JARVIS o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-04-03 published
Valetta May
ROSE
By Jim PATTERSON
Thursday,
April 3, 2003 - Page A22
Valetta May
ROSE
Domestic worker, farmer and comic writer's muse. Born in Warsaw,
Ontario, January 9, 1912. Died January 16, in Toronto, of a stroke,
aged 91.
On January 16, 2003, Valetta
ROSE, 91, spoke with her brother,
Ken DRAIN, and her niece, Dora
BARR, by phone from her home in
Norwood, Ontario Then she got into a limousine to go to a large
family party in Toronto, to celebrate her nephew David
PATTERSON's
birthday. On the way, she sat with her great-nephew Paul, his
partner Cathy and their six-week-old daughter, Kira, and was
delighted to have the baby beside her for the trip.
There were more than 100 people at the party, but Valetta held
court, greeting family members. Then, at 7 p.m., she suffered
a stroke, and died instantly in her daughter Beattie's arms.
Born on January 9, 1912, Valetta was the second child of David
DRAIN and Christina
EDWARDS, who farmed near Warsaw, Ontario
The DRAIN household was full of fiddle, piano and song; people
arrived by horse and sled for music in the parlour, food in the
kitchen and children everywhere. When Valetta's mother went into
labour to deliver her sister Cora, Valetta's older brother Ivan
was told to take his 20-month-old sister to grandma's house.
Ivan was 3 and the house was two kilometres away -- but those
were different times. Off the pair toddled, perfectly capable
and perfectly safe.
As teenagers, Valetta and Cora set off for Toronto to work as
domestics, eventually earning a respectable $25 per month plus
room and board.
In 1943, Valetta married the love of her life, Ted
ROSE.
They
farmed together outside Warsaw for 32 years. One night just after
they were married, they went to Peterborough to see a movie.
Afterward, walking up George Street, Valetta mused aloud about
how lovely it would be to own a bedroom suite like the one in
a store's display window. The next day, Ted came home with the
furniture. Valetta never did discover how he'd afforded it.
In 1975, Ted and Valetta sold the farm and retired to Norwood.
Ted died in 1987.
Last year, Valetta set off for Scotland with her daughters Beattie
and Judy, their husbands, Bob
BECHTEL and David
GORDON, and Judy
and David's two sons, Ian and Paul. Valetta announced, "On this
trip, I just want to enjoy being all together." For three weeks,
they drove around staying at bed and breakfasts and exploring
the islands off the north coast. She was planning another trip
this year -- to Judy's home in Vancouver.
For 40 years, Valetta followed the advice of one Dr.
JARVIS,
whose book Folk Medicine taught the benefits of lecithin, and
she followed his prescription for a daily teaspoon of apple cider
vinegar mixed with honey in a half glass of water to keep herself
free from the worst of arthritis and other afflictions. Valetta
knew that the secret of caring for others was simply to enjoy
their company and, as the family "Information Central," loved
to share stories of their successes.
She had her own place in Canadian cultural history. Filmmaker
Norman JEWISON, a cousin, mentioned Valetta to writer Don
HARRON,
who immediately claimed her for use as the wife of his fictional
character Charlie
FARQUHARSON.
Soon
Valetta was credited with
writing down Charlie's Hist'ry of Canada on those days when it
was "too wet to plough." A highlight of Valetta's 90th birthday
party was a card and framed photo from her "second husband."
Valetta made the best of every minute. She spent her last night
on the bed that Ted had bought for her so many years before.
Her spirit will delight family and Friends for years to come.
Jim PATTERSON is Valetta's sister Cora's youngest son. He was
helped by Beattie, Ken, Cora
HENDREN and Stephen
PATTERSON.
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JARVIS o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-04-04 published
DEVLIN,
Major
Edward
Gordon
Died suddenly on April 2, 2003. A former student of the Royal
Conservatory of Music, distinguished World War 2 veteran, avid
concert goer and antique collector. Beloved brother of Betty
JARVIS, the late Dorothy
BAGSHAW and the late John
DEVLIN.
Dear
Uncle of Bill
BAGSHAW, Bettyann
WARD, Carolyn
MacLEOD, John
KINGSMILL,
Julie, Jane and Lesley
DEVLIN and predeceased by his niece Gillian
KINGSMILL. Devoted Great Uncle of Joshua,
CONNOR and Caitlin
KINGSMILL, Laura
THORNBERRY, John
WARD and Susan
ENGLAND, Cameron
and Kaylie
MacLEOD and Ellie, Kate and Alex
POMERANT.
