DANIEL o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-01-16 published
Annie M. THOMPSON/THOMSON/TOMPSON/TOMSON
By Marcia DANIEL
Thursday,
January 16, 2003, Page A22
Wife, mother, health care worker, friend, grandmother, great-grandmother.
Born January 11, 1910, in East Williams Township, Ontario. Died
February 5, 2002, in Strathroy, Ontario, aged 92.
Annie Marie
CHARLTON's mother died when Annie was 12. Annie quit
school to help raise her six-year-old sister. I remember her
telling me about one of the saddest days in her young life: the
day their horse was sent off to battle during the First World
War She watched as he was led down the lane-way, and she knew
in her heart he'd never come back.
Married in 1930 to Simon
THOMPSON/THOMSON/TOMPSON/TOMSON, one-time reeve of East Williams,
they had nine children. Their first years together were difficult.
It was the Depression and they had a large family to raise. Annie
made all their clothes, canned their own fruits and vegetables
and helped Simon with the farm chores. They got by.
In 1953, a tornado levelled Annie and Simon's homestead, killing
Simon and their five-year-old daughter, Dorothy. Annie shielded
their youngest daughter Judy, 3, as the house fell down around
them, severely injuring herself, but saving Judy's life. (Judy
is my mother.)
Mourning the loss of her husband and daughter and hospitalized
for months, Annie faced an uncertain future, raising her children
on her own. Even in this state, she would say, "There is always
someone worse off than me." There was no time to feel sorry for
oneself, no sense in self-pity. She and her young family returned
to the farm and rebuilt. When Judy, the youngest, was in school,
Annie went to work at a local nursing home and later, at age
65, became certified as a health care aide worker.
Annie went on to create a life of her own, through her work,
through the Emerald Rebekah Lodge, through her church, the Mary
Hastings Homemakers' Club and the Women's Institute. She worked
into her 70s and, after retirement, continued to volunteer. She
always had a quilt or afghan on the go, and gave the hand-made
treasures away to her loved ones.
My earliest memories of Grandma were visits after she had moved
to the small town of Parkhill, just north of London, Ontario
It didn't matter what time you arrived, or if you had just finished
dinner, you had to eat. Her chair at the kitchen table was right
beside the refrigerator, so she didn't have far to go to start
pulling out leftovers, pies, cheese and pop; always pop, because
she knew it was a treat for her grandchildren.
She played a mean game of cards. Cribbage, euchre, gin rummy.
She wouldn't tolerate cheating and hated to win in her own home.
The guests should win, not the host, she insisted.
Grandma always told you what was on her mind, no holds barred.
Whether it was a politician's latest gaffe, a career decision
you were about to make, or what to make for lunch, she had an
opinion and was never afraid to share it -- just as she shared
love, food and laughter. And while traditional in her values
and religious beliefs, she believed a woman could, and should,
do anything a man could. She was a feminist before her time.
On any given day, Grandma would see 10 to 20 visitors on her
doorstep. With 24 grandchildren and 41 great-grandchildren, this
comes as no surprise; she was a hit with the neighborhood children,
as well. Her home, the kitchen table in particular, was the virtual
centre of the
THOMPSON/THOMSON/TOMPSON/TOMSON family. She was, in every sense of the
word, the matriarch.
Her infectious laugh was almost as big as her heart. I can still
see her, throwing her head back and laughing till tears came
streaming down her face. She was happiest when surrounded by
her family, and the love she gave was limitless.
Marcia DANIEL is the third-youngest grandchild of Annie
THOMPSON/THOMSON/TOMPSON/TOMSON.
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DANIEL o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-04-26 published
COLTHART,
John
Marshall M.D.
Born March 31, 1916 in Rodney, Ontario, died April 24, 2003 in
Uxbridge, Ontario. Graduate University of Western Ontario Medicine
'42, Major in Royal Canadian Army Medical Corp World War 2 overseas,
family physician in East York 1946-1954, industrial physician
with Bell Canada in Toronto 1954-1965, Western Electric/American
Telephone and Telegraph in Chicago 1965-1969, Xerox in Rochester,
New York 1969-1980 before retiring to Beaverton, Ontario and
Clearwater, Florida. John was predeceased by his parents, James
and Jeanie
(THOMPSON/THOMSON/TOMPSON/TOMSON)
COLTHART, and his wife, Shirley Mae
(FITCH)
M.D., University of Western Ontario Medicine '42. Father (father-in-law)
of Jim of San Diego, California, Doctors Carol (Bob)
BROCK in North
York,
Ontario,
Peggy (Bob)
McCALLA in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Alice
(Rick) DANIEL in Calgary, Alberta and Joan (Dave)
ROBERTSON in
Shortsville, New York; grandfather of Christie
COLTHART, Lisa
(Andrew) SCHNEPPENHEIM, John Michael
COLTHART, Mike
BROCK, Heather
(Tom) WHEELER, Catherine
BROCK, Andy
McCALLA, Matt (Jen)
McCALLA,
Jen (Dan) BEDETTE,
James
ROBERTSON, Shirley and Sarah
DANIEL
and great-grandfather of Christie's son, Kyle
BURGESS. He was
loved, respected and treasured by family, Friends and patients
alike. A celebration of his life will be held at Markham Bible
Chapel, 50 Cairns Drive, Markham, Ontario, west of McGowan Road,
south from 16th Avenue, on Monday, May 5, 2003 at 2: 00 p.m. In
remembrance, donations can be made to the Shirley M. Colthart
Fund (c/o John P. Robarts Research Institute, P.O. Box 5015,
London, Ontario N6A 5K8), or the Trans-Canada Trail Foundation
or a charity of your choice. Arrangements by Mangan Funeral Home,
Beaverton, Ontario (705) 426-5777.
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DANIEL o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-07-08 published
John Marshall
COLTHART
By Alice DANIEL
Tuesday,
July 8, 2003 - Page A18
Doctor, golfer, storyteller, husband, father. Born March 31,
1916, in Rodney, Ontario Died April 24, in Uxbridge, Ontario,
of cancer complications, aged 87.
son of James and Jeanie
(THOMPSON/THOMSON/TOMPSON/TOMSON)
COLTHART, both devoted parents,
John always had fond memories of his youth. Growing up in such
a close-knit community also generated great stories involving:
classmates and teachers at Rodney/Dutton schools, baseball, music,
Boy Scouts, learning how to drive on the country roads with his
Dad's model T Ford, and helping his Dad construct homes and other
buildings, including raising a barn in one day. He proceeded
to medical school at the University of Western Ontario in London,
Ontario, where he met Shirley Mae
FITCH.
One can only imagine
the upheaval in their lives during 1942 as both graduated from
University of Western Ontario Medicine, were married April 4,
and interned together at Toronto East General Hospital. In the
same year, John joined the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps
and Shirley began working at a major psychiatric hospital in
Toronto.
After some training at Camp Borden and a brief leave with Shirley
in Nova Scotia, John sailed overseas in a convoy. He witnessed
many demoralizing traumas during the Second World War, which
he rarely talked about. However, John recognized and shared how
much the experience furthered his medical education, enhancing
both his surgical skills and bedside manner; he was honoured
to serve as a Major in the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corp until
months after the official armistice. As an only child, he appreciated
the intense camaraderie of his army buddies, just as he enjoyed
a broad spectrum of classmates, colleagues and neighbours throughout
his life.
He returned to Shirley in Toronto in 1946 and saw his son Jim,
by then aged 22 months, for the first time. As the family expanded
with the addition of four daughters (Carol, Peggy, Alice and
Joan) to his flock, he established himself as a family physician
in East York, a practice he continued until 1954.
John then served as an industrial physician with Bell Canada
in Toronto 1954-65, Western Electric/American Telephone and Telegraph
in Chicago 1965-69, Xerox in Rochester, New York 1969-80 before
he retired to Beaverton, Ontario, Clearwater, Florida, and Shortsville,
N.Y.
Both John and Shirley enjoyed travelling to visit Friends and
family near and far, or keeping in touch by telephone. They also
remained active supporters of their medical societies, Denison
University, University of Western Ontario and the Robarts Research
Foundation; John established the Shirley M. Colthart fund at
Robarts after Shirley died on September 26, 1995. On his own
the past seven years, John got around still (and not just around
the golf course). His travels took him as far as Australia. His
mobility was particularly remarkable since he started struggling
with cancer in 2000.
It is unfortunate that this physician, who was so respected by
his patients for his healing ways, his clinical acumen, his encouragement
and his generosity, would have had his own cancer diagnosis and
treatment delayed a year by apparent misdiagnosis. He then benefited
from the masterly care of a number of doctors, volunteers, and
many others.
