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CLARKIN o@ca.on.middlesex_county.london.london_free_press 2005-11-26 published
ROELANDS, August " Gus" Mathew
At the Strathroy Middlesex General Hospital on Thursday, November 24, 2005. August "Gus" Mathew ROELANDS of Parkhill in his 75th year. Beloved husband of Adriana (DE GRAAF) ROELANDS. Dear father of Matthew and Frances ROELANDS, Peter and Anne ROELANDS, Andy and Marianne ROELANDS, Nancy and Tom CLARKIN, Mary-Lou and Frank VANDEN OUWELAND, Robert and Jacinta ROELANDS. Dear Opa to Christopher and Jennifer, Adrian and Jodi, Annette, Bridgette, Daniel, Teresa, Michael and Crystal, Michelle, Peter, Paul, Laura, David, Kevin, Stephen, Martin, Elizabeth, Angela, Christina, Adrian, Brian, Jeffrey, Mark, Jennifer, Derek, Alisha, Benjamin, Veronica, Andrew, Nicholas, Cecilia. Brother of Liza and Sjef VERHEYEN, Jan and Liza ROELANDS, Sjef and Anna ROELANDS, Riet and Charles BOEREN, Trees and Fons PYNENBURG, Kees and Hetty ROELANDS, Andre ROELANDS, Antoon and Gerda ROELANDS, Riet VAN DONGEN, Cor and Leny DE GRAAF, Nel VAN MEER, Janus and Miet DE GRAAF. Predeceased by brother Jos ROELANDS, sister-in-law and brothers-in-law Jos and Dina RENIERS, Janus VAN DONGEN, Piet VAN MEER. Resting at the M. Box and son Funeral Home, 183 Broad Street, Parkhill. Visitation Monday 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. Prayers in the funeral home 4: 00 p.m. Monday. Funeral Mass at the Sacred Heart Church Parkhill on Tuesday, November 29th at 11: 00 a.m. Reverend Father Michael RYAN will officiate. Donations to Strathroy "Right To Life" 402 Victoria Street, Strathroy, Ontario N7G 3B7. Share a memory or send condolences to www.boxfuneralhome.ca

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CLARKIN o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2005-07-07 published
COZZI, Margaret
Passed away on July 6th, 2005. She was the wife of Americo John COZZI and is survived by her sister-in-law Florence CLARKIN, her nephews Paul, Chris, and Phil CLARKIN, and her sons-in-law Paul, Peter, and James COZZI. A Mass will be celebrated at St. Michael's Cathedral.

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CLARKSON o@ca.on.middlesex_county.london.london_free_press 2005-01-28 published
OSMOND, Bernie (formerly LETCHER, née CRIM)
Peacefully at her residence, on Tuesday, January 25th, 2005, Bernie Letcher (née CRIM) OSMOND of London in her 68th year. Wife of the late Austin LETCHER. Beloved mother of Austin (Cathy) LETCHER, Donald (Denise) LETCHER, and Patricia LETCHER. Loving grandmother of Austin IV and Michael. Dear sister of Marie, Annie, Don and Kathy, Mel and Linda, Bill and Jean, Bea, and Bert. Also survived by numerous nieces and nephews. Predeceased by brothers-in-law, George GADBOIS, Ernie CLARKSON, Gordon MADILL and Gord CRAWFORD. Family and Friends will be received at the Westview Funeral Chapel, 709 Wonderland Road North (2 blocks north of Oxford), on Friday, January 28th, 2005 from 7: 00-9:00 p.m. There will be no funeral service. Cremation to follow. Those wishing to make a donation in memory of Bernie are asked to consider the London Health Sciences Foundation - Cancer Centre or the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

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CLARKSON o@ca.on.middlesex_county.london.london_free_press 2005-02-21 published
CASSIBO, Arthur
In loving memory of a dear husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather, Arthur who passed away one year ago today.
This past year without you
Is the hardest we've ever known.
We treasure every thought of you,
And keep them as our own.
Although we cannot see you
You are with us night and day.
For the love that was between us
Death cannot take away.
The nexttime we willsee you
Will be at Heaven's Doors
You'll be there to greet us
And we willcry no more.
We'll put our arms around you
And kiss your smiling face
Than the pieces of our broken hearts
Will fall back into place.
People tell us we have memories
But they don't understand
How can we hug a memory
Or hold a memory's hand.
If tears could built a stairway
And memories a lane
We'd walk right up to Heaven
And bring you home again.
Deeply loved and missed by wife Marjorie, children Heather (Mike) CLARKSON, Cindy (John) LAMBOURN and Dave (Tina) CASSIBO, 11 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren.

