DEFRANCO o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-02-13 published
Gordon Kenneth
FLEMING/FLEMMING
By Jack FORTIN
Thursday,
February 13, 2003, Page A30
Musician, husband, father. Born August 3, 1931, in Winnipeg.
Died August 31, 2002, in Scarborough, Ontario, following a stroke,
aged 71.
Gordie FLEMING/FLEMMING was a remarkable music talent, known internationally
as a master of the accordion, especially in the jazz idiom. He
was a life member of Local 149 of the Toronto Musicians' Association.
In show-business vernacular, Gordie was "born in a trunk." He
began playing accordion when his older brother gave him lessons.
His musical ability was such that he began performing publicly
at the age of five. His schoolteachers often saw him being whisked
away in a taxi to perform at theatres and radio stations in Winnipeg.
By the age of 10, he was a working member of various bands in
that city.
In 1949, Gordie lost his accordion in a fire at a Winnipeg hotel.
With the insurance money, he headed for the bright lights of
Montreal where he soon became an important part of that city's
musical life. His accordion ability was complemented by the fact
that he was also a gifted arranger and composer.
He had a marvellous ability to improvise and could string out
complex bebop lines, leaving his listeners in awe. He often slipped
a jazz phrase into ballads or commercial tunes, confirming that
jazz was indeed his first love.
One of Montreal's busiest musicians, he wrote for local orchestras,
shows, radio and television. He had perfect pitch and often wrote
without reference to a keyboard. He was at home in every type
of music from classics to jazz. For several years, he worked
at the National Film Board as a composer and musician.
In Montreal, Gordie performed with many show business headliners:
there was a wealth of home-grown talent in Montreal, such as
Oscar PETERSON and Maynard
FERGUSON, as well as other jazz musicians
who were beginning to be noticed.
Gordie had said that when when he first heard bebop it was like
entering another world. As his career indicates, he had no trouble
in that world. He worked with many personalities including: Charlie
PARKER, Mel
TORMÉ, Hank
SNOW, Lena
HORNE, Englebert
HUMPERDINCK,
Dennis DAY, Gordon
MacRAE, Cab
CALLOWAY, Nat King
COLE, Cat
STEVENS,
Rich LITTLE, Billy
ECKSTEIN, Pee Wee
HUNT, Arthur
GODFREY and
Buddy DEFRANCO.
He also performed with Tommy
AMBROSE,
Allan
MILLS, Wally
KOSTER,
Tommy HUNTER,
Bert
NIOSI, Wayne and Shuster, Canadian Broadcasting
Corporation jazz shows with Al
BACULIS, and many other Canadian
jazz musicians.
On Montreal's French music scene, Gordie performed on radio and
television with Emile
GENEST, Ti-Jean
CARIGNAN,
André
GAGNON
and Ginette
RENO. He was a featured soloist with the Montreal
Symphony Orchestra on several occasions.
Internationally, Gordie toured France in 1952 and performed with
Edith PIAF and Tino
ROSSI. He had the honour to perform for former
prime minister Pierre Elliot
TRUDEAU at a Commonwealth Conference.
He participated with other top Canadian musicians in a Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation tour to entertain Canadian and the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization troops in Europe in 1952 and 1968.
For me, a memorable experience was playing in a group with Gordie
for several winters in Florida. A popular member of the Panama
City Beach family of musicians, Gordie looked forward to his
winter trek south. Many of the American musicians will miss him,
as will the many snowbirds who looked forward to hearing him
each year.
His extensive repertoire allowed Gordie to author a book called
Music of the World, in which he wrote the music to 280 songs
from more than 30 countries.
Gordie leaves his wife of 47 years, Joanne, and seven children.
Jack FORTIN is Gordie's friend.
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DEFREITAS 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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