BASF
BASLER
BASSO
BASTERT
BASTIEN
BASF o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-03-06 published
LAMBERT, Kenneth Frederick (Former President and General Manager
of BASF
Inmont
Canada
Ltd.)
Passed away peacefully at Etobicoke General Hospital, on March
2nd, 2003, with his family at his side. Ken, aged 79, is survived
by his four children, Jim, Don, Rick and Margie and by his seven
grandchildren. At Ken's request, a private family funeral service
was held. A public celebration of his life will be held at the
Courtyard Marriott, 231 Carlingview Drive, Etobicoke (905-675-0411),
on Saturday, March 8th, 2003. All of Ken's many Friends are invited
to attend anytime between 4 and 7 p.m. The family requests that
in lieu of flowers, donations in his name be made to the charity
of your choice.
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BASLER o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-12-19 published
ASSEFF,
Chris
Age 84, resident of Thornhill and former resident of Thunder
Bay, died in Toronto on Thursday December 11, 2003. After the
war he started up a business in Fort William and he was elected
to the Fort William R.C.S.S. Board as a trustee in 1947. This
was the start of a long and very passionate involvement with
Catholic Education in Ontario. Following his tenure with the
Fort William Board he and his family moved to Toronto in 1964
and he became the Executive Director of the O.S.S.T.A. remaining
as the Executive Director until his retirement in 1984. The contributions
Chris made to the Catholic Education System in Ontario have been
immeasurable and for many years he has been affectionately called
'Mr. Catholic Schools'. One of if not the high point of his life
was his receiving communion from His Holiness Pope John Paul
II when he visited Ontario. Chris was first and foremost a man
devoted to his family and Friends. He was married to Anne (nee
MIKELUK) who predeceased him in 1984 and he is survived by and
will be missed by his daughter Sandra
LADOUCEUR and her husband
Jerry of Thunder Bay, his sons Chris and Philip of Toronto, his
grand_son Sean (Lori)
LADOUCEUR of Thunder Bay, several nephews,
nieces and other relatives also survive. He will also be missed
by his best friend Theresa
BASLER.
Chris was predeceased by his
brothers Manere, Fred and Phil and sisters Isabel, Margaret and
Emelien. Funeral services were held on Monday December 15, 2003
when Friends and family gathered for Funeral Mass at 2: 00 p.m.
in St. Patrick's Cathedral, Thunder Bay, Ontario celebrated by
Rev. David
GILLEN. A private family interment was held in Mountain
View Cemetery. Vigil services were offered on Sunday afternoon
in the Blake Funeral Chapel, Thunder Bay. If Friends wish to
remember Chris, please make donations to the Canadian Cancer
Society in his memory.
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BASSO o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-01-10 published
The castle lights are growing dim
Canadian television icon made his mark as star of The Hilarious
House of Frightenstein
By John McKAY Canadian Press Friday, January 10, 2003, Page R11
Billy VAN, the diminutive, manic comic actor who starred in Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation-Television's Nightcap in the 1960s and
The Hilarious House of Frightenstein in the seventies, died Wednesday.
He was 68.
Mr. VAN, who had been battling cancer for about a year and had
a triple heart bypass in 1998, died at Toronto's Sunnybrook Hospital,
said his former wife, Claudia
CONVERSE.
While a familiar fixture on Canadian television for decades,
he also worked in the United States on variety shows such as
The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour, The Ray Stevens Show and The Bobby
Vinton Show.
Mr. VAN even gained fame for the Colt .45 beer commercials he
made for 15 years and for which he won a Clio Award.
But he invariably returned to Toronto in shows like The Party
Game, Bizarre with John Byner, The Hudson Brothers Razzle DAzzle
Show and Bits and Bytes.
His wife, Susan, said that while he had opportunities in the
U.S., Mr. VAN had no regrets about staying in Canada.
"He was quite happy when he came back," she said. "He had the
taste of the life down there and [said] 'Okay, that's fine, I'd
rather be at home.' "
Ms. CONVERSE agreed that Mr.
VAN had been happy with his career
and had worked non-stop until his heart bypass.
"I don't know of many Canadians that stay in Canada who get their
full recognition," she said. "When he went to the States, definitely.
But there isn't a star system in Canada so it's kind of difficult."
Mr. VAN -- then Billy
VAN
EVERA -- went into show business at
the age of 12 and back in the 1950s, he and his four musically
inclined brothers formed a singing group that toured Canada and
Europe. Most also went on to adult careers in show business.
After his heart surgery, Mr.
VAN was semi-retired but continued
to do voiceover work for commercials and animated programs. His
last major on-screen role was as Les the trainer in the television
hockey movie Net Worth in 1995.
Mr. VAN and long-time colleagues Dave
BROADFOOT and Jack
DUFFY
made appearances in recent years to support the fledgling Canadian
Comedy Awards.
"I'm all for that enthusiasm," Mr.
VAN said about the awards
launch in 2000.
