The life and times of Captain Chesley Dyke and Elsie Stanford Dyke?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Pool’s Island, Bonavista Bay
Fred Dyke captures the joys and struggles of his parents and what it was like in rugged Newfoundland outports from the early 1900s, through the Great Depression, and into the 1950s and 1960s. Storms, shipwrecks, working in the woods, fishing, and courage made up the lives of a loving couple who raised their family on Pool’s Island, Newfoundland.
Skipper Ches Dyke understood rejection, poverty, and setbacks. He made his way and became a man when he was still a boy, taking part in the Labrador fishery at the young age of nine. Elsie Stanford from Grates Cove was no stranger to hard work. While in her early teenaged years, she carried 100-pound sacks of flour and potatoes on her back. The two married in 1929 at St. Mary’s Church in St. John’s, just three days before Ches began a four-year career with the ships of Furness Withy.
Moving back home to Pool’s Island with his wife and two young sons, Ches began a new career as captain of local schooners. There, he made a remarkable reputation for himself as a sea captain, boat builder, mechanic, and more. The tales herein, as seen through the eyes of all those who knew Elsie and Ches, capture an amazing lifestyle from an era and location that should not be forgotten.

Pastor Fred Dyke was born on Pool’s Island, Newfoundland and Labrador. He was the youngest of nine children born to Captain Chesley and Elsie Dyke. After graduating from Memorial University in 1971 with a bachelor of science, Fred taught school in Goose Bay, Labrador, and Harbour Grace before his thirteen-year career in the banking and finance industry, which took him to various management positions in Ontario.

He took up judo and wrestling at Memorial and competed provincially and nationally for Newfoundland and Ontario, winning ten provincial championships, three Atlantic provinces championships, and placing as high as second in national tournaments. Fred holds a fifth-degree black belt and still teaches.

After spending twelve years in management in the printing industry, he started his own consulting company, Dyman Management Inc. For twenty years he trained and mentored managers in various industries throughout North America, Scotland, and Russia. He authored and self-published That Book About Management in 2003.

After being heavily involved with Christian churches for most of his life, Fred was invited to fill in as a pastor of a Baptist Church in Belfountain, Ontario, where he has been pastoring since 2015, during which time he and his wife, Judee, completed a two-year program in theology.

Fred and Judee have seven children. They enjoy a cabin in Newfoundland built in the same location where his father was born and lived.

Fred Dyke's profile page