Gordon Badger, a founder of Homemaker's dies

One of the founders of Homemaker's magazine, Gordon Badger, passed away April 30. His death notice in the Globe and Mail said the death, aged 70, was unexpected. He had apparently married just last month and had taken his new bride Marilyn Weir to rural Ireland for a honeymoon.

Badger, a chartered accountant, had been one of the small group that launched Comac Communications Limited and, with Homemaker's in the early 70s, helping to pioneer controlled circulation publishing with a little digest that grew into one of Canada's most successful and largest-circulation titles.

Jeff Shearer, a friend and publisher of The Bay magazine, based in Collingwood, told the Stayner Sun: "He was a smart, big thinker and passionate about the community."

For many years Badger, an accountant, worked on the business side of the publishing industry. Among his ventures was a partnership in Comac. He also published the now defunct Creemore Star and a number of other titles, including the Elmvale Lance, Stayner Star and Wasaga Star. The newspapers ceased publishing in the 1990s.

A service will be held for friends and family at Bloor Street United Church, 300 Bloor St. W., Toronto on Monday, May 8, 2006 (his 70th birthday) at 4:30 p.m. More importantly, says the death notice, the major celebration of his life that he directed include martinis and good wine will take place at the Badger Hill farm near Creemore on Saturday, June 24 with tee- offs for those who wish to golf on Badger Downs starting at 2 p.m.