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STEADMAN o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-10-28 published
McCORD, Annetta Christina - Estate of
Notice To Creditors And Others
All claims against the estate of Annetta Christina McCORD, late of the Town of Richmond Hill, Province of Ontario, who died on August 1st, 2003, must be filed with the undersigned Executor for the said estate on or before November 28th, 2003, thereafter the undersigned will distribute the assets of the said estate having regard only to the claims then filed
Date October 28th, 2003
Donald A. STEADMAN
Executor
P.O. Box 146
Eagle Lake, Ontario K0M 1M0
Page B15

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STEARNS o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-07-10 published
Dancer devoted career to Montreal company
Staff, Thursday, July 10, 2003 - Page R9
Toronto -- Canadian dancer and choreographer Linda STEARNS has died of cancer.
Born in Toronto on October 22, 1937, she was introduced to dance as a youngster and went on to study in London and New York. In 1961, Ms. STEARNS joined Les Grands Ballets Canadiens are remained with the Montreal company for most of her career, performing works by Eric Hyrst, Brydon Paige and Ludmilla Chiriaeff.
In 1969, she became the company's ballet mistress. In 1978, along with Danny JACKSON and Colin McINTYRE, she became part of the triumvirate that directed the company. In 1987, Ms. STEARNS became artistic director and retired two years later.
She died in Toronto on July 4 at age 65.

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STEARNS o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-08-06 published
Linda STEARNS: 1937-2003
As ballet mistress and artistic director of the esteemed Montreal company, she nurtured personality, flair and a risk-taking approach to dance
By Paula CITRON Wednesday, August 6, 2003 - Page R5
In the cutthroat, competitive world of dance, Linda STEARNS was an anomaly. As artistic director of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, she never played games or held grudges. Whether good or bad news, she bluntly told her dancers what they had to hear, and in return, her open-door policy allowed them to vent their own feelings. National Ballet of Canada artistic director James KUDELKA, who spent almost a decade as a member of Les Grands Ballets, likens her approach to wearing an invisible raincoat upon which unhappy dancers spewed their venom. At the end of their tirades, she would serenely remove the garment and say, "Now let's talk."
Linda STEARNS died at her home in Toronto on July 4, at age 65.
She was born into privilege on October 22, 1937. Her father, Marshal, was an investment broker; her mother, Helen, was heavily involved in charity work. The family lived in the posh Poplar Plains area of central Toronto, where Ms. STEARNS attended Branksome Hall.
Despite their wealth, the STEARNS children (Linda, Nora and Marshal) were expected to earn their own livings. Helen STEARNS had studied dance in her youth, but a career was never an option. When eldest daughter Linda showed a strong talent, history might have repeated itself had not Marshal Sr. set aside his reservations after seeing his daughter perform.
After graduating from high school, Ms. STEARNS went to London and New York for advanced training. It was the great Alexandra Danilova, one of Ms. STEARNS's New York teachers, who pointed the young dancer in the direction of the upstart Les Grands Ballets Canadiens. Ms. STEARNS joined Les Grands in 1961, and was promoted to soloist in 1964. In a Who's Who of Entertainment entry, Ms. STEARNS was once listed as joining the company in 1861, and she liked to joke that, at 103 years, she held the record for the longest time spent in the corps de ballet. In fact, one of Ms. STEARNS's hallmarks was her sense of humour, much of it at her own expense.
Les Grands was known for taking dancers who did not necessarily have perfect ballet bodies, but had personality and flair, a policy Ms. STEARNS continued during her own administration.
Although Ms. STEARNS had very unballetic, low-arched feet, she was a fine classical dancer. She excelled, however, in the dramatic repertoire: Mother Courage in Richard Kuch's The Brood, or the title role in Brydon Paige's Medea. In later years, while teaching and coaching, Ms. STEARNS wore high heels to conceal her hated low arches -- while showing off her attractive ankles.
Her performing career was cut short in 1966 when artistic director Ludmilla CHIRIAEFF recognized that Ms. STEARNS would make a brilliant ballet mistress, and by 1969, Ms. STEARNS was exclusively in the studio. In fact, giving up performing was one of the great disappointments of her life, although she did in time acknowledge that she had found her true destiny. Ms. STEARNS's astonishingly keen eye allowed her to single out, in a corps de ballet of moving bodies, every limb that was out of position. She could also sing every piece of music, which saved a lot of time, because she didn't have to keep putting on the tape recorder. Because of her intense musicality, Ms. STEARNS also insisted that the dancers not just be on the count, but fill every note with movement.
Ms. STEARNS loved playing with words -- she was a crossword-puzzle addict, for example -- and gave the dancers nicknames, whether they liked them or not. Catherine LAFORTUNE was Katrink, Kathy BIEVER was Little Frog, Rosemary NEVILLE was Rosie Posie, Betsy BARON was Boops, and Benjamin HATCHER was Benjamino, to name but a few. One who escaped this fate was Gioconda BARBUTO, simply because Ms. STEARNS loved rolling out the word "G-I-O-C-O-N-D-A" in its full Italian glory. The dancers, in turn, called her Lulubelle, Mme. Gozonga and La Stearnova or, if they were feeling tired, cranky and hostile -- and were out of earshot -- Spoons (for her non-arched feet) and even less flattering names. As reluctantly as she became ballet mistress, Ms. STEARNS became artistic director, first as one of a triumvirate in 1978 with Danny JACKSON and Colin McINTYRE (when Les Grands and Brian MacDONALD came to an abrupt parting of the ways;) then with Jeanne RENAUD in 1985 and finally on her own in 1987. She retired from Les Grands in 1989. Both Mr. JACKSON and Mr. McINTRYE still refer to Ms. STEARNS as the company's backbone.
These were the famous creative years that included the works of Mr. KUDELKA, Paul Taylor, Lar Lubovitch, Nacho Duato and George Balanchine. Les Grands toured the world performing one of the most exciting and eclectic repertoires in ballet. It was a company that nurtured dancers and choreographers, many of whom reflected Ms. STEARNS's risk-taking, innovative esthetic.
She also had time to mentor choreographers outside the company, including acclaimed solo artist Margie GILLIS. Her post-Grands career included writing assessments for the Canada Council, setting works on ballet companies, coaching figure skating, and most recently, becoming ballet mistress for the Toronto-based Ballet Jörgen. When she was diagnosed with both ovarian and breast cancer two years ago, she continued her obligations to Ballet Jörgen until she was no longer able, never letting the dancers know how ill she was.
Ms. STEARNS loved huge dogs -- or what Ms. GILLIS refers to as mountains with fur -- and always had at least two. Her gardens were magnificent, as was her cooking. Her generosity was legendary, whether inviting 20 people for Christmas dinner, or hosting the wedding reception for dancers Andrea BOARDMAN and Jean-Hugues ROCHETTE at her tastefully decorated Westmount home. After leaving Montreal, whether, first, at her horse farm in Harrow, Ontario, or at the one-room schoolhouse she lovingly renovated near Campbellville, northwest of Toronto, former colleagues were always welcome.
She continued to keep in touch with her dancers, sending notes in her beautiful, distinctive handwriting. Her love of sports never left her, and after a hard day in the studio, she would relax watching the hockey game. Religion also filled her postdance life, with Toronto's Anglican Grace-Church-on-the-Hill at its epicentre. Ms. STEARNS was very discreet in her private life, although another disappointment is that neither of two long relationships resulted in marriage or children.
Ms. STEARNS was always ruthlessly self-critical, always striving for perfection, never convinced she had rehearsed a work to its full potential. As a result, she never made herself the centre of her own story. Her homes, for example, did not contain photographs glorifying the career of Linda STEARNS. Only at the end of her days, as she faced death with the same grace with which she had faced life, was she finally able to appreciate how many lives she had touched, and accept her outstanding achievements with Les Grands Ballets. Linde HOWE- BECK, former dance critic for the Montreal Gazette, sums up Ms. STEARNS perfectly when she says that she was all about love -- for her Friends and family, for life, but most of all, for dance.
Paula CITRON is dance critic for The Globe and Mail.

