Justice Henry Hickman Loveless Cummings Q.C., LLB, MA, BA

Justice Henry Hickman Loveless Cummings Q.C., LLB, MA, BA

Passed peacefully away on April 3, 2022 at the age of 103, or as he would proudly say, in his 104^th year.  He is predeceased by his parents William and Emma Cummings (Loveless) of St. John’s and in 1983 by his first wife Lois Cummings (Brown) of Augusta, Maine.  Harry is also the last of his generation in the Cummings family having been predeceased by his only brother George and his six sisters; Noan Barfoot, Cora Lee Cummings, Myrtle Cummings, Rene Hayward, Ruby Brown, Melva Brown and Winnie Cummings.  Winnie died as an infant in the early twentieth century but whenever members of the family were listed it was always important to Harry that Winnie be remembered and included in the list.

Harry is survived by Eleanor, his loving and devoted wife of 28 years.  He is also survived by his and Lois’ sons Jeffrey and John and his wife Anita (Ringman).  He will also be greatly missed by his grandson Matthew, his granddaughter Megan, her husband Paul Dagg and their son Cole, his great grandson.  He is also fondly remembered by Eleanor’s son Peter and family.

He also leaves a number of nieces and nephews with whom he always maintained a close relationship.  They are Harold Hayward, Roberta Hughes, Peter Brown, Gregory Brown, Susan Cummings and Nancy Smith.  Three others, Sally Magill, Stephen Brown and Thomas Cummings predeceased Harry.

Harry was born in St. John’s and attended both the Salvation Army and United Church school systems before graduating from Prince of Wales College in 1934.  In 1935 he received a scholarship to attend Memorial College where he studied Economics for two years and in his third year received his teacher’s certificate.  In 1938 he received a scholarship from Dalhousie University where he earned his Bachelor of Arts in Economics in 1940 and a Masters degree in Economics in 1941.  Harry then volunteered for the Royal Canadian Navy and served as a commissioned officer for the rest of World War II, mostly on board HMCS Winnipeg.

After the war, he returned to Dalhousie to study law and received his degree in 1948.  Harry and Lois married in Halifax in 1947.  He served articles in both Halifax and St. John’s and by the end of 1949 he was called to the bar in both Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.

He then partnered with another young St. John’s lawyer Tommy Williams, to form the law firm Williams and Cummings.  Harry and Tommy practiced law together for approximately the next 20 years until Harry was appointed the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland in the early 1970s.  In 1976 he was appointed to the bench as a judge of the District Court of Newfoundland for the Judicial District of Grand Bank.  He subsequently became a Justice of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland Trial Division when the District and Supreme Courts merged.  After the merger he continued to serve at the Judicial Centre of Grand Bank until 1991 when he returned to St. John’s, as a supernumerary judge.  He retired from the judiciary in 1993.

In that same year, Harry and Eleanor were married and lived happily in St. John’s.  Eleanor became the center of his life and it is hard to imagine what he would have done without her.  Her devotion to him especially in his final years has been remarkable.

The family also wishes to thank the staff of the Caribou Veteran’s Memorial Pavilion, L.A. Miller Centre in St. John’s for the excellent care they provided to Harry during the last years of his life.

There will be no visitation and a private family funeral will take place at a later date.  Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Carnell’s Funeral Home, 329 Freshwater Road.

In lieu of flowers the family would appreciate donations in Harry’s memory to the Alzheimer’s Society, Salvation Army, or the Caribou Veteran’s Memorial Pavilion General Fund, ATTN: Melissa Morgan, 90 Forest Road, St. John’s, NL A1A 0C4, or a charity of choice.