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CLARKSON o@ca.on.middlesex_county.london.london_free_press 2005-04-08 published
CLARKSON, William " Bill" Sr.
Peacefully with his family at his side on Tuesday, April 5, 2005, William "Bill" CLARKSON Sr. passed away in his 64th year. Beloved husband of Carol. Loving father of William Jr. (Kim), Michelle (Jaymie) CROOK. Dear grandpa of Skylar and Reece. Dear brother of Robert (Bev) CLARKSON and predeceased by his sister Janet BISO. Loved by many nieces and nephews. As per Bill 's wishes a private interment will take place at Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens. Donations to the Children's Health Foundation gratefully acknowledged. Arrangements entrusted to Memorial Funeral Home 452-3770.

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CLARKSON o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2005-01-06 published
CLARKSON, Guy▼
Died peacefully on Tuesday, January 4, 2005 in his 83rd year. Guy was the devoted husband of Freda for 53 years. He was the loving and dedicated father of John, Ann and Mike (KOLOGINSKI,) and was the dearly beloved grandfather of Peter and Alex. Guy will be missed by his sisters Mary and Joan, and by Mary's husband Chuck (WHITTEN.) Guy▼ had four great passions in his life: his country, his family, Muskoka, and antique cars, trains and boats! He proudly served his country as an officer with the Canadian Navy for five years during World War 2, which was a highlight of his life. After the War, Guy earned his Masters Degree in Economics from the University of Toronto. He wanted to work in public service, and served as the Director of Research for the Canadian Medical Association and later as a senior economic consultant with the Ontario Ministry of Health. He will be lovingly remembered as a man with a great heart and sense of humour by many dear family and Friends. Friends will be received at the Sherrin Funeral Home, 873 Kingston Road (west of Victor Park Avenue) Toronto (416-6982861) on Saturday, January 8, 2005 from 10: 00am until service time in the chapel at 11: 00am. Interment at Saint John's Norway Cemetery. If desired, memorial donations to the Alzheimer's Society would be most welcome. The family wishes to express deepest appreciation to members of their father's wonderful care team at Livingston Lodge.