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STEEL o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-05-20 published
STEEL, V.R.J. (Vin)
Born Durban South Africa April 23, 1926, died Toronto, February 19, 2003. Survived by daughters, Melissa and Joanne and son Graeme and brothers John and Cecil. Fondly remembered by Suzanne CURTIS, Marlene and Tin THOMAS, Rosemary MANN, Margaret and Phillip WADE and the OSTROMS.
Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,
And danced the skies on laughter
-silvered wings.

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STEELE o@ca.on.manitoulin.howland.little_current.manitoulin_expositor 2003-06-04 published
Joan HANER (née BOCK)
After a courageous struggle with cancer on Wednesday, May 28, 2003 at the age of 68.
Beloved wife of Harold for 25 years. Cherished mother of Jim STEWARD/STEWART/STUART (Debbie,) Bud STEWARD/STEWART/STUART, Debbie WHALEN (Terry), Lorrie STADNISKY (Steve), Heather BOUCHARD (Eric), Shelley SAGHAFI (Abdi), Kevin STEWARD/STEWART/STUART (Liz) and Pamela BORETZ.
Loving grandmother of 27 and great grandmother of 21. Sister of Ruth STEELE (Jim,) Rosella HARRISON (Orville) and Evelyn TARABAS (Pete.) Daughter of the late Ernest and stepdaughter of Frances BOCK. Aunt to several nieces and nephews. Friends called the Arthur Funeral Home and Cremation Centre on Friday, May 30, 2003. The funeral service was held on Saturday May 31 with Reverend Phil MILLER officiating. Interment Greenwood Cemetery.

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STEELE o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-04-23 published
STEELE, Catherine Irene, M.A., D.Litt, D.S. Litt, Principal Emerita Havergal College
Died at Toronto, on April 18, 2003, daughter of the late Robert Clarke STEELE and Irene Wilson STEELE, sister of Clarke Wilson STEELE and the late Charles Dickson STEELE and the late John Spalding STEELE. Aunt and great-aunt of nieces and nephews, a friend to many people.
Funeral Service to be held at Trinity College Chapel, 6 Hoskin Avenue at 11 o'clock on Friday, April 25, 2003.
Memorial donations will be gratefully received by the Church of St. Stephen-in-the-Fields, 103 Bellevue Avenue, Toronto M5T 2N8 or The Catherine Steele Archives of Havergal College, 1451 Avenue Road, Toronto M5N 2H9.