"Billy was one of my closest Friends," said Mr.
DUFFY, who added
that he called Mr.
VAN several times a week after he became ill.
"We were sort of buddies under the skin. We got to know each
other really well at Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and then
we worked on Party Game together for a number of years. He was
a close friend and I will miss him very much."
Mr. DUFFY said a lot of doors opened for Mr.
VAN when he did
The Sonny and Cher Show,but he was happy to come home to his native
Toronto, where he was born in 1934.
"He came back and we were glad to have him back."
Entertainer Dinah
CHRISTIE, with whom Mr.
VAN worked on The Party
Game for a decade, called him a brave and glorious person.
"He would take on anything and was . . . a totally gracious guy,"
she said. "I'm just going to miss him like we all are going to
miss him. He soldiered through this bloody cancer thing so wonderfully.
I knew he was just trying to get through Christmas."
Ms. CHRISTIE said Mr.
VAN had some hideous experiences in the
U.S. He had seen a man shot to death next to him in a New York
hotel, and had his Los Angeles home broken into twice.
"He never felt safe there. And he was such a Canadian that he
always felt safe here."
Mr. VAN's picture is on the Canadian Comedy Wall of Fame at the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Broadcast Centre in Toronto,
along with those of Al
WAXMAN,
Wayne and Shuster and Don
HARRON.
The
Hilarious
House of Frightenstein starred Vincent
PRICE, with
Mr. VAN as host and a variety of characters, including The Count,
a vampire who preferred pizza to blood and who wore tennis shoes
as well as a cape. The hour-long episodes were taped at Hamilton's
CHCH-Television and are still seen in syndication around the
world.
Nightcap was a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation satirical show
that predated Saturday Night Live by a dozen years. Its cast
included Al
HAMEL and Guido
BASSO and his orchestra.
Mr. VAN leaves his wife, Susan, and two daughters from previous
marriages, Tracy and Robyn.
A private funeral will be held in Toronto on Monday.
Billy VAN, actor and entertainer; born in Toronto in 1934; died
in Toronto on January 8, 2003.
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BASTERT o@ca.on.manitoulin.howland.little_current.manitoulin_expositor 2003-01-22 published
James Athey
BECKETT
At Chelsey Park Nursing Home, London on Sunday, January 19, 2003
James Athey Beckett of London, formerly of Kitchener and born in
Sunrise Kentucky, in his 88th year. Beloved husband of Ruth
(MILLSON)
BECKETT. Dear father of Ruth Ann
BASTERT and Nancy
BELL of
Sheguiandah, Manitoulin Island, Mary Lou
BECKETT and Chuck
EBERLEY of
Ottawa,
Sandy
Lee
BECKETT of London. Dear grandfather of Peggy,
Shawn, Ian and Wendy, Matthew and Aaron. Also survived by nine
great-grandchildren. Predeceased by brothers John and Bud and a
sister Suzanna. Friends called at the C. Haskett and son Funeral
Home, 223 Main Street, Lucan on Monday, January 20 where the funeral
service was held on Tuesday, January 21 with Reverend Fred
McKINNON
officiating. Cremation with interment St. James Cemetery,
Clandeboye. Condolences may be forwarded through www.haskettfh.com
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BASTIEN o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-03-06 published
The day the music didn't die
Beloved Toronto trumpeter credited with helping preserve a unique
form of New Orleans jazz
By Sarah LAMBERT
Thursday,
March 6, 2003 - Page R9
Toronto -- The tightly knit world of New Orleans traditional
jazz has lost one of its greats with the death, last month, of
Cliff (Kid)
BASTIEN, leader of Toronto's treasured Happy Pals.
The trumpeter is credited as having nothing less than single-handedly
kept alive the unique, raw, New Orleans style of jazz, through
his leadership and mentorship of hundreds of musicians.
Saddened fans and musicians filed into the city's Grossman's
Tavern all week last month to pay tribute to Mr.
BASTIEN at the
long-time home of the Happy Pals, where the walls are lined with
photos of his fans and musicians. It was a send-off worthy of
New
Orleans, birthplace of the kind of jazz Mr.
BASTIEN played
with his seven-piece bands, the Camelia Jazz Band and later the
Happy Pals, during the 30 or so years he played at the Toronto
landmark.
"He was never late. Never, never ever, said Christine
LOUIE,
whose family inherited Mr.
BASTIEN's
Saturday-afternoon gig when
Al GROSSMAN sold the bar in 1975.
So it was with sinking hearts on February 8 that his loyal audience
and band members watched the minute hand tick past 4 o'clock,
waiting for him to arrive, brass trumpet in hand.
When he was found later that afternoon still sitting in his armchair,
apparently looking up a new song in his hymn book, the Happy
Pals played on and raised a glass in tribute to their leader
who died as he lived, surrounded by music. He was 65 years old.
