughter of Earl and Clarice, married Glenn Walper. […] Ruth went to business school in Kitchener and later returned to Dashwood and worked in her father’s office. After her marriage, she and Glenn moved to London, where she worked at Western Freight Line. She then worked at Red Star Express in Cambridge, and still lives there.
Shirley (1931) married Elgin Kipfer. […] Shirley helped her father with the mail route and now Elgin helps Shirley and also drives school bus for Charterways. Elgin and Shirley live in Dashwood.”
(above left) “Lloyd E. Guenther, Army duty 1943 to 1946”; (centre) “P.C. Ray Guenther, 3rd Highland Light Infantry”; (right) “Cpl. Ross C. Guenther, Fort Gary Horse, Winnipeg”. Click on image for larger version.
extracted from “Hay Township Highlights: 150 years of Diversified Progress, 1846 – 1996”, published by the Hay Township Book Committee under the auspices of Hay Township Council, Alice Gibb ed.; pgs. 240, 439-440 ISBN : 0-919939-43-0