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STEELE o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-06-11 published
Catherine STEELE
By Mary BYERS Wednesday, June 11, 2003 - Page A22
Teacher, principal, mentor. Born March 31, 1910, in Toronto. Died April 18, 2003, in Toronto, of natural causes, aged 93.
Catherine STEELE made a difference. In her 80 years at Toronto's Havergal College as a student, teacher, principal and then Principal Emerita, she influenced thousands of young women. She asked us what we thought and then she really listened to what we said. She never stopped challenging us to make something of ourselves in order to do something for other people.
She seemed old when I came to the school, probably because she was my father's age, but strangely, the older I got, the younger she seemed to get. She died at 93, seriously young.
She attended high school at Havergal, then the University of Toronto and the Ontario College of Education, which she graduated from in the thirties. "Teachers were a dime a dozen at the time, and jobs were hard to get. My grandmother had left me $400 so I went abroad for the summer," she recalled.
That trip turned into a job teaching at Westonbirt girls school in England, then, on her return to Canada, at Havergal and St. Clement's School in Toronto, with time off to obtain a master of arts degree at Columbia University. Soon, another door opened and it was back to England, as Catherine found herself on loan to the British government with the Canadian Children's Service.
She taught in London's East End during the German V-1 and V-2 rocket attacks during the Second World War, and in south London in an Emergency School for Girls. After the war, she taught veterans at Ryerson Rehabilitation Centre. "I never taught more eager pupils," she recalled.
A position followed at the Royal Ontario Museum as the head of education department, and then Havergal asked her to come back, this time as principal -- a role she filled for 20 years.
Catherine was far ahead of her time for the early 1950s. Her respect for tradition was tempered with a willingness to accept new ideas. She started career nights at Havergal, challenging girls to take leadership roles in their chosen profession, to make use of their talents in the world community and to try to make a difference. "I believe," she said, "that when we realize we are all world citizens we shall be on the road to winning the peace."
She broadened the ethnic base of the school -- not the easiest task in the tight society of 1950s Toronto. She also tackled staff salaries and pensions, which had been growing at a snail's pace.
But she did not live her whole life within the walls of Havergal. Catherine was also part of the Legal Aid Society, because she recognized that female offenders have needs and family problems to deal with. She was the founding chairperson of the International Students Centre at the University of Toronto, and chairperson of the boards of the Elizabeth Fry Society and of Cana Place, a Toronto home for the aged. She was elected to the senate of the University of Toronto and was granted two honorary degrees, from the University of Toronto and York University.
Behind all these myriad accomplishments and inspirational qualities was a mischievous woman with a sparkle and a sense of humour. When she took her usual place at Havergal's assembly-hall podium one morning, she found a dead mouse placed there. Without missing a beat, she scanned the room for the biology teacher, picked up the deceased exhibit, and passed it on with a sly, "I think this is for you" look. Her students nicknamed her Stainless STEELE, so she posted a picture on her office door of a young girl sporting a mouthful of new braces. The caption below was "Stainless is a girl's best friend." And she was. Catherine made a difference.
Mary BYERS is the author of Havergal: Celebrating a Century.

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STEELE o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-06-19 published
Principal was 'a girl's best friend'
The head of Toronto's elite girls' school raised women's issues long before the rise of feminism
By Allison LAWLOR Thursday, June 19, 2003 - Page R9
Catherine STEELE, a dedicated educator who influenced thousands of young women during her 20 years as head of Havergal College, has died at age 93.
When Miss STEELE was appointed principal of the private school for girls in North Toronto in 1952, she became its first Canadian principal. The earlier principals were British, "typical of private-school education," Miss STEELE once said. She held the position until 1972, but remained closely connected to the school long after her retirement.
Miss STEELE had a lifelong relationship with the school, being herself a Havergal "old girl." She attended from 1923 to 1928, and taught history there in the 1940s.
"She was just a remarkable woman. A woman that truly lived her values," said Susan DITCHBURN, Havergal's current principal. "She understood that schools like ours couldn't just stand still."
Considered ahead of her time, Miss STEELE was talking about women's issues during the 1930s and 1940s, long before feminism was popular. She encouraged her young female students to use their talents, and to try to make a difference in the world. She told them to be ready to take on leadership roles, at a time when men held most of the top positions.
"I believe," Miss STEELE once said, "that when we realize we are world citizens, we shall be on the road to winning the peace."
Inside the walls of Havergal, Miss STEELE was admired and feared by the girls. "She wouldn't tolerate nonsense," said her long-time friend and colleague Marcelle DEFREITAS. Yet behind the imposing presence was a quick and mischievous sense of humour. One morning, as she took her usual place at the lectern in the school's assembly hall for morning prayer, she looked down and found a dead mouse that some of the girls had left for her. She quietly picked up the mouse and scanned the room for the biology teacher. "I think this is for you," she said.
After learning that the students had given her the nickname "Stainless STEELE," she posted on her office door a magazine picture of a young girl with a mouthful of shiny new braces. The caption below the picture read: "Stainless [ STEELE] is a girl's best friend."
Catherine Irene STEELE was born in Toronto on March 31, 1910. She was the only daughter of Irene Wilson STEELE and Robert Clarke STEELE, who built up a successful seed business. She grew up with her three brothers in the affluent Forest Hill neighbourhood and was sent to Havergal in 1923.
Miss STEELE went on to study at the University of Toronto and the Ontario College of Education. After graduating in the 1930s, she spent a summer travelling and then she went to teach at a private girls' school in England.
Back in Canada, she returned to Havergal, this time as a history teacher. She taught for several years there as well as at St. Clement's, another girls' school in the city. In between, she decided to further her education. After saving up enough money, she headed to New York, where she completed her master's degree at Columbia University.
At the onset of the Second World War, England was desperately short of teachers, and Miss STEELE answered the call. She boarded a ship and headed to London, where she taught in the East End during the Blitz.
She returned to Toronto after the war and found herself without work. Prospective employers often told her that, at age 35, she was just too old. Eventually she found a job at Ryerson Rehabilitation Centre, where she taught veterans.
"I never taught more eager pupils," Miss STEELE said.
Wanting to help a man who had been blinded during the war, Miss STEELE read him the entire history course. He passed.
From there, Miss STEELE went to the Royal Ontario Museum, where she headed the education department. One of her fondest memories was loading museum objects into a truck and travelling north to remote communities to bring the museum objects to children unable to visit Toronto.
While at the Royal Ontario Museum, she got a call from Havergal asking her to return, this time as principal. During her 20 years as the school's principal, Miss STEELE was a fixture.
"She was a presence that was always there," said Harriet BINKLEY, who graduated in 1972. "She lived and breathed the school."
Described as a careful, frugal woman, Miss STEELE lived on the school's campus in simple quarters. One of her rituals every night was to walk around the school making sure all the lights were turned off.
As principal, Miss STEELE made efforts to attract girls from different countries and ethnic and religious backgrounds, broadening the school beyond its Anglican roots. She also tackled inadequate staff salaries and pensions, and encouraged teachers to take leaves and pursue their education.
Miss STEELE "lived a life of service," said Reverend Kevin FLYNN, minister at the Church of St. Stephen-in-the-Fields in downtown Toronto. She encouraged others to do the same. At Havergal, she urged the girls to become involved in community organizations. She also had them evaluate the annual reports of different charities to determine which group had the greatest percentage of funds going directly to programs.
Outside Havergal, Miss STEELE sat on several boards, including the Elizabeth Fry Society. She also spent many hours at the Church of St. Stephen-in-the-Fields, helping with the church's programs for the poor and homeless.
It was not uncommon to see Miss STEELE's station wagon loaded with used clothes and furniture for delivery, Reverend FLYNN said.
In honour of her lifelong work, Miss STEELE was given two honorary degrees from the University of Toronto and York University.
Miss STEELE never married nor had any children of her own. "She was too busy," Ms. DEFREITAS said.
Miss STEELE died in a Toronto hospital on April 18. She leaves her brother, Clarke Wilson STEELE.