The family
would like to thank the caring staff at The Briton House. Friends
may visit on Saturday, April 5th from 11: 00 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.
at Morley Bedford Funeral Home at 159 Eglinton Avenue West (2
stoplights west of Yonge St.), Toronto, following which a private
family service will be held. In lieu of flowers, donations to
the Toronto Humane Society or a charity of your choice would
be appreciated.
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JARVIS o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-04-11 published
MUNNS,
Diane
(JARVIS)
Of Wellesley Hills, died April 8, 2003, peacefully at home. She
had been married to Robert T.
MUNNS for fifty years. Besides
her husband, she is survived by her three daughters and their
spouses: Robin and Tony
HAWKSHAW of Vancouver, British Columbia
Janet and Tom
TUMILTY of Wellesley, Massachusetts; and Lesley
and Dave OSBORN also of Wellesley; nine grandchildren, Michael,
Meghan, Stephen, and Gordon Hawkshaw, Katie, Allie, and Meri
TUMILTY, and Anne and Scott
OSBORN. A private family goodbye
was held at home, Thursday, April 10, 2003.
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JARVIS o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-05-21 published
A character in life and work
Toronto-born actor played supporting roles in hundreds of films
and television shows, including the cult-hit sitcom Mary Hartman
By Bill GLADSTONE
Special to The Globe and Mail Wednesday, May
21, 2003 - Page R5
As a genial, six-foot, balding performer who wore a trademark
mustache and glasses, Graham
JARVIS was not the leading-man type.
The Toronto-born actor from a privileged background, who died
last month in California at 72, courted but never achieved stardom
and instead gained a kind of small-roles fame by appearing in
hundreds of supporting parts in film and television productions.
Mr. JARVIS took character parts in films as diverse as Alice's
Restaurant, Cold Turkey, Middle Age Crazy, Silkwood and Misery,
and a similar assortment of television shows including Star Trek,
ER, Murder She Wrote, Gunsmoke, The X-Files and Six Feet Under.
His first role was as an understudy in a mid-1950s Broadway production
of Tennessee Williams's Orpheus Descending, and his last was
as the grandfather in an episode of the television series Seventh
Heaven, which aired four days after his death in April.
He is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Charlie Haggers,
the devoted husband of a country singer in the 1970s television
sitcom Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. "Nobody outside the business
knows my name, but it doesn't bother me," he told an interviewer
in 1982. "Fans still know me as Charlie, years after we went
off the air. Fans went nuts over that character for some reason
and I love the guy myself."
A scion of the historic Toronto family for whom
JARVIS
Street
is named, Graham Powely
JARVIS was also the grand_son of John
LABATT
Jr., who built up the famous Labatt brewery. A strain
of theatrical talent obviously runs in the Labatt blood: His
cousins include two legendary theatre personalities -- nonagenarian
actor Hume
CRONYN and Broadway producer Robert
WHITEHEAD, who
died last year.
It was Mr.
WHITEHEAD who helped Mr.
JARVIS attain the gig in
Orpheus Descending and an audition at the Barter Theatre in Abbingdon,
Va., where he trained for three seasons. Mr.
CRONYN also helped
him land a Broadway role, Mr.
JARVIS said in 1982, adding that
he rarely liked to mention the celebrated theatrical connections
within his own family.
"This is the first time I've let this information out because
I've tried not to trade on it," he said. "But I guess I've been
around long enough now not to worry about it."
His father, an investment banker who was instrumental in founding
what is today known as Scotia McLeod and was later president
of Labatt, moved the family to New York when Graham was 5. He
was sent to Bishop Ridley College, a prep school in St. Catharines,
Ontario, and later to Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts.
A confused dropout at 23, he found work on the midnight shift
in a penny arcade on 42nd Street in Manhattan. Then a friend
invited him to watch an off-Broadway troupe in rehearsal and
a light went on in his head. "I can do that!" he told himself,
and he never looked back.
"Graham was such a great character actor because he could just
go into character," said his niece, Sandra
JARVIS of Toronto.
"He was just brilliant that way. You'd be having a conversation
with him and he'd just don a role, and it would take you a second
to realize that Graham was now acting. Anyone who knew him well
could just see this glow in his eyes -- this glint that told
you he knew he was having fun with you."
"He loved acting," said his friend, actor Wil
ALBERT. "
When
he was acting he was like a little boy going to the candy store."
Mr. JARVIS was a graduate of the American Theatre Wing acting
school as well as of the Barter Theatre. He was an original member
of the Lincoln Center Repertory Theater and a veteran of many
Broadway and off-Broadway productions.