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CLARKSON o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2005-01-19 published
Paul Antonio METIVIER
By Richard OSBORN, Wednesday, January 19, 2005 - Page A20
Soldier, map maker. Born July 6, 1900, in Montreal. Died December 23, 2004, peacefully in his sleep in Ottawa, aged 104.
In March of 1917, at the age of 16, my grandfather lied about his age and volunteered to go to war. He served in England, Belgium and France with the 4th Division Ammunition Column before his true age was discovered and he was brought home in October 1918. After returning from the war, Paul was hired in the map-making division of the Department of the Interior in Ottawa, a post from which he retired 45 years later as the chief of reproduction, a title of great amusement to his large family. In 1921, he proposed to Flore TOUPIN, literally the girl from next door in Montreal whom he'd known since he was 10 years old. They married in 1921 and had celebrated their 72nd wedding anniversary before she passed away in 1993 at 92. Together Flore and Paul had five children: Roland, Jean-Paul, Jeanne, Pierre and Monique. The two lived their entire married lives in the Ottawa region.
After Flore's passing in 1993, Paul's youngest daughter Monique made contact with Veterans' Affairs and mentioned her father who was a Great War veteran. Bilingual, gracious, with a keen sense of humour, Paul quickly became a media favourite and was a regular in print and on television and radio. Until he became an official veterans' representative, all his stories of the war had been humorous, self-deprecating and upbeat. It is only in recent years that we learned of the horrors he had experienced: rivers of blood in the streets, soldiers blown apart by shells, lice and rats in the trenches.
Paul went to Vimy Ridge as part of a Veterans Affairs pilgrimage to France in 1998, on the 80th anniversary of the war's end, where he received the French Legion of Honour. He spoke in front of tens of thousands there and at numerous Ottawa Remembrance Day ceremonies. Paul also accompanied Canada's unknown soldier on his return from France to Canada in 2000. This ceremony had particular significance for Paul as his oldest son Roland, an Royal Canadian Air Force tail gunner in the Second World War, went missing on a mission off the coast of Spain, his body never recovered.
During various events and ceremonies, Paul took every opportunity to offer various dignitaries his personal views on the issues of the day. To then-Prime Minister Jean CHRÉTIEN he stated, "I think you're doing the right thing in not going to Iraq," and to Governor-General Adrienne CLARKSON (one of his favourites,) "You know, whenever any article criticizes you, I don't pay it any attention. You're doing a wonderful job." With these and other dignitaries, including the Queen (whom he reminded that he was the same age as her mother; we joked later maybe he had been looking to be set up), his forthright manner and kind words always provoked warm reactions.
My own memories of my grandfather are of a loving, doting Grandpapa one who would play songs for me (he could play any song on the piano just by hearing it once), make me our favourite peanut butter and banana sandwiches; who taught me to swim on trips to Florida and in his Ottawa pool; who shared and passed along lifelong interests in science and technology (I remember him explaining Stephen Hawking's theories to me when he was in his 90s).
The joy he had when surrounded by his family was remarkable. I remember him saying to me once, very quietly, with his hands on mine: "Always love and treasure your family. There is absolutely nothing more important for a man to do."
Of his many accolades, one of the most touching for Paul was receiving a standing ovation when introduced in the House of Commons. He said afterward, "I never thought to receive such an honour. What did I do to deserve that?"
Richard is Paul METIVIER's grand_son.

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CLARKSON o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2005-02-08 published
JONES, Mary▼ Whimster▼ (née WILKINS)
Passed away peacefully in her sleep on Sunday morning, February 6th 2005 at Sheridan Villa Long Term Care Facility in Mississauga. Born November 6th 1915, she resided most of her life in Toronto. Predeceased▼ by her husband, Dr. William Frank (Bill) JONES, her elder brother, Donald WILKINS, and her grand_son Andrew JONES she will be sadly missed by her 5 children: Dr. Donald JONES (Dr. Patricia McEWAN) of Toronto, Carol DEETH (Paul▼) of Oakville Margie DRINKWATER of Oakville, Heather JONES of Toronto and Bruce 'Spider' JONES (Fernanda▼ MARTINS) of Murray Harbour, Prince Edward Island; and her 4 grandchildren; William and Brenda JONES, Peter▼ and Ian DRINKWATER. She▼ is survived by her brother Jaffray WILKINS of Perth, Ontario and sister Margaret CLARKSON of Seneca, South Carolina.▼ She▼ will be sadly missed by her dear friend Mona TUGBY of Hamilton. Mary was a longtime member of the Midland Golf Club, and the Ontario Genealogical Society. She loved to travel, play golf and enjoyed summers at the cottage at Thunder Beach near Penetanguishene. Friends may call at the Turner and Porter 'Peel' Chapel, 2180 Hurontario Street, Mississauga (Hwy. 10 North of Queen Elizabeth Way) from 7-9 p.m. Tuesday. Funeral service will be held at St. Georges On-The-Hill Anglican Church, 4600 Dundas St. W., Islington on Wednesday, February 9, 2005 at 2 p.m. Interment St. George's Church Cemetery. Donations would be appreciated to the Alzheimer Society of Ontario. Further condolences or shared memories would be welcomed at spiderj@magma.ca.