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STEELE o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-06-28 published
Maureen Elizabeth PEERS
Maureen Elizabeth PEERS, beloved wife of Angelo Zaccheo, passed away peacefully at her home in Toronto on Thursday, June 26, 2003, after a courageous battle with brain cancer, one day short of her 57th birthday. Predeceased by her parents, Maurice and Lillian (ARMSTRONG,) she will be missed by her stepdaughter Kathleen, brother Glenn (Katherine), niece Caroline, nephews Glenn, Matthew and Andrew, sisters-in-law Margaret CURTO (David▼) and Mary STEELE (Patrick), nephews David and Steven, and nieces Alicia and Jena. She also leaves behind many aunts, uncles, cousins and wonderful, caring Friends. As a passionate and dedicated teacher, Maureen influenced and inspired her students to achievement. She will be remembered as a loyal friend, a devoted daughter and sister, and a loving and much loved spouse. A Memorial Service will be held in the chapel of Bishop Strachan School, 298 Lonsdale Road, Toronto, on Thursday, July 3rd at 6: 30 p.m., followed by a reception. Parking is available from Russell Hill Road entrance. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Sunnybrook and Women's Foundation, c/o Dr. James PERRY, C.N.S. Oncology Site, 2075 Bayview Avenue, Toronto M4N 3M5, would be greatly appreciated. May you always walk in sunshine, And God's love around you flow, For the happiness you gave us, No one will ever know. It broke our hearts to lose you, The day God called you home. A million times we've needed you. A million times we've cried. If love could have saved you, You never would have died.

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STEELE o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-06-30 published
Maureen Elizabeth PEERS
Maureen Elizabeth PEERS, beloved wife of Angelo ZACCHEO, passed away peacefully at her home in Toronto on Thursday, June 26, 2003, after a courageous battle with brain cancer, one day short of her 57th birthday. Predeceased by her parents, Maurice and Lillian (ARMSTRONG,) she will be missed by her stepdaughter Kathleen, brother Glenn (Katherine), niece Caroline, nephews Glenn, Matthew and Andrew, sisters-in-law Margaret CURTO (David▲) and Mary STEELE (Patrick), nephews David and Steven, and nieces Alicia and Jena. She also leaves behind many aunts, uncles, cousins and wonderful, caring Friends. As a passionate and dedicated teacher, Maureen influenced and inspired her students to achievement. She will be remembered as a loyal friend, a devoted daughter and sister, and a loving and much loved spouse. A Memorial Service will be held in the chapel of Bishop Strachan School, 298 Lonsdale Road, Toronto, on Thursday, July 3rd at 6: 30 p.m., followed by a reception. Parking is available from Russell Hill Road entrance. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Sunnybrook and Women's Foundation, c/o Dr. James Perry, C.N.S. Oncology Site, 2075 Bayview Avenue, Toronto M4N 3M5, would be greatly appreciated. May you always walk in sunshine, And God's love around you flow, For the happiness you gave us, No one will ever know. It broke our hearts to lose you, The day God called you home. A million times we've needed you. A million times we've cried. If love could have saved you, You never would have died.

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STEERE o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-06-04 published
Seattle judge raised in Ontario
Wednesday, June 4, 2003 - Page R7
Seattle -- Peter Kormann STEERE, Seattle's chief lawyer for the world's fair in 1962 and then a King County Superior Court judge for 30 years, died Saturday of lung cancer. He was 73.
A native of Marquette, Michigan., he grew up in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and worked on Canadian ore boats before serving in the U.S. Army and studying law at the University of Washington. He worked as an assistant corporate counsel for the city of Seattle and was staff counsel for Century 21, the world's fair, then entered private practice until he was appointed to the Superior Court. He retired in 1993.
Associated Press

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STEEVES o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-09-24 published
McKENZIE, Dorothy Elizabeth Lillian (née LANE)
Devoted wife of the late Wm. Wallace McKENZIE. Born in 1914 in Holland Landing. Daughter of Cuthbert and Emma LANE. Sister of the late Rube OUGH. Died peacefully at home September 22, age 89. She is deeply loved and will be ever remembered by her three daughters Gail, Patsy and Lynne, son-in-law George STEEVES, granddaughter Kerri-Lynn, grand_sons Michael, Andrew and Kyle and her lifes lessons will be lovingly taught to great-grand_son William. We will all miss her. The best mother ever. A mother holds onto her children's hands for a short while and their hearts forever. Friends may call at the R.S. Kane Funeral Home (6150 Yonge Street, at Goulding, south of Steeles), on Wednesday 5-8 p.m. Funeral Service in the Chapel Thursday, 1 p.m. Interment York Cemetery. Donations to the Heart and Stroke Foundation or charity of your choice.

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STEEVIE o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-08-02 published
Notice To Creditors And Others
All claims against the Estate of Marja Margaret Elizabeth STEEVIE late of the City of Toronto, in the Province of Ontario, who died on or about the 6th day of December, 2002, must be filed with the undersigned representative on or before the 29th day of August, 2003, after which date the Estate will be distributed having regard only to the claims of which the Estate Trustees shall then have notice.
Dated at Toronto, this 24th day of July, 2003
Timothy PILGRIM
and James Robert STEEVIE
Estate Trustees with a Will of the Estate
of Marja Margaret Elizabeth STEEVIE
by: Beard Winter Llp
Barristers and Solicitors
Suite 701, 130 Adelaide Street West
Toronto, Ontario
M5H 2K4
Attention: David A. JARVIS
Telephone: (416) 593-5555
Fax: (416) 593-7760
Page B6