John considered it a miracle that he survived the first year
of treatment. He was relatively well for nearly two years, but
ended up in the Markham-Stouffville Hospital with an infection
in mid-March. He did not have severe acute respiratory syndrome,
but was in quarantine there and moved to the Uxbridge Hospital,
extending his quarantine for a total of 19 days. His 87th birthday
passed with the family unable to see him.
Once the quarantine was lifted, his family members took turns
staying at his side, but it was clear it would be tough for him
to turn things around.
Alice DANIEL is John's daughter.
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DANN o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-09-26 published
DANN,
Laura
Elizabeth
Wife of the late Reverend Eyre F.
DANN, died peacefully at home on
September 25, 2003. Betty was born on February 27, 1917 in Yorkton,
Saskatchewan. She trained as a nurse at the Royal Victoria Hospital
in Montreal, Quebec and served overseas with the Canadian Armed
Forces during the Second World War. In 1965 she joined the Sunlife
Insurance Co. in Montreal and worked as a senior systems analyst
until her retirement. Having been transferred to Toronto, she
became active in the Anglican parish of St. Philip-the-Apostle
and was a champion of liturgical reforms. She was involved in
the peace and environmental movements with the Raging Grannies.
She is survived by her elder brother, John
TENNANT, and her three
children, Elizabeth, John and Hugh, her daughter-in-law Kathy,
and her very special granddaughters, Cristina and Imogen. A Funeral
Service will be held on Saturday, September 27 at 1 p.m. from
St. Philip-the-Apostle Church, 201 Caribou Rd., Toronto.
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DANSON o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-09-22 published
Quiet minister a Trudeau stalwart
Former Bay Street whiz kid helped revamp Canada's social safety
net and served as both secretary of state and labour minister
By Ron CSILLAG
Special to The Globe and Mail Monday, September
22, 2003 - Page R7
His children possess no qualms about pronouncing Martin
O'CONNELL
as having been a bit of a policy wonk. "Oh, totally," says his
son John.
"My dad wasn't interested in money -- odd, given his Bay Street
successes. Just policy, and formulating policy."
"He was a classic workaholic," concurs Mr.
O'CONNELL's daughter
Caryn. "He was just driven by his work. It's one of the things
that kept him going."
Rare is the politician remembered for self-effacing skills and
effectiveness rather than bombast. Mr.
O'CONNELL was indeed serious
and conscientious. He worked hard and achieved much. But of all
the cabinet ministers from the Pierre
TRUDEAU era, his name probably
rings the quietist bell for Canadians old enough to recall names
like Don Jamieson, Otto Lang and Marc Lalonde.
Mr. O'CONNELL, who died in Toronto on August 11 at 87 of complications
from Parkinson's disease, served as Canada's labour minister
on two separate occasions, and was Mr.
TRUDEAU's principal secretary
for two years when Trudeaumania had been replaced by the infuriation
of millions with Canada's philosopher-king.
How does one keep a low profile in federal politics, especially
in a contentious cabinet post? Mr.
O'CONNELL did it by guiding
the country with a steady hand through great labour turbulence
in the early 1970s, including convincing his boss to pass emergency
legislation that terminated work stoppages at the Vancouver and
Montreal dockyards.
"He was an exceptionally low-key guy. He liked it that way,"
recalls Barney
DANSON, who served as Minister of National Defence
in the Trudeau cabinet. Doubtless Mr.
TRUDEAU saw in Mr.
O'CONNELL
a kind of kinship. Both men were unflappable philosophers and
academics at heart who entered politics relatively late in life,
both sacrificing cushier lives to hasten Mr.
TRUDEAU's vaunted
"just society."
For Mr. O'CONNELL, the bug bit in 1965 when he and two other
Bay Street whiz kids were summoned to Ottawa by then finance
minister Walter
GORDON -- still stinging from a disastrous budget
two years earlier -- to help revamp Canada's social safety net.
The group ultimately designed policies that led to the Canada
Pension Plan, the Municipal Loan Development Fund and medicare.
Martin Patrick
O'CONNELL was one of four children born in Victoria
to a mother from Ontario and a horticulturist father from County
Kerry in Ireland who farmed a few acres and raised livestock.
Mr. O'CONNELL taught elementary school for six years and completed
a B.A. at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, before beginning
a wartime stint in the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps and
Infantry Regiment. Haunted perhaps by the death of his brother
Johnny, cut down in the battle for Caen, France, in June, 1944,
Mr. O'CONNELL volunteered for action in the Pacific just as the
fighting ceased.
It was while in uniform that he met his future wife of 58 years,
Helen Alice
DIONNE.