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CLARKSON o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2005-02-24 published
VAN NOSTRAND, Innes Neil
Suddenly on Tuesday February 22, 2005 in his 82nd year, Innes Neil VAN NOSTRAND, U.E., beloved husband of Felicia (IRETON) cherished father of C. Innes (Alison HOLT,) Hugh, and Andrew (Caroline); loving and playful Grandad of Jack, Claire, Alec and Will. He was the brother of Amy DUGGAN and the late Aldy ALLAN; and brother-in-law of Elizabeth IRETON and John (Pam) IRETON. He is missed by his constant companions, 'the pups', Sasha and Simone. The son of C.I. (Neil) VAN NOSTRAND and Helen CLARKSON, Innes attended Upper Canada College before joining the Navy, where he served on the H.M.C.S. Qu'Appelle during the Second World War. He returned home and enrolled at Trinity College before embarking on a career in construction. Throughout his life, Innes was dedicated to family and community. He always had time for neighbours in need of help, for his church, where he spent many happy hours volunteering, and for his extended network of family with its deep roots in Toronto. He particularly enjoyed his summers with family and Friends in Muskoka. Friends may call at the Morley Bedford Funeral Home, 159 Eglinton Avenue West (2 stop lights west of Yonge St.) on Friday, February 25, from 7-9 p.m. Funeral service will be held at Christ Church Deer Park, 1570 Yonge Street (at Heath St. W.) on Saturday, February 26 at 11 a.m. with interment at Saint John's York Mills. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Senior Peoples' Resources in North Toronto, Christ Church Deer Park, or a charity of your choice.

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CLARKSON o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2005-04-25 published
CLARKSON, Robert▼ " Bruce▼"
Peacefully, after a brief illness at home, on Saturday, April 23rd, 2005 at the age of 60. Beloved son of Mary CLARKSON and the late Bill CLARKSON. Loving▼ brother of Nancy CLARKSON- LORETO and Dean CLARKSON, predeceased by brother-in-law Brian LORETO. Fondly remembered by other relatives and numerous Friends. Bruce will be remembered for his generosity, kindness and artistic talent as well as his drole sense of humour and unique, positive outlook on life.
Family will receive visitors on Wednesday, April 27th, 2005 at Ward Funeral Home, 2035 Weston Rd., (north of Lawrence Ave.), Weston, from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Service will be held at St. Philips Anglican Church (Royal York and Dixon), on Thursday, April 28th, 2005 at 11: 30 a.m. Interment at St. Philips Cemetery.
If you wish, donations may be made to St. Philips Church - New Organ Fund, or Dorothy Ley Hospice, in memory of Bruce.

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CLARKSON o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2005-04-28 published
Award-winning political writer McCALL, 70, dies
Author published two volumes on Trudeau
By Oliver MOORE and Sandra MARTIN, Thursday, April 28, 2005, Page A8
Christina McCALL, the political writer who helped coin the phrase "he haunts us still" about Pierre Trudeau, died yesterday morning after a long illness. She was 70.
Ms. McCALL combined a journalism career with literary non-fiction writing, winning several awards for her work and, at one point, challenging her then-former-husband Peter C. NEWMAN in a duel played out at the top of the bestseller lists.
It was with her second husband, University of Toronto political economist Stephen CLARKSON, that she published two volumes on Mr. Trudeau, establishing the oft-used phrase about the former prime minister's ability to haunt Canadians.
Last night Mr. CLARKSON said Ms. McCALL had been seriously ill for more than a year with three progressive, incurable illnesses. She had found out about them one after the other, he said.
"But I don't want to concentrate on the illnesses," he said. "She was the premier political analyst of her generation.
"She was a perfectionist," he said. "What she loved was getting a letter from a carpenter who said she got it right. She was writing for her fellows, and by that I mean her fellow Canadians."
She died in the Providence Healthcare centre in Toronto. Her funeral is tomorrow.
In addition to her books, Ms. McCALL wrote about Canadian politics for years in senior positions at the magazines Saturday Night and Maclean's and at The Globe and Mail. She also held a position as assistant editor at Chatelaine magazine.
It was at Maclean's that she met Mr. NEWMAN, who at the time was married, but admitted recently in print to being "bowled over" by the editorial assistant. He suggested separation to his first wife and then, finding she was pregnant, said that he would remain until the birth, but could promise no more.
Mr. NEWMAN and Ms. