SCRIVENER o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-08-19 published
Neighbours grieve power-outage victim
15-year-old who died in Ottawa-area house fire remembered for
'a big heart.
He was a good boy.'
By Jordan HEATH-
RAWLINGS and Kim
LUNMAN Tuesday, August 19, 2003
- Page A3
The house where Michael
THOMAS lived remains dark, burned-out
and deserted. The power has been restored to the a small Gloucester,
Ontario, neighbourhood, but the mood remains black.
"It shocked the community. It shocked everyone," said Tracy
YOUNG,
who lives beside the
THOMASes' house. "It's pretty tense around
here."
Michael's grieving family are staying in a motel while they recover
from the trauma. The 15-year-old boy died during last Thursday's
blackout, when a candle he took to ward off the darkness for
his frightened sister ignited a fire when he fell asleep.
"He went to comfort her because she was afraid of the dark,"
said neighbour Jim
SCRIVENER, who has set up a trust fund, along
with other members of the community, to help Michael's family
get back on their feet. "He had a big heart. He was a good boy.
"Michael was close to his sister and very protective of her,"
Mr. SCRIVENER said.
Michael, 15, was autistic and appeared much younger, he said,
and was more like an eight-year-old in his demeanour.
The fire started after Michael's sister, Jennifer, left the room
to join their mother, Erika, who was sitting outside. One of
the candles Michael had taken to her room ignited a stuffed animal.
Ms. THOMAS was sitting outside with various neighbours, including
Ms. YOUNG who lives next door, when the fire started.
Ms. YOUNG said that Ms.
THOMAS noticed the smoke when she went
in the house to put Jennifer back to bed.
"She ran back to my house and asked if I had a flashlight," Ms.
YOUNG said. "I asked her what was wrong and she said 'I smell
smoke,' so I grabbed the candle and ran up her stairs and you
couldn't get up. It was just filled with smoke.
"But we never heard a smoke alarm, we never even smelled anything,"
she said.
The house was equipped with three fire alarms, but all of them
were powered by alternating current electricity -- not batteries
and were not operating during the blackout.
Ms. YOUNG and Ms.
THOMAS ran to another neighbour's house, and
when he couldn't find a way in, some of those outside hooked
up Ms. YOUNG's garden hose and tried quench the flames in order
to rush up the stairs to Michael's aid.
"They were yelling his name inside, when they brought the hose
up, and they were screaming, really screaming, but there was
no answer, no nothing from him," she said. "Then they tried to
go on the roof and they broke the window and that's when the
fire department showed up."
Michael's parents and sister have been left homeless by the fire
and are living in an Ottawa motel while they grieve. The family
who were living in subsidized housing -- did not have insurance.
Michael's father, Dan, a security guard, was at work when the
fire occurred.
"They're still in shock," said Mr.
SCRIVENER, who started a fund
in Michael's name yesterday at the Gloucester Centre branch of
the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce in Ottawa. He said all
other Ottawa Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce branches will
also accept donations and that he is hoping Canadians across
the country will also help the family.
"They didn't have much to begin with," Mr.
SCRIVENER said. Michael's
sister "is taking it very, very hard," he said. The boy will
be buried after a funeral Friday.
His death was one of the few attributed to the blackout in most
of Ontario that left 10 million Canadians without electricity.
Another 40 million people in the northeastern United States,
from New York City to Ohio and Michigan, were also affected.
Another neighbour tried to save the teenager from the blaze at
the townhouse complex but was too late. He was pronounced dead
at hospital.
Mr. SCRIVENER remembered Michael during a happier time in the
neighbourhood when people gathered outside to gaze at the sky
during a lunar eclipse. Michael was there.
"He had a big smile that night," Mr.
SCRIVENER said. "He was
a nice kid."
Michael's young demeanour made him a perfect playmate for her
four-year-old son, Nathan, Ms.
YOUNG said.
"They got along so well. It was excellent," she said. "My son
would always ask me, 'Can I go play with Michael now?' "
"Michael would come over and see if Nathan could come out. They
would always play together. He was a beautiful kid. Very nice,
very shy, very polite. I never saw him hurt a fly... He was just
so funny. An excellent boy."
In addition to the trust fund set up by Mr.
SCRIVENER to help
the family get back on its feet, the neighbourhood is soliciting
donations to help pay for for flowers for Michael's funeral.
"Any extra money we get will go to help the family buy whatever
they need," Ms.
YOUNG said. "We want to do something, whatever
we can."
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SCRIVENER o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-08-23 published
SCRIVENER,
John
Rodney
Died peacefully, August 21, 2003, at home in Carlsbad, California.