The two met at the Art Gallery of Ontario
while Mr. O'CONNELL was on leave from his base, and Ms.
DIONNE
was volunteering at the museum.
He spent the decade after the war at the University of Toronto,
earning graduate degrees in economics and political science and
lecturing on Plato, John Stuart Mill and liberal democratic principles.
He had learned French for his doctoral thesis on Henri Bourassa,
one of the first scholarly studies in English on the fiery Quebec
journalist and Canadian nationalist.
Academia gave way to Bay Street, where Mr.
O'CONNELL spent 11
years in investing and bond underwriting while heading the volunteer
Indian and Eskimo Association of Canada, as it was then called,
where he represented aboriginal concerns to governments and encouraged
the devolution of federal powers to native groups.
He had run and lost in 1965 in the federal seat of Greenwood
in Toronto but was swept up in the 1968 Trudeau whirlwind, winning
the seat of Scarborough East. In 1971, he was named Secretary
of State, and was appointed Labour Minister the following year,
just before Mr.
TRUDEAU called an election that ended in a minority
Liberal government. Mr.
O'CONNELL, like 46 other Grit members
of parliament, was defeated.
But he bounced back as Mr.
TRUDEAU's principal secretary for
those two lean minority years between 1972 and 1974. Mr.
O'CONNELL
laid the groundwork for Mr.
TRUDEAU's first official visit to
the People's Republic of China in 1973 and was instrumental in
establishing diplomatic relations with Beijing. (His interest
in China would later find expression in his role as co-chair
of the Canadian Foundation for the Preservation of Chinese Cultural
and Historical Treasures.)
Mr. O'CONNELL also reshaped the Prime Minister's Office in an
effort to bring the party closer to the grassroots of Canadian
society.
The 1974 general election returned a majority Liberal government
and Mr. O'CONNELL as the Member of Parliament for Scarborough
East. In 1978, he was back as Labour Minister.
Around the cabinet table, "he wasn't terribly assertive," recalls
Mr. DANSON. "He only spoke when he knew what he was talking about."
During question period, "he was logical and solid. He was never
asked the same question twice. He exuded integrity."
Mr. O'CONNELL lost to Tory Gordon
GILCHRIST in the 1979 and 1980
elections (the latter by 511 votes) and he took no pleasure in
Mr. GILCHRIST's resignation of the seat in 1984 after a tax-evasion
conviction.
Mr. O'CONNELL took a stab at the presidency of the Liberal Party,
losing by two just votes. Despite the lack of backing by old
Friends, he took the losses gracefully, saying they were part
of politics. "They all say that," remarked Mr.
O'CONNELL's long-time
friend David
GOLDBERG. "He took it stoically, but hard."
He bid politics farewell and returned to the private sector as
a consultant to government agencies and corporations. The only
time his name was ever remotely linked to controversy was in
1983. He was acting as a consultant to multinational drug companies
when he was hired by the government to consult on legislation
the companies wanted repealed. Mr.
O'CONNELL disclosed his role
with the drug companies immediately, and Ottawa explained he
was tapped precisely because he knew his way around the industry.
He was a taciturn man but prescient when he pronounced, in 1984,
that tobacco smoke was a legitimate health problem in the workplace.
As head of the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety,
Mr. O'CONNELL commented on the recently changed Canada Labour
Code: "My own feeling is that the right to refuse work is an
essential right, ... personally, I wouldn't think it would be
an abuse [of the legislation] to refuse work because of tobacco
smoke.''
Mr. O'CONNELL's daughter Caryn recalls somewhat ruefully that
as a child she would sometimes hesitate to tell her Friends'
parents about what her father did for a living, fearing a typical
tirade about Mr.
TRUDEAU.
"But my Dad really was different," she recalls. "He may not have
been as colourful [as other politicians] but he taught us to
play fair and to accept defeat. He taught us the values of honesty,
tolerance, patience and the concept of justice. But we never
felt pressured. He never force-fed us. I think he was the rare
person who entered politics to do good."
Mr. O'CONNELL leaves his wife, children, a brother, sister, four
grandchildren and something rare indeed: a good name.
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DANYLAK o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-08-09 published
Bishop served Ukrainian Catholics
Priest confronted the Vatican over mandatory retirement and ordination
of married ministers
By Jordan HEATH-
RAWLINGS
Saturday,
August 9, 2003 - Page F10
Toronto -- Isidore
BORECKY, who served as Ukrainian Eparch for
Toronto and Eastern Canada for more than half a century, died
in his sleep on July 23 at Toronto Western Hospital after a long
illness. He was 92.
