Reference: “Remembering Paddy Gardiner”

Story by Kyle Huth,
Vice President,
CAHS National
August 2025
The Collection of Paddy Gardiner: (1934-2021): a three-way collaboration to preserve Canadian aviation history.
 
A collaboration between Roda Grey, the widow of Paddy Gardiner, the Canadian Aviation Historical Society (CAHS), and the Montreal Aviation Museum (MAM) has ensured that Paddy’s notable collection of aviation books and archival materials will be preserved and made available to the public at large.
Paddy Gardiner. Photo courtesy of Alastair

Paddy, who sadly passed away in 2021, was a very well-known personality within the Canadian aviation history community. He was a founding member of the Ottawa Chapter of CAHS and served as its first president. He contributed fifteen articles to the CAHS Journal and wrote and edited the “Ottawa Observair” for several years. He had a lifelong interest in aviation including working as a draftsman and technical illustrator for companies such as CAE, Canadair, Laurentian Air Services, and Spartan Air Services. He was also a very talented artist who was known for his friendliness and sense of humour.
 
Wishing to ensure that her late husband’s lifelong research was preserved and put to good use, Roda contacted the CAHS to explore options for its proper archival. In turn, CAHS reached out to MAM to consider adding the collection to its Library and Archives.
The outcome was that CAHS agreed to pay the cost of maritime shipment from Roda and Paddy’s hometown of Kuujjuaq, Nunavik (Quebec), to Bécancour, Quebec. MAM then took possession of the collection and is now in the process of cataloguing its diverse contents. Paddy’s collection will be in the new display area of “Indigenous Aviators in Canada” at the MAM. Roda went to great lengths to sort and pack the documents and ensure that they were extremely well-protected for the journey. NEAS (Nunavut Eastern Arctic Shipping Inc) shipped the collection via boat at a very reasonable cost and with great care.
 
This initiative is an example of the value of collaboration within the aviation history community. It also represents a historical link with the Inuit communities of Kuujjuaq, Nunavik (Quebec). This is particularly important given the key role of aviation in supporting the logistics and mobility needs of the North for more than a century now.
 
Our thanks to James Mason, CAHS Montreal Chapter President and Keith Meredith, Aeroinsight, MAM.