Noonie SHEARS, a long-time friend and leader of the traditional
impromptu parade that would inevitably snake through Grossman's
as Saturday afternoon wound down, said she thought Mr.
BASTIEN
was looking up I'll Fly Away, the old gospel song recently dusted
off in the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou?
The band played it for the first time at Mr.
BASTIEN's official
memorial at Grossman's the Saturday following his death.
Born in 1937 in London's East End, Mr.
BASTIEN emigrated to Canada
in 1962 after a stint in New Orleans. It was there that he heard
trumpeter (Kid) Thomas
VALENTINE play and, experiencing a kind
of epiphany, Mr.
BASTIEN followed him from club to club and studied
his style. It ultimately inspired a lifelong ambition to keep
alive New Orleans-style traditional jazz.
A purist who drew a distinction between his chosen genre of music
and the more popularized Dixieland Jazz, Mr.
BASTIEN once said:
"Had I never heard that music, I wouldn't have become a musician.
I wouldn't play anything else."
I Like Bananas, Caledonia, All of Me and Louisiana Vie en Rose
were just a few of his standards. But, as Happy Pals' trombonist
Roberta TEVLIN explained, Mr.
BASTIEN wasn't content to simply
recycle the old chestnuts.
"Cliff kept adding songs. I've probably played 1,000 different
tunes with him. He was particularly notorious for finding songs
outside the standard jazz list, said Ms.
TEVLIN, who joined
the band 20 years ago, along with her saxophonist husband, Patrick.
Bob Dylan, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Western Swing numbers,
Nigerian folk songs and Dean Martin could all tumble out during
a set, said drummer Chuck
CLARKE.
Mr. BASTIEN's
Friends and peers point out that he was known for
three primary qualities: His love of music, his scorn for fame
or publicity and his mentoring of local musicians.
During the memorial at Grossman's, Downchild Blues Band headman
Donny WALSH arrived from Florida to sit in with his harmonica,
as he had done regularly with Mr.
BASTIEN in the 1970s. Juno-nominated
bluesman Michael
PICKETT was there, as well as jazz singer Laura
HUBERT, formerly of the Leslie Spit Treeo, pianist Peter
HILL,
The Nationals and many more.
From the worldwide New Orleans jazz community, among those who
came to pay their respects were saxophonist Jean-Pierre
ALESSI
of France, trumpeter Roger (Kid Dutch)
UITHOVEN of Orlando, Florida,
clarinetist Kjeld
BRANDT from Denmark and Toronto's Brian
TOWERS,
Jan SHAW and Joe
VAN
ROSSEM.
"I cannot imagine the Toronto traditional jazz scene without
Cliff BASTIEN and his raw, emotional New Orleans-style jazz,
Mr. TOWERS wrote in a notice posted on the Internet shortly
after he learned of the death of his friend.
"He was probably the most popular and influential figure on the
Toronto traditional jazz scene. He taught many others to play
their instruments in the style and introduced thousands to the
joys of New Orleans traditional jazz.
"We went to Grossman's after our own gig and Jan and I played
some hymns with the Happy Pals. A sadder and more emotional scene
I have rarely seen."
Toronto musician Joanne
MacKELL, leader of the Paradise Rangers,
wonders how things might have been if she had not met Mr.
BASTIEN
when she was just starting out.
"Though I was young and inexperienced, Kid would always invite
me up to sing, Ms.
MacKELL said, recalling how the band took
her under its wing when she discovered them in the early 1970s.
"Kid didn't care about money or popular opinion. He filled Grossman's
Tavern every Saturday for some 30 years because he played great
music with honesty and integrity and he inspired me to try and
do the same."
Until just last year, Mr.
BASTIEN, who feared flying, avoided
the lure of the road, taking only an annual sojourn to New Orleans
for the French Quarter Festival. Finally, in the fall of 2002,
he accepted an invitation to tour Scandinavia with the Danish/Swedish
band New Orleans Delight, playing with George
BERRY on tenor
sax. A new Compact Disk is due to be released this spring.
His official recordings are few, numbering about a dozen, as
Mr. BASTIEN preferred to play to an audience. Though, as Ms.
TEVLIN pointed out: "There are bootleg tapes all over the place."
His legacy, the band says, is keeping the New Orleans style of
jazz alive.
"Kid Thomas
VALENTINE was one of the greats, and when he was
gone, Kid BASTIEN carried on. Kid
BASTIEN was one of the greats,
and now Kid's gone. So who's going to carry the music on now?
We will, said saxophonist Mr.
TEVLIN on behalf of the Happy
Pals, who intend to continue the Saturday-afternoon tradition
at Grossman's.
In another side to his life, Mr.
BASTIEN was an accomplished
commercial artist whose hand-crafted signs, woodwork and acid-etched
glass can be seen in many local pubs, including Toronto's Wheat
Sheaf Tavern. His work can be found across Ontario, Quebec, British
Columbia and California, as well as in Europe.
Mr. BASTIEN's wish was to be buried in New Orleans.
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