The following statement was given today in the House of Assembly by the Honourable Gerry Byrne, Minister of Fisheries and Land Resources:

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Mr. Speaker, today I wish to commemorate the life of a true pioneer who exemplified the values of hard work, determination and dedication to family and community.

Stedman Leander Brophy passed away at the Rufus Guinchard Health Centre on Monday, May 7. He was 84 years old.

Mr. Speaker, Stedman Brophy was born in King’s Cove, grew up in Port Saunders and settled in Daniel’s Harbour on the Great Northern Peninsula. He was a man of many talents – a fisherman, seaman, hunter, logger, farmer, and a pilot. With his passing, he leaves behind a proud and strong legacy as an entrepreneur and a family man.

Mr. Brophy was a man who made things happen. In 1969, he and his wife Effie started the successful family business Brophy & Sons Big Game Outfitter, now run by their sons, Leander and Nell.

Among his many other accomplishments, Mr. Brophy was also a dairy farmer. When he couldn’t access milk processing facilities in Corner Brook because he was told the distance was too great, Mr. Brophy found another way – he established a milk processing facility right there at home in Daniel’s Harbour. Viking Trail Dairy was a household name in Newfoundland and Labrador for many years, and today his sons Leslie, Leander and Nell are following in their father’s footsteps with Brophy’s Dairy Farm Ltd., a true success story of the Newfoundland and Labrador agriculture industry.

Mr. Speaker, people like Stedman Brophy provided the foundation on which our province’s agriculture and agrifoods industry is built, and today we honour the role he played in its establishment. On behalf of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, I offer condolences to his wife of 58 years, Effie; his children: Marlene, Leander, Geraldine, Melita, Leslie, Byron, and Nell; his 12 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, and his many other family and friends.

Thank you.