RENAUD
RENNICK
RENNIE
RENO
RENWICK
RENAUD o@ca.on.manitoulin.howland.little_current.manitoulin_expositor 2003-10-29 published
Josephine "Joyce"
RENAUD
In loving memory of Josephine "Joyce"
RENAUD who passed away peacefully on
Friday, October 24, 2003 at Manitoulin Health Centre at the age of 74 years.
Daughter of Michael Sr. and Sophie
MANITOWABI (predeceased.) Predeceased by
dear friend Wesley
GORDON "
Bud" from Sault. Ste. Marie, Michigan. Loved
sister of Margaret
JACKSON
(Robert predeceased) of Manitowaning, Michael
MANITOWABI (predeceased 1986,) Alphonse
MANITOWABI of Toronto, and Betty
CRACK
(Mervyn) of Little Current. Joyce was like a mother to her friend
Mickie GUERRA and family of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. Will be remembered
forever by many nieces, nephews, cousins and Friends.
Visitation was held on Sunday, October 26, 2003. Funeral service was held
on Monday, October 27, 2003 at Buzwah Church. Burial in Buzwah Cemetery. Island Funeral Home.
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RENAUD o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-01-17 published
June Simpson
RENAUD.
By Stephen and David
SWICK
Friday,
January 17, 2003, Page A18
Painter, mother, naturalist, soul searcher. Born June 17, 1917,
in London, Ontario. Died October 4, 2002, in Trenton, Ontario,
of ailments including diabetes, aged 85.
When her children were teenagers, keen to see Elvis Presley's
debut on the Ed Sullivan Show, June's humour got in on the act.
Just before the King came on -- the power in their house cut
off. The children screamed in horror! Laughter filtered up from
the basement, the power came back on, and the screams turned
to groans of "Oh, Mom."
June's jokes could have an edge, but her laughter was infectious
and the fun in her eyes clear. "The only kind of people I don't
like," she once said, "are boring people. Even mean people are
interesting. But boring people are just boring."
She practical-joked until the end. She lived with curiosity,
humour, and great gratitude, but without conventional faith.
She stunned her small-town Anglican minister by casually announcing
that she didn't believe in hell. She professed spiritual, rather
than religious beliefs. She saw God in nature, in the flow and
rhythm of all life.
She worshipped accordingly. Her garden was shockingly rich --
she called it her jungle. Owls roosted there. Clans of raccoons
peered down from treetops. Rabbits munched her red tulips. The
hedges grew to more than 30-feet tall. June could sit and look
at the wind in the trees for an hour -- not think, just look.
Nature was welcome inside, too. The indoor plants got special
treatment: having read that it might help their growth, June
breathed on them every night. In her sun porch she raised Monarch
butterflies, from August caterpillars through the chrysalis stage,
to when she would open the door and they could fly to Mexico.
Her love of nature led her to attend art school in Montreal,
and to a national reputation for painting dog portraits. From
the 1940s through the 1960s, her art adorned magazine advertisements
and calendars across Canada. All of her life she kept dogs, too
the best behaved, funniest, happiest dogs you ever saw.
While still in school June married Alec
RENAUD, thrilling two
mothers. June and Alec's mothers were best Friends, secretly
wishing for their children to fall in love and marry. They wanted
this to happen so much they never expressed it to the kids. Naturally,
romance bloomed. The couple was blessed with two children, Laurie
and Susan. June's second great-grandchild was born this past
summer.
She read broadly and saw it as a conversation between her and
the author. Although a lover of storytelling, many of her favourite
authors wrote nonfiction: Thoreau, Emerson, Guy Murchie, Joseph
Campbell, Thich Nhat Hanh. The right book comes to you, she believed,
at the right time.
June offered life lessons while rarely saying so. She showed
the power of being where you are, doing what you are doing, and
doing it with heart.
Our hearts are broken a little further open now; one more lesson
from June. Life seems to be about having your heart opened further
and further, and that hurts. But there's nothing for it but to
remain curious about it all, even death.
June would have said, "Especially death." She saw death as a
big adventure, the prize at the end of the party. "Finally,"
she said, "you get to solve the mystery." She was so curious
to see what death was like, so determined to die awake.
On a fresh, bright day in autumn, June's wish was filled. The
last time we talked she said, "I have lived a wonderful life,
and now I'm having a beautiful death." She continued, "I don't
want to be mourned -- more than a little. I want my death to
be celebrated, like my life."
We are doing our best.
Stephen and David
SWICK are June
RENAUD's great-nephews.
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RENAUD 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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RENNICK o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-07-07 published
BOYD,
Nancy
(Muff)
Graham
Born in Toronto on September 12, 1924 and died in Toronto on
Saturday, July 5, 2003. She had multiple sclerosis for over forty
years and her death was due to the complications resulting from
this disease. She faced life and her health affliction with great
courage and fortitude and never once complained. She attended
school at King's Hall, Compton in Quebec in the Class of 1942.
Muff served in the Royal Canadian Air Force 1944-1945 and was
stationed in Montreal, Brandon and Patricia Bay. Daughter of
the late John A.
BOYD and Billie Buntin
BOYD.
Much loved sister
of John A. (Sandy)
BOYD and great friend of his wife, Gloria.