His death came mere hours before Reverend Stephen
CHMILAR was installed
as Ukrainian Catholic bishop of Toronto and Eastern Canada, the
post Father
BORECKY fought long and hard to keep.
Born in Ostrivets, Ukraine, on October 1, 1911, Father
BORECKY
dedicated more than 60 years of his life to the priesthood, and
spent his time fostering religious vocations, establishing lay
organizations, churches and senior citizens homes for Ukrainian
Catholics.
Father BORECKY,
Canada's last bishop ordained by Pope Pius Twelfth,
entered the priesthood in Munich in July of 1938. He then left
Germany for Canada in November of the same year.
From 1938 to 1941, he worked in several churches in Saskatchewan
and Manitoba. In 1941, he was appointed pastor at Saint John the
Baptist Church in Brantford, Ontario, where he would work for
seven years, serving his faithful as well as mission parishes
in nearby Grimsby, Niagara Falls, St. Catharines, Thorold and
Welland.
On March 3, 1948, Father
BORECKY was named by Pope Pius Twelfth to
the post of Apostolic Exarch of Eastern Canada. He was consecrated
in St. Michael's Cathedral on May 27, and began to organize the
new exarchate. During the next eight years, he would achieve
his most memorable goal, as the exarchate was raised to the status
of eparchy, or diocese, in 1956.
Some of Father
BORECKY's most notable work came in Toronto during
this period, when he oversaw the rise of many Catholic church
institutions -- he encouraged parishioners to erect St. Michael's
Roman Catholic Church -- and helped to integrate Eastern Rite
Catholic schools into the framework of what would eventually
become the Toronto Catholic District School Board.
On February 24, 1952, Father
BORECKY celebrated a divine liturgy
at St. Teresa's Church, and during the service he encouraged
the faithful to begin the construction of their own church building.
A church property was purchased for $1,500 and
on March 22, 1954,
Father BORECKY blessed it. Parishioners donated their time and
labour and
on September 6, 1954, the parish hall was opened.
The consecration of the church was celebrated on October 16,
1954, and Reverend
Walter
FIRMAN was appointed the first parish priest.
As leader of Canada's largest Ukrainian Catholic diocese, Father
BORECKY was very approachable, said Reverend Taras
DUSANOWSKYJ, who
is currently pastor at St. Peter and Paul Ukrainian Catholic
Church in Toronto.
"He was very much oriented towards his people," he said. "He
was very welcoming, open and certainly ecumenical.
"He had a relationship with everyone. He knew all his clergy
by name, he knew a lot of the parishioners. He was a very warm
person."
He was also a man who stood devoutly for his eparchy's right
to practise the Eastern Rites.
Serving as bishop at a time after the Vatican decreed in 1929
that no married men could be ordained into the priesthood, he
would arrange for his priests who had wives or wished to marry
to be transported to Yugoslavia or Ukraine, where they could
be ordained in the traditional Eastern rites, which does not
require celibacy.
Father DUSANOWSKYJ, who is one of 40 married priests out of about
75 in the eparchy, said the Vatican did not take well to his
plans, but couldn't stop a man who was so strong-minded.
"Certainly there were times when he got his wrist slapped, or
he would be called in so they could complain," he said. "But
for the most part he simply ignored it because he knew that this
was part of our tradition, and without married clergy our eparchy
would have been in a tremendous shortage."
Father BORECKY kept the title of bishop until 1998, at the age
of 86, 11 years past his required retirement age, when he relinquished
it after five years of sparring with the Vatican over the naming
of bishop Roman
DANYLAK as apostolic administrator for the Toronto
eparchy.
Father BORECKY confronted the Vatican over the rule, which states
that bishops must retire at the age of 75. He contended that
the rule did not apply to him, as he was leader of an Eastern
Rite church.
One last accolade came in December of last year, when Ukrainian
President Leonid
KUCHMA gave him, along with Archbishop Vsevolod
MAJDANSKI of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the United States,
special commendation orders for service to Ukraine.
Father BORECKY's funeral was held on July 26 at the Ukrainian
Catholic Church of the Holy Dormition, his funeral mass led by
Ukraine's
Cardinal
Lubomyr
HUSAR, the Major Archbishop of Lviv
and spiritual leader to more than five million Ukrainian Catholics
worldwide. He has been buried in the family plot at Mount Peace
Cemetery.
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