His first film role (in Bye Bye Braverman, 1968) enticed him
to move to Hollywood, and he soon landed the part of the narrator
in the stage production of The Rocky Horror Show at the Roxy
Theatre on Sunset Boulevard.
Television producer Norman
LEAR spotted him there and eventually
recommended him for Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. Mr.
JARVIS also
appeared in the show's sequel, Forever Fernwood. Another memorable
role was of John Erlichman in Blind Ambition, a well-received
1979 television miniseries about the Watergate political scandal.
Relishing the idea of free airfare to Toronto where he had family
and Friends, Mr.
JARVIS took occasional work from the Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation. Former Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
producer Ross
McLEAN once told of auditioning him as a talk-show
host, but felt his bald dome would need to be covered. Mr.
JARVIS
owned a hairpiece but had left it in California.
"Makeup pulled 20-odd rugs out of storage," Mr.
McLEAN wrote.
"Everything he tried on looked absurdly out of place." Ultimately,
Mr. JARVIS arranged for his L.A. agent to go to his house, find
the hairpiece and rush it to Toronto.
"The rug made it on time," Mr.
McLEAN noted, adding that "I
have rarely seen a less convincing thatch of regrouped Hong Kong
hair." In short, Graham
JARVIS looked best -- and did the Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation audition -- as himself.
In a 1980s television series called Making the Grade, Mr.
JARVIS
played a buck-passing inner-city high-school principal who didn't
care that a student couldn't read. In real life, however, he
worked as a volunteer to teach literacy skills to young offenders.
"It was really fascinating to hear him talk about it," said
his wife, JoAnna. "He felt they couldn't read because they couldn't
speak -- they were speaking a street patois. He went back to
college to get his teaching certificate so he could do this on
a regular basis." Active in civic politics, he pushed for handgun
control and helped voters get to the polls on election day. He
also sang in his church choir and worked in its Sunday school.
"I think the consensus among almost everyone who knew Graham
is that he was a very warm, enjoyable man," said actor Jerry
HARDIN, a friend for almost 50 years.
"You came away feeling he was a good human being if you had any
contact with him. He was very empathetic. He had compassion for
people's difficulties and problems, and he would help them if
he could."
Friends and family also recall his storytelling skills and his
joy at giving visitors detailed historic tours of New York and
later Hollywood. By all accounts, he was a humble man.
"He didn't think he was nearly as successful as he was," said
Barbara WARREN, a niece. "He was always extremely surprised and
delighted when people would stop him on the street and ask him
for his autograph.
"He loved to deliver the lines and get the shock on your face,"
Ms. WARREN said. "You never saw him poise himself, he just
walked right in as if he was that person."
Mr. JARVIS died at his home in the Pacific Palisades area of
Los Angeles on April 16. Besides his wife, JoAnna, he leaves
sons Matthew and Alex in California and sister Kitty Blair in
Toronto.
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JARVIS o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-06-03 published
WELD,
Thomas
John
Died peacefully at his Toronto home on Saturday, May 31, 2003
in his 49th year, surrounded by his family. Tom handled his illness,
a 12½ year battle with brain cancer, with dignity and courage.
Tom is survived by his beloved wife of 25 years, Gillian (a true
Florence Nightingale), and was a proud father to daughter Ashley,
and son Christopher. Also survived by his mother, Harriet ''Sis''
Bunting WELD and father John Douglas
WELD
(Patricia,) sisters
Wendy JARVIS
(David▼) and Leeanne
KOSTOPOULOS (Chris;) nephews
Strachan and Pearce
JARVIS,
Andreus
KOSTOPOULOS, niece Olivia
KOSTOPOULOS, and mother-in-law Margaret
EASTON.
Tom was educated
at Trinity College School, Port Hope, and Ryerson Polytechnical
Institute. He then embarked on a career in the Graphic Arts Industry
where he spent 25 years with The Bryant Press Limited in Toronto.
Tom was an enthusiastic sportsman who was a long-time member
of The Toronto Golf Club, The Badminton and Racquet Club, and
The Osler Bluff Ski Club. The family would like to extend special
thanks to Annette Drinkwater for her months of care as well as
Dr. John RIEGER and Mamdough
REZK (R.N..) A funeral service will
be held at Saint John's Anglican Church (York Mills), 19 Don Ridge
Drive, Toronto, on Wednesday, June 4, 2003 at 11 a.m. with a
reception to follow. Private family interment at Mount Pleasant
Cemetery. The family would appreciate memorial donations to St.
Michael's Hospital Foundation, 30 Bond Street, Toronto, Ontario
M5B 1W8 or a charity of your choice.
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JARVIS 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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