PRETTY, Rev. Arthur James "Calvin", B.D., LTH  - September 21, 1937 - January 29, 2005, Sackville, NS.  Born in a little fishing village, Dildo, on the Avalon Pennlinsula of NL, son of the late Arthur and Eliza (Shepherd) Pretty.  His early life in NL would have a profound effect on charting the course of his adult life.  Life in the small village was hard and survival would mean hard work with little pay and great dependance on one's neighbor and the whole community.  Cal was exposed to Christianity in this small community and influnced his decision to pursue studies in theology. After graduation from Hunt Memorial Academy in 1956,  Cal attended Memorial, Queens, and Kings Universities, and  graduated from the Atlantic School of Theology.  Cal was ordained to the Anglican Priesthood in 1963, and his first parish was Ecum Secum, NS.  His other parishes included Lockeport, New Ross and St. Mark's in Halifax, and finally, St. John the Evangelist in Sackville. 

In north end Halifax, he was known simply as the street priest.  Rev. Pretty of St. Mark's Anglican Church on Gottingen St., was an activist for the poor and downtrodden, whose social outreach programs brought comfort to the needy in the working class neighbourhoods of the city.  St. Mark's became his life's greatest task and he rose to the challenge with an uncommon ability to connect with people.  He began a food bank, developed a rehabilitation program for former inmates, operated an affordable day care, and a neighbourhood centre.  "He was one of the most loving individuals I have ever known", say Geraldine Thomas, a professor at St. Mary's University in Halifax, "He was a hands-on, down-in-the-dirt kind of guy", and from his son Mark Pretty, "Dad didn't bring a ministry of social justice here, he found it". A great orator, Cal continued to live his life with grace and dignity despite a deliblitating stroke in 1995 which left him without speech, and paralized on one side, and a leg amputation.  When he lost his sense of priesthood with his stroke, St. Mark's came to his rescue, making him an honorary priest.  He served communion from a portable altar and again became involved in the life of the church, despite his limitations.  On Sundays as the family drove up from Sackville to attend St. Mark's services, street people would gather around the van to shake his hand.

Cal is survived by his wife of 45 years, Joyce (Mingo), their children Donna Lee (Steve), Dartmouth; Rev. Mark (Tina), Parrsboro, NS, and Heidi (Craig) Zeller, Dartmouth.  Grandchildren, Cory, Kellyanne, Amelia;  Luke, Mary, Katrina, Natasha Pretty; and Julia, Chantelle and Gabrielle Zeller; sisters Evelyn and Lee.  He was predeceased by his son Christopher, and sister Alma.