Today I heard that Cam Shillington of Kingston, Ontario, had passed away last evening, after an illness that lasted several months.. Cam was only a few months short of 70 years but he had made those years count.
Cam Shillington was one of those greatly responsible for bringing Gospel music into Ontario. He sponsored many concerts and always had a group to sing with, The Master’s. And the apostrophe was correct because you knew they belonged to the Master.
I came across this tribute by Torrey Antone of the Antone Indian Family on Facebook. We heard them with Cam’s group on the Six Nations Reserve a few times, and it was always a treat. This is what Torrey said:
“Our family were saddened to hear last night of the passing of a dear friend for many years, Cam Shillington from Kingston, Ontario.
Cam was well-known in Canada and the U.S. and to Gospel Music groups and fans across North America. He was a singer, musician, radio and TV producer, and a great friend!
We first met Cam back around 1970 when we (the Antone Indian Family) were performing in Ontario. He invited us to be guest on his TV show he produced called “Gospel Singing Time”, which was a national Canadian syndicated television program. It was just beginning to have a huge success in Canada with its wide distribution and growing audience. Cam would not only feature great Canadian gospel singers and talent such as his group, The Master’s, but also brought in some of the best in U.S. gospel performers like the Cathedral Qt, the Goffs,
The Oak Ridge Boys and many others. This program introduced Gospel Music to tens of thousands who may have never been exposed to the Good News of Gospel Music before! Groups from the U.S. and Canada, were honored to be asked to perform on this show. I remember well our many times we sang on this show and the fun we always had doing it! There was always a “live” studio audience, which made it all the more fun to sing on this program! We also had “The Master’s” a couple of times at an event our family use to promote on our Six Nations Reserve near Brantford, ON each year. They were always great to be with and were wonderfully blessed singers!
Early in 1975, Cam called us and asked if we would be available in July of the following year (1976) to perform at the Montreal World Summer Olympics.
Well believe me….we made ourselves available! LOL Together with other great artists, we were honored to perform at this great event…all because of Cam Shillington!
We will miss Cam, but look forward to the day when we shall see him again!
Our prayers for Cam’s wife Gail, children and grandchildren. We know this loss is difficult, but we are also assured as Believer’s in Christ in 2 Cor. 5:8 ‘…to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.'”
I couldn’t say it any better.  Our prayers and sympathy are extended to Cam’s wife Gail and all of his family. Funeral service and visitation times are posted on Cam’s Facebook page or here.
