A native of Winnipeg, General Walt Natynczyk (Retired) is a leader of national distinction, an advocate for veterans and their families, and an agent for change.  He joined the Canadian Forces in 1975 after spending five years as an Air Cadet, served in countless Royal Canadian Armoured Corps (RCAC) command positions and rose to the position of Chief of the Defence Staff.

General Natynczyk’s operational experience consists of four years on NATO duty in Germany; six months of UN peacekeeping duties in Cyprus (1989); a one-year-long mission with the United Nations in the Former Yugoslavia as Sector South-West Chief of Operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1994) with British forces, then as the Chief of Land Operations, UNPROFOR HQ in Zagreb, Croatia (1995). He commanded The Royal Canadian Dragoons in domestic operations during the Winnipeg floods of 1997 as well as in the Ottawa region during the 1998 Ice Storm. He returned to Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1998-1999, where he served as the Canadian Contingent Commander.

As an exchange officer, he served as Deputy Commanding General, III (US) Armored Corps and Fort Hood, Texas and deployed with the Corps to Baghdad, Iraq throughout 2004, serving first as the Deputy Director of Strategy, Policy and Plans and subsequently as the Deputy Commanding General of the Multi-National Corps.

Upon his return to Canada, he assumed command of the Canadian Army’s Doctrine and Training System. He was subsequently appointed Chief of Transformation where he was responsible for implementation of the force restructure. He served as the Vice Chief of the Defence Staff from 2006-2008.

General Natynczyk served as Canada’s Chief of Defence Staff from 2 July 2008 to 29 October 2012. Key events over his tenure were the combat mission in Afghanistan, the 2010 Winter Olympics, humanitarian support to Haiti and the NATO mission over Libya.

General Natynczyk attended Royal Roads Military College, Victoria, BC and Collège Militaire Royal, Saint-Jean, QC (Business Administration). He is a graduate of the Canadian Forces Command and Staff College, the U.K. All-Arms Tactics Course and the US Army War College (Master in Defence Studies).

His decorations include the Order of Canada, Commander of the Order of Military Merit (Canada), the Meritorious Service Cross (Canada), the Commander Legion of Merit (US), Commander Légion d’Honneur (France), Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit (Poland) and the Medal of Merit in Gold (Netherlands).

He and his wife Leslie have three children, Margaret, William and John, who are serving in the Canadian Navy, Air Force and Army respectively.

General Natynczyk served as President of the Canadian Space Agency from August 2013 to November 2014. On November 3, 2014, he began his role as Deputy Minister of Veterans Affairs Canada, until his retirement in May 2021.

Larry Gollner’s involvement with helping veterans began in 1990 through the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI) Association and the CPVA. With 37 years of exemplary service in the Canadian Army and the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), Larry Gollner retired from the military in 1993 and continued his service to veterans. One example of his work on behalf of veterans took place in 2002, following the clearly poor support provided after the deployment of 3 PPCLI to Afghanistan. To deal with the deficiency, he led the establishment of the Voluntary Patricia Program (VPP), a national veterans-helping-veterans program funded and administered through the PPCLI Association. Following the set-up of the VPP, he managed the program for three years. The VPP became a very successful program that provides a wide range of support to PPCLI veterans. He is still involved with VPP in an advisory capacity.

From 2006 to 2010, Larry Gollner held the prestigious position of Colonel of the Regiment of the PPCLI, normally held for only a two-year term. He was very active in the provision of support to families of the fallen and of the wounded and, under his leadership, the PPCLI established its own Casualty Care Cell to deal with the numerous returning fatalities and wounded members from Afghanistan. As the arrangement was highly effective, the CDS directed that it was to be used throughout the CAF.

Larry Gollner was instrumental in the formation of the CPVA in 1991 and has since contributed continuously to the Association’s work of helping veterans. He interacted closely with VAC senior staff on the development of the regulations to implement the New Veterans Charter, and in addressing the conditions for the transition from military to civilian life. During this period, the CPVA, with Larry Gollner in the lead role, pressed very hard for the creation of the position of the Veterans Ombudsman and the OVO. Despite strong resistance by various people and organizations, the initiative eventually was completely successful.