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STEIN o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-03-22 published
Champ didn't tell his mother
Toronto fighter was talked into boxing by his brothers during the Thirties as a way to make more money
By Barbara SILVERSTEIN Special to The Globe and Mail Saturday, March 22, 2003 - Page F11
When Leon SLAN became Canada's champion heavyweight boxer, he didn't tell his mother. She disapproved of the sport, so he kept the news to himself -- though not for long. Mr. SLAN, who died last month at the age of 86, had for years fought under another name and managed to escape his mother's wrath until 1936, when he won the national amateur title and the irresistibility of fame upset his comfortable obscurity.
The modest Mr. SLAN went on to become a successful Toronto businessman who had so allowed boxing to settle into his past that in 1986 most of his Friends were surprised when he was inducted into the Canadian Boxing Hall of Fame. It astonished everyone that the man they knew as the co-owner of a luggage-making company was known in boxing circles as Lennie STEIN, holder of the Canadian amateur heavyweight title from 1935 to 1937.
A quiet and unassuming giant of a man, his wife described him as invariably soft-spoken. "I never heard him raise his voice once in all the years we were married, Isabel SLAN said.
By all accounts, Mr. SLAN's mild demeanour belied his prowess in the ring, said his son, Jon SLAN. " For a man who was a champion at a blood sport, he was the gentlest person you ever met."
Born in Winnipeg to Russian immigrants on June 28, 1916, Mr. SLAN was the second of three sons. In 1922, the family moved to the Annex area of Toronto where he attended Harbord Collegiate Institute. His father, Joseph SLAN, was a struggling tailor with interesting ideas about the garment industry. In 1931, he headed a co-operative called Work-Togs Limited. It consisted of a small band of tailors who were to share in the profits. The project suffered from poor timing: It came on the scene at the height of the Depression and failed dismally.
In 1934, Joseph SLAN died in poverty and Leon and his two brothers Bob, who was born in 1914, and Jack, born in 1918 -- had to provide for their mother. Bringing home meagre paycheques from what little work they could find, the three decided to find a supplement.
At the time, boxing was a popular spectator sport and one of the few that was open to Jewish athletes. Bob and Jack knew that a good fighter could earn a decent living in the ring. Their eyes fell on Leon. At 17, their 6-foot-2, 200-pound, athletic brother towered over most grown men.
"Leon was big and strong and Bob and Jack thought he should be boxing, Mrs. SLAN said. "The family needed the money."
They persuaded him to give it a try and promised their support, she said. "They took him to over the gym. There they were, the three boys walking down the street arm-in-arm with Leon in the middle. They all walked over together to sign Leon up."
They didn't consult their mother. In fact, the brothers decided to enter the fight name Lennie STEIN, so she wouldn't read about Leon in the papers and worry.
As it turned out, the new Lennie STEIN was a natural. Mr. SLAN won his first major fight in a Round 1 knockout over the Toronto Golden Gloves title holder. " STEIN is durable and exceptionally fast for a heavyweight, " The Toronto Star reported in 1935. "He has the ability to rain punishment on his opponents with both hands."
In this way, he won almost all of his major fights. It helped, too, that his coach happened to be Maxie KADIN, a legend in Ontario boxing. Out of 40 bouts, Mr. SLAN netted 34 wins, 22 by knockout, and six losses.
A fighter who possessed a dogged and implacable manner, he was popular with the fans.
"He was known for not staying down on the canvas, Jon SLAN said. "On those rare times when he was decked, he always refused the referee's outstretched hand and picked himself up."
Yet, for all his success, Mr. SLAN rejected the opportunity to go fully professional. A manager and promoter from New York had seen him in a bout with a certain German boxer and saw possibilities.
"He wanted to promote him as the Great White Jewish Hope, " Jon said.
The German boxer happened to be the brother of Max SCHMELING, the Aryan protégé of Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich, who in 1936 had defeated the otherwise invincible Joe LOUIS in the upset of the century. To make it even more interesting, the manager proved to be the famous John BUCKLEY, who called the shots for Jack SHARKEY, a heavyweight who had beaten SCHMELING four years earlier.
"The promoter got so interested in this meeting of German and Jew that he offered my father a contract, but he didn't offer enough money, " Jon said.
The problem, it turned out, was that Mr. SLAN couldn't afford to turn professional, he once told a Globe and Mail reporter. "I was making good money then, $25 a week, and I was supporting my mother, " he said in 1988. "I asked him [Buckley] to put up $5,000 [and] he just laughed at me. He said he had hundreds of heavyweights."
Negotiations ended right there. "He was [only] interested in me because I was Jewish and that would go over big in New York."
It wasn't the only time that race emerged as an issue. Mr. SLAN had boxed under the auspices of the Young Men's Hebrew Association until 1936 when it was blackballed by the Amateur Athletic Union of Canada for withholding a portion of its proceeds. The money was earmarked for the Canadian Olympic effort, but the Young Men's Hebrew Association had refused to support the upcoming 1936 Berlin Games because of Germany's poor treatment of Jews. In the end, the Amateur Athletic Union permitted Mr. SLAN to enter as an independent and he went on to fight unattached to win the Toronto and national titles.
"It seemed so easy at the time, " he said in 1988. "I was a very quiet kid, but when I won, I became such a hero."
That glory turned out to be the undoing of Lennie STEIN, the fighter -- though it was all something of an anticlimax. The one thing Leon SLAN had feared on his way up through the ranks came to nothing: his mother finally found out that he boxed and then failed to react -- at least, not that anyone in the family can remember.
"She just took it in her stride, said Isabel SLAN. " She was a Jewish mother from the old country. I don't think she really understood what boxing was all about."
Perhaps, too, it helped to smooth matters that her son's secret endeavours had ended in triumph. She can only have felt a mother's pride.
In 1937, Mr. SLAN retired from boxing and found a job at a produce stall in Toronto's old fruit terminal on Colborne Street and was later hired by his brother Bob, a proprietor of Dominion Citrus Ltd. It was tough work with long hours, Mrs. SLAN said. "Leon would have to get up at 2 o'clock in the morning to go unload the fruits and vegetables off the trucks."
Even so, he still had some time for boxing. After working long days at the market, he taught athletics at the Young Men's Hebrew Association and it was there that he met Isabel MARGOLIAN. A concert pianist newly arrived from Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, she happened to take one of his boxing classes for women.
"We were all lined up in a row, punching bags, " she remembered. "Leon came up to me and told me I wasn't punching hard enough. Then he took my hand and hit it into the bag to show me how to do it. I felt my bones crunch, but I didn't say anything."
As it turned out, he had broken her hand. When he learned what had happened, he phoned her and thus began a different relationship. They married in 1942 and later that year Mr. SLAN enlisted in the army where he ended up in the Queen's Own Rifles. While in the army, he returned to boxing and won the 1942 Canadian Army heavyweight title.
After the war, the SLAN brothers founded Dominion Luggage in Toronto's garment district, a company that started small with eight workers and grew into a successful enterprise employing 200. Each brother had a different responsibility -- Jack was the designer, Bob took care of the administration and Leon was the salesman.
"It was a job that really suited him, Mrs. SLAN said. "He was very personable [and] sold to Eaton's, Simpsons, Air Canada -- all the big companies. He became good Friends with many of the buyers."
The three brothers enjoyed a comfortable relationship built on affection and loyalty, Jon said.
"Bob liked to fish, so he took Thursdays and Fridays off to go to his cottage. My father took Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons off to golf."
Jack, the creative force among them, rarely left the business but never begrudged his brothers their leisure time.
"They had the perfect partnership, " said Jon, a relationship anchored by their mother. "They were her surrogate husbands. I don't think there was a SLAN wife who felt that she wasn't playing second fiddle to my grandmother."
The brothers went to her house every day for lunch until she was 90. "She made old-time Jewish food. Her definition of borscht was sour cream with a touch of beets, " Jon said. "She cooked with chicken fat and the boys loved it."
Sophie SLAN died in 1984 at the age of 93.
In 1972, the SLANs sold Dominion Luggage to Warrington Products, a large conglomerate. "Warrington made them an offer they couldn't turn down, " Isabel said.
Even so, the brothers' relationship continued into retirement. "They called each other every day, even when their health was failing, " Jon said. "Bob died in 2000 and Jack in 2002. My father took their deaths very hard."
Although he never boxed again, Mr. SLAN played sports well into his 70s and could still show his mettle. He had taken up tennis at about the age of 40 and, when he couldn't get a membership at the exclusive Toronto Lawn Tennis Club in Rosedale, he co-founded the York Racquets Tennis Club. It opened in 1964, directly across the street from the Toronto Lawn Tennis Club.
Mr. SLAN died of heart failure in Toronto on February 11. He leaves his wife Isabel, son Jon and daughters Elynne GOLDKIND and Anna RISEN.

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STEIN o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-05-07 published
Nathan Nauson LEVINNE
By Marsha COLLA and Wilma FREEDMAN Wednesday, May 7, 2003 - Page A20
Doctor, husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, friend. Born June 30, 1917, in Toronto. Died Feb 1, 2003, in Toronto, of cancer, aged 85.
Nathan LEVINNE was a gentle giant.
This 6-foot, 4-inch tall, handsome family doctor had retired from Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital, following a 52-year career of being devoted to caring for patients and their families with incredible compassion, sensitivity and a unique sense of humour.
Nathan Nauson LEVINNE was born on Toronto's Niagara Street. After graduating from Oakwood Collegiate, he completed his medical degree at the University of Toronto. (He actually later became a professor emeritus at this same university.) Upon seeing a beautiful blonde woman at a fraternity party and mentioning to a friend, "That's the gal I intend to marry, Evelyn STEIN and Nate were wed in Toronto on December 28, 1941.
Immediately after getting married, they left for St. Louis, Missouri, where he completed his internship.
On returning to Canada, he enlisted in the army, served as a medical officer (attaining the rank of captain), and was decorated by both the Dutch and Canadian governments.
After his stint in the army, Dr. LEVINNE set up his first family-practice office on Lakeview Ave. in Toronto. He was a very skilled diagnostician and gave advice with great wisdom and compassion.
In 1966, the first Family Practice Unit was established at Mount Sinai Hospital with Dr. Nathan LEVINNE as its chief. He also was instrumental in organizing Ambulatory Care Services and was the director of Occupational Health and Safety.
He was chief of staff and chairman of the Medical Advisory Committee from 1979 to 1981. He made a tremendous contribution to health care.
It was on his 80th birthday that he retired from active practise, always maintaining that it was important to recognize when to stop. However, he continued to give back to the community.
He participated in a mentoring program for young students who were interested in pursuing medical careers, helped at the Canadian National Institute for the Blind by walking with a non-sighted gentleman once a week, and spent time at The Baycrest Home for the Aged talking to the lonely elderly who had no families with whom to visit.
And, being a very spiritual human being, he would enjoy studying the Bible in his quiet times.
Most importantly, Nathan LEVINNE was a real family man. A devoted, loyal and loving life partner to his wife of 61 years, he was happiest when surrounded by his five grandchildren, for whom he became a great source of life experience and support. For his new little great-grand_son, he was able to provide a big cuddly lap in which to snuggle.
And what an extraordinary father figure he was for me and my sister. He let us play hairdresser on his thick silvery locks, taught us how to swallow capsule pills by likening them to toboggans on the backs of our tongues, and he stayed home with us on Saturday nights if we didn't have dates -- and that added up to a lot of Saturday nights!
Nathan LEVINNE was a father, a friend and a hero. He went through many medical challenges in his life, never allowing anyone to see or feel his pain, protecting his family right until the end.
Dad always joked and encouraged us to ramble on for hours when there was a captive audience but we will stop now, so that he can rest in peace. His memory will beat on in our hearts forever.
Marsha COLLA and Wilma FREEDMAN are Nathan LEVINNE's daughters.

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STEIN o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-07-12 published
STEIN, Samuel M.D.
Psychiatrist, Psychoanalyst, mentor and teacher died peacefully in the arms of his loving family after a courageous struggle with metastatic lung cancer on Thursday, July 10, 2003. His wife, Betty, daughters, Laura, Debra and Suzanne and son-in-law, Aleixo, were at his side. Survived also by his brother. Dr. Howard STEIN, and wife Mrs. Minna STEIN, nephew Matthew and wife Jennifer, and niece Danielle and by brother Victor STEIN, wife Elaine and niece Elizabeth. Sam worked tirelessly to understand and promote Psychoanalysis and had been a past Director of both the Toronto and Canadian Psychoanalytic Societies and Institutes. He loved teaching, dancing, Bally shoes, classical music and books, good food and wine, spending money, flying to Chicago or Africa on his flight simulator, his canoe, his Portugese Water Dog, Pepper and living life to the fullest. He adored his daughters and cherished his son-in-law and future sons-in-law and was so proud of their achievements whether it was the launch of a new album, the successful PhD. proposal, a new paper published in a medical journal, a new book design or simply the best honey-cake in the world. In his work and in life, he touched many people and leaves a space filled with laughter and tears and puzzlement at why he had to leave us so soon. Funeral services at Benjamin's Park Memorial Chapel, 2401 Steeles Ave. W. (1 light west of Dufferin) on Sunday, July 13 at 11: 00 a.m. Interment Beth Tzedec Memorial Park. Shiva private please. If desired, memorial donations may be made to The Samuel Stein Memorial Award, c/o The Benjamin Foundation, 3429 Bathurst Street, Toronto M6A 2C3 at 416-780-0324.

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STEIN o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-11-26 published
A scholar and a gentle man
'Fine example of a great Canadian' who founded Ontario's Brock University was once private secretary to prime minister Mackenzie KING
By Ron CSILLAG, Special to The Globe and Mail Wednesday, November 26, 2003 - Page R9
In an almost Zen-like fashion, James GIBSON knew the value of not acting. In the late 1960s, when a group of student radicals seized part of Brock University, hoping to be dragged away kicking and screaming, Dr. GIBSON, who had helped found the institution a few years earlier, reacted in a way no other university president did when faced with the same problem: He did nothing. The protesters, he reasoned, may have had legitimate grievances, but their unseemly actions offended his firm sense of propriety. In time, the students simply went away.
It was an effective, though uncharacteristic, action for a man who embodied Brock's Latin motto: "Surgite," freely translated as "push on." That he did, through some 65 rich years of advancing higher education and in public service, most notably as a private secretary to former prime minister Mackenzie KING, whose penchant for soothsaying and assorted eccentricities Dr. GIBSON kept mainly to himself until later in life.
Just five days before his death in Ottawa on October 23 at the age of 91, Dr. GIBSON was doing what he loved: Watching a new group of graduates receive their diplomas at the fall convocation of Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario, the school he had launched as founding president in 1963.
At a recent memorial service at Brock, David ATKINSON, the university's president and vice-chancellor, recalled a man whose attributes a strong moral fibre, clarity of thought and a general uprightness, all tempered by a warm and gentle touch -- harkened to a quaint, bygone era. "It's unlikely we will meet anyone like him again," Dr. ATKINSON said.
In the House of Commons on October 27, Dr. GIBSON was praised by St. Catharines Liberal member of parliament Walt LASTEWKA as "a fine example of a great Canadian."
Dr. GIBSON, whose knowledge of Canadian history and government were legend, was in the news this past summer as the oldest of over 1,000 Rhodes Scholars who flew to England for a five-day bash honouring the centenary of the trust. With his brother William, also a Rhodes Scholar, Dr. GIBSON dedicated a re-leaded stained-glass window at the chapel of Oxford's New College.
A normally discreet man, he had sharp words for former prime minister Brian MULRONEY, not an Oxford graduate, who surprised guests at the alumni dinner -- and raised a few eyebrows -- when he took a seat on the podium alongside Oxonians Bill CLINTON and Tony BLAIR, and guest Nelson MANDELA. Many alumni, Dr. GIBSON included, felt that Mr. MULRONEY, who had been invited by The Independent newspaper chain, had no business being there. Though upset, Dr. GIBSON retained his dignity, saying simply, "I was offended."
James Alexander GIBSON was born in Ottawa, in 1912, to Canadian-born parents of Irish-Scottish stock with strong Methodist and Quaker leanings. Raised in Victoria, he graduated with a B.A. in history from the University of British Columbia at age 18. Less than a year later, he was one of the youngest boys at Oxford.
"That was the real dividing line in my life," he told The Globe and Mail last July. "The economic depression was beginning to take over and some of the graduates in my year at University of British Columbia ended up digging ditches, but I had a guaranteed income for three years."
The annual stipend was only £400 but it enabled Dr. GIBSON to live comfortably and travel to the rest of Europe when he wasn't studying modern history, debating in the Oxford Union Society and keeping wicket for the New College cricket squad, the Nomads.
Back in Ottawa and armed with a doctorate in history, he joined the Department of External Affairs. On his second day on the job, he was whisked to the prime minister's office for a six-month secondment that lasted nine years. Mr. KING, who was also External Affairs minister, blocked Dr. GIBSON's promotions to postings abroad three times because "he told me I stopped him getting into trouble."
The prime minister was a notorious taskmaster, calling on his assistant to work most evenings and weekends to draft letters and speeches. Throughout, "Dad never complained about anything," said his daughter Julia MATTHEWS. " But as he got older, he loosened up a little."
According to his daughter, he came to describe the famously erratic leader as "a very grumpy man and a very lonely man, insensitive, and quite damaging to work for."
Ultimately, it occurred to the clan that perhaps the unmarried prime minister was simply jealous of Dr. GIBSON's status as a beloved family man and father of three children. "Whenever we went on a family holiday, Dad always got called back," remembered Ms. MATTHEWS.
But a high point came in the spring of 1945, when Dr. GIBSON accompanied Mr. KING and 380 other delegates to San Francisco and the founding of the United Nations. During the historic two-month conference, Dr. GIBSON got personal glimpses of such leaders as the Soviet Union's Andrei GROMYKO and Britain's Anthony EDEN, but the task at hand, he later recalled, was to keep the Canadian prime minister "on the rails."
Fearing he would never advance in the public service, Dr. GIBSON resigned in 1947 and took a teaching post at Ottawa's Carleton University, where he later served as the first dean of arts and science and deputy to the president. By the early 1960s, he was courted by a group of community leaders in the Niagara peninsula to establish Brock University. When he began as founding president, the school had seven faculty (known as "the magnificent seven"), 29 students and a "library" consisting of a shelf of books. Today, it boasts more than 15,000 students and 47,000 alumni.
His first order of business at Brock was the creation of a library.
Now housed in the campus's Schmon Tower, it has become something of a landmark on the Niagara Escarpment. Dr. GIBSON, fondly known by faculty as "James A.," remained as Brock's president until 1974. He was named to the Order of Canada in 1992, and the library was named after him in 1996.
He was also a leading figure in the Unitarian faith, serving for a time as chaplain of the Unitarian Congregation of Niagara.
Asked what dinner-table conversation was like at home, Ms. MATTHEWS sighed good-naturedly. "Oh, God. There was a lot of current events. He had all the answers. He was always lecturing, but he could be really charming." Even after his vision started to fail, he travelled, read and wrote. "He never felt old."
After moving from his beloved St. Catharines to an Ottawa retirement home, Dr. GIBSON lectured residents on "governors-general I have known."
Dr. GIBSON was predeceased by his wife of 57 years, Caroline (née STEIN,) and leaves three children, seven grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, his brother, and a sister, Isobel SEARLS.
His final days were summed up poetically by Josephine MEEKER, a former professor at Brock. After attending the university's convocation last month, Dr. GIBSON "went for a long walk, returned to his residence, went into the lounge area, took off his coat and folded it up, put it on the back of his chair, sat down, folded his hands in his lap, closed his eyes, and died."

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