Predeceased by his wife, Mildred, and by two of his brothers,
Richard and Robert. Survived by his children, Jay
SCRIVENER and
Jane CARTMELL of California, Judy
CLARK of Switzerland, Judy's
mother, Hazel, of Beaverton, two grandchildren and one great-grandchild,
and by his brother, Alan, of Toronto. An Engineering graduate
of the University of Toronto ('40), he worked with Alcan, Kaiser
Aluminum, Harvey Aluminum and Martin-Marietta. After retiring
in 1975, Rodney travelled extensively, by van and bicycle, in
Europe and Mexico, for 20 years. In 1995, he settled in Carlsbad,
close to his son, Jay. At Rodney's request, there will be no
memorial service. Condolences may be e- mailed care of jayscrivener@cox.net
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SCROGGIE o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-08-01 published
STOPPS,
Evelyn
(SCROGGIE)
After a short illness, died at St. Joseph's Health Centre on
July 30th, aged 80. Evelyn was born in Chatham, Ontario to George
E. SCROGGIE and the former Clarice Louis
VON
GUNTEN. Later Evelyn
won several scholarships at Westdale Collegiate Institute in
Hamilton enabling her to attend the University of Toronto, Victoria
College, for her B.A. degree after which she moved to the University
of Saskatchewan where she obtained an M.A in Physiology. Returning
to Ontario she obtained an M.D. in 1952 from the University of
Toronto, being one of only nine women in a class of 176.
In 1954 she married another physician, Jim
STOPPS.
The next few
years were devoted to raising a family of three girls. Winnie
is now an architect living in Boston. Jennie is an interior designer
in Toronto and Susan is a jeweller and silversmith also living
in Toronto. Evelyn developed a family practice in Bloor West
Village in Toronto while also working at Women's College Hospital
and The University of Toronto Health Centre. Evelyn died a much-loved
doctor, wife, mother and grandma. Her great joys were her patients,
her family (now including four grandchildren Max, Katy, Hannah
and Nicholas) and the world of nature. Funeral arrangements are
private and include a family gathering of remembrance at the
cottage.
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SCRYMGEOUR o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-09-05 published
SCRYMGEOUR,
John
Alexander, 82, died August 30, 2003 in New York.
Born on August 12, 1921 in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia he was the
son of Alice Rebecca
NEWBURY and Charles Edward
SCRYMGEOUR. He
is survived by his wife, Dana H.
SCRYMGEOUR; son, Jack (Ann)
and their children, Carly, Christy, Devon, Rosy and Luke; great
grand_sons, Nicholas and Isaac; son, Charles (Karen); son, Alexander
(Julie) and their daughter, Joanna; daughter, Nancy (Leslie)
and their children, Andrew and Faith; daughter, Tiffany
SHEWELL
(David) and their daughter, Chloe; and his sister, Shirley. A
proud Nova Scotian, he received his early education in Dartmouth
and attended Dalhousie University where he graduated in 1943
with a Bachelor of Commerce Degree. Following graduation, he
was commissioned in the Royal Canadian Navy where he served during
the Second World War. After the war, he departed for Western
Canada and became a major figure in the Alberta Oil Patch - first
as an executive with Home Oil and then with Commonwealth Petroleums
Limited, which at the time was Canada's largest oil well drilling
contractor. He expanded this enterprise into a global corporate
entity and further diversified into the field of plumbing and
electrical supply and distribution, forming Westburne International
Industries Limited. As the founding Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer of Westburne, he built one of the largest drilling, wholesale
plumbing and electrical supply and distribution companies in
North America with operations spanning the globe. One of John
SCRYMGEOUR's crowning business achievements was when, with Texan
partners, he formed
SEDCO
Industries to build offshore drilling
rigs and directed that the construction of several floating drill
rigs take place in his native province of Nova Scotia. John
SCRYMGEOUR
was the first Canadian to be named a Governor of the American
Stock Exchange; he was granted honorary doctorates from the Technical
University of Nova Scotia in 1984, Dalhousie University in 1993
and was elected to the Nova Scotia Business Hall of Fame in 2002.
John SCRYMGEOUR served on many corporate boards, including Brascan,
Luscar, Encal Energy, and
ATCO
Industries, was a director, life
member and strong supporter of the Fraser Institute, and an Honorary
Member of the Canadian Association of Oil Well Drilling Contractors.
A lifelong supporter of the arts, he made significant contributions
to the Edmonton Art Gallery, the Dalhousie Art Gallery, where
the main gallery is known as the Scrymgeour Gallery and to other
galleries and museums across Canada. He will be truly missed
by his family, many Friends and business associates and by countless
others for his quiet and discrete acts of kindness and generosity.
Funeral services will be held in Bermuda at Saint John's Anglican
Church. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Canadian
Cancer Society or Dalhousie Art Gallery.
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