Having identified various issues in VAC’s dealing with veterans, Larry Gollner drafted the Veterans Bill of Rights and successfully pushed for its adoption. As another method of improving the relationship between VAC and the veterans community, he proposed the idea of creating the CPVA’s Outstanding Service Award which was intended to recognize the largely caring and professional work being done by VAC staff to help veterans. Since its inception, the award has been presented to many deserving VAC sections and individuals, including the Ombudsman and the OVO Staff. Larry Gollner was also closely involved in advocating for the VAC 1-800 help line and the Canadian Peacekeeping Service Medal.

In his work for veterans, Larry Gollner has made several appearances to give highly credible testimony on behalf of veterans to the House Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs (ACVA). In particular, he made a memorably powerful presentation to ACVA about the negative issues many veterans were experiencing in dealing with the Veterans Review and Appeal Board (VRAB), a presentation which, without doubt, was instrumental in the changes which followed for VRAB. Additionally, he has continued to attend numerous VAC and veterans community meetings, always advocating with the primary aim of improving conditions for veterans and their families.

In 2011, Larry Gollner was selected as a member of the Veterans Ombudsman’s Advisory Committee. In that position he was able to bring to the table his long-term and in-depth understanding of the needs of veterans and their families and the necessary knowledge of dealing with government agencies in achieving the best results for veterans

In 2025, Larry resigned as CPVA Patron after 16 years in the position. His impact on CPVA was so notable, that the position of Patron Emeritus as created to honour his contributions and to ensure that CPVA continued to benefit from his sage advice.

Raimo Johannes (Ray) Kokkonen of Trout Brook, NB, passed away peacefully at the Saint John Regional Hospital on June 12, 2025, at the age of 83.  Born in Finland on Sept 21, 1941, he was the son of Anna-Liisa and Timo Kokkonen.

Ray began his career in uniform at the 2310 Royal Canadian Army Cadet Corps in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario in 1954. He participated for four years prior to joining the Canadian Army, attending summer camps in Ipperwash and Borden, and achieved the rank of Cadet Major. He served as an Artillery officer, with tours of duty with the UN in the Middle East. He was in Libya on desert warfare training with British Forces in 1969 when Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi seized power by coup d’état to become the dictator of Libya, causing the British Forces in Libya to mobilize on an operational basis, in which Ray participated. As well, he was deployed for the national October Crisis in 1970 guarding the Prime Minister, and at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal leading his 35-man troop as VIP security. He also proudly served as a paratrooper.

In 1967 Ray met the love of his life, Shirley (McNeill), in Petawawa, Ontario. They were married in 1971. Together they worked in many locations across the country; Petawawa, Ottawa, Calgary, Toronto, and retired in the Miramichi.

In addition to his military duties, he was deeply involved in the sport of Biathlon since 1967 as he took part in nine Olympic Games in an official capacity, including being the Biathlon Competition Chief in the 1988 Calgary Games. He served as the President and Board Chairman of Biathlon Canada for 14 years and later as the President of Biathlon NB for 20 years. Internationally, in the International Biathlon Union (IBU), he was a senior technical official and elected functionary for 35 years of which he was the Rules Committee Chair for 18 years and the Congress Speaker for six years during the same period. His last position was as the elected Auditor of the IBU for 17 years. He was also selected as an Olympic Torchbearer prior to the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver. Through all his biathlon initiatives he and Shirley travelled to Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, England, Germany, and the former East Germany at exactly the time when the two halves of Germany reunited in 1990.

Prior to his passing, he was the Honorary President of Legion Branch #10, Immediate Past National President and Membership Director, and Miramichi Chapter President of the Canadian Peacekeeping Veterans Association (CPVA), a veterans’ organization with Chapters throughout the country. He was a member of the Veterans Affairs Ministerial Advisory Group and participated in many veterans’ advocacy meetings with the Minister and other senior Veterans Affairs officials. Additionally, he was the Parade Commander for 16 years for the Remembrance Day parades held in Newcastle.