Greatly missed by her three nieces, Nicky Cameron, Georgia (Craig
RENNICK) and Ginny (Neil
MacDONALD,) along with their six children:
Boyd, Gillian, Rachel, David, Elise and Brianna. Cremation has
taken place. A funeral service will be held at the Humphrey Funeral
Home - A. W. Miles Chapel, 1403 Bayview Avenue (south of Eglinton
Avenue East), on Thursday, July 10, 2003 at one o'clock. In lieu
of flowers and in memory of Muff, donations may be made to either
the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada, 250 Bloor Street East,
Toronto M4W 3P9 or to Georgian Bay Land Trust, 2482 Yonge Street,
P.O. Box 99, Toronto M4P 3E3.
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RENNIE o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-07-10 published
GROSSO,
Dr.
Roberto
Born in Rome, Italy on November 11th, 1928. Died on Tuesday,
July 8th, 2003 at home surrounded by loved ones. He is survived
by his loving wife
Caroline (née
PANCARO,) his four daughters,
Cristina GAGE, Francesca
GROSSO, Beth
GROSSO and Sylvia
RENNIE
his three sons-in-law, Brian
GAGE,
Steve
PAIKIN, and Scott
RENNIE,
and his four grandchildren, Alessandra and Robert
GAGE,
Matthew
RENNIE and Giulia
PAIKIN. Dear brother of Maria Grazia Grosso
ROSSI (husband Filippo) of Rome, Italy and Gian Carlo
GROSSO,
predeceased (wife Alessandra of Rome, Italy).
Visitation to be held at the Jackson and Barnard Funeral Home,
233 Larch Street, Sudbury, Sunday, July 13th from 2: 00 to 6:00
p.m. Prayers 3: 00 p.m. Sunday. Funeral Mass to take place at
Christ the King Church, 30 Beech Street, Sudbury on Monday, July
14th at 10: 00 a.m.
In lieu of flowers, donations to the ''Dr. Roberto Grosso Memorial
Fund'' for St. Joseph's Villa would be appreciated.
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RENO 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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RENWICK o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-09-03 published
Albert John
RENWICK
By Shane RENWICK
Wednesday,
September 3, 2003 - Page A22
Father, grandfather, carpenter, steward of the land. Born June
6, 1917 in Dalkeith, Ontario Died August 15, in Ottawa, of Lou
Gehrig's disease, aged 86.
Albert
(Bert)
John
RENWICK was born on the family farm near Vankleek
Hill in eastern Ontario. He was a middle child of seven born
into a family that lived off the land during hard economic times.
Dad's upbringing generated the themes of his life -- love of
family and the land, and a deep appreciation of nature.
My sisters, Donna and Karen, and I grew up listening to tales
of Dad's early life. There was rarely money, he said, but there
was always plenty to eat, lots to celebrate and a supportive
family. Dad kept us spellbound with stories of his days in a
one-room schoolhouse; plowing fields with the team of horses
working in the sugar bush; making regular trips by horse and
wagon to the cheese factory and the sawmill; going to barn dances
and making trips to "The Hill" in a sleigh over snow when "the
drifts were as high as the telegraph wires."
Early experiences had a profound influence on my father's life.
He developed independence, a dedication to hard work, frugality
and morality; and a desire to work with his hands. Dad's shy
and gentle nature, sense of humour, enthusiasm and generosity
were formed in those early years and endeared him to all, especially
his grandchildren.
As a young man, Dad took the practical skills he learned on the
farm and put them to use. He moved to Ottawa in the 1940s to
work at Vendall Machines building navigation equipment for the
military. In 1952, he started a carpentry business, married Geraldine
BOWN and built his own house. He worked as his own boss in the
building and renovation business in the Ottawa area for the next
30 years.
Dad's many loyal customers were impressed not only by the quality
of his workmanship but by how hard he worked. It seemed fitting
that the three-year-old
son of one of Dad's customers, who loved
noisy power tools but had some difficulty with surnames, used
to exclaim when he saw Dad's vehicle pull into the laneway: "Mom,
look! Here comes Mr. Racket!"
Dad was proud of his work. Nothing made his eyes sparkle more
than to recall a customer saying, "Mr.
RENWICK, you did a lovely
job!" or a neighbour complimenting him on his award-winning flower
garden. It touched him when the fruits of his labour made others
happy.
Dad's pride and joy was Rideau Trail Farm, a 19th-century homestead
on the Rideau River near Merrickville that he and Mom bought
in the late 1950s. This property became a focus for his energy
and a summer home for his three children and 11 grandchildren.
He restored the gingerbread-brick house and log sheds; built
split-rail fences and a horse barn and bird houses; grew organic
berries that are still famous in the area; planted native conifers
by the thousands; and carved riding and ski trails out of the
woods. "The farm" lit a pioneer spirit in Dad and made him feel
honoured to be the steward of a piece of Ontario history.
Trees were special in Dad's life. Trees provided the wood with
which he made his living, connected him to nature and allowed
him to influence the future. Planting and tending to trees were
Dad's passions right to his final days. He would remind us often
that our lives are short compared with those of trees and that
we should be humbled by this. Dad knew that by planting trees
he would leave a living legacy on Earth for centuries after he
was gone.
Dad died peacefully surrounded by his family after a courageous
battle with a cruel disease that robbed him of his mobility but
left his senses intact.
He passed away knowing that we were proud of the way he tended
to his family and his land.
Shane is Bert's eldest son.
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