For his work for veterans and in sport, Ray received numerous awards, including:

• The International Biathlon Union Medal of Honour in Gold
• Inductee into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame, Canadian Forces Sports Hall of Fame, and the Sport Officials Canada Hall of Fame
• The Order of New Brunswick
• Minister of Veterans Affairs Commendation and Veterans Ombudsman’s Commendation
• The Queen’s Silver, Diamond and Platinum Jubilee Medals, Canada 125 Medal, Canada 150 Community Leadership Award, and the King Charles III Coronation Medal
• Canada Certificate of Merit and Alberta Achievement Award
• Miramichi Sports Wall of Fame
• Rotary Club Paul Harris Fellow Award
• And many other organizational awards 

Ray is survived by his brother, Pekka (Peter), sister Pirjo Spina both of Ontario, brother-in law Raymond McNeill and many loving animals. He was predeceased by his beloved wife Shirley; parents Anna-Liisa and Timo Kokkonen.

At Rays request, there was no visitation or Funeral Service. A Celebration of Life was held in Ray’s honour at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch #10. 345 Campbell St., Miramichi on Wednesday, June 25 from 4 pm – 6:30 pm with Legion Service at 6:00 pm.

A graduate of the Royal Military College, Greg served with The Royal Canadian Regiment (The RCR) and the Canadian Airborne Regiment. During his 36-year military career, he served on numerous domestic operations including the Oka Crisis, Y2K, and 9/11, and deployed to five peacekeeping missions in Cyprus and Sudan. His final posting was to Denmark where he commanded the Multinational Standby High-Readiness Brigade for United Nations Operations (SHIRBRIG). Retiring in 2006, for eight years Greg was a university instructor for the Canadian Forces College Joint Command and Staff Program while concurrently managing consulting projects for the Canadian Government in Ottawa and the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations in New York. He subsequently worked for the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre in Ottawa and Ethiopia, Search for Common Ground in Washington, DC, and the Royal Military Colleges Club of Canada in Kingston, ON. He and his wife currently reside in Kingston, and they have three grown sons, two of whom proudly serve in The Royal Canadian Regiment.

Major Lee-Anne Quinn enjoyed 26 years in the Canadian Forces. She retired from the military in 2008, after serving in several desperate corners of our world, including Somalia, Rwanda, the Balkans, Afghanistan and isolated First Nations and Inuit Communities in Northern Ontario and the Yukon. She was also the Nurse Practitioner Lead for CAF for five years. In 1993, as part of an eight-person team participating in an annual, worldwide, military competition, Lee-Anne helped carry a stretcher weighing 140 pounds for 270 km non-stop, thereby entering the Guinness World Book of Records and becoming the only female ever to do so. 

Upon retirement, she moved to her hometown of Peterborough, ON where she worked as a Nurse Practitioner in Primary Healthcare and was also appointed as the first female Honorary Colonel for the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment. In 2022 she opened her Clinic called The Brock Primary Care Clinic where she and her two colleagues volunteer their time caring for the health needs of the local homeless population. Believing that “Every Human on the Face of this Earth Deserves to be Treated Humanely,” in 2015 she joined a team of Refugee Sponsors that brought a mother and her three children to Peterborough along with a single young male. Since 2015 Lee-Anne has assisted her sponsor team in successfully getting a total of 26 Syrian individuals and families to Peterborough

Her achievement awards include the Ontario Florence Nightingale Award (2003) for her nurse practitioner achievements in an Isolated First Nations Community in Northern Ontario, the Order of Military Merrit (2007) for advocacy and leadership in her Nurse Practitioner Role within CAF,  Peterborough Sports Hall of Fame (2012) for softball and hockey, the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012), the Minister of Veterans Affairs Commendation (2013) for her continued work with the Veterans of the City of Peterborough, the Paul Haris award from the Rotary Club (2023), YMCA Peace Medal (2023), and the King Charles III Coronation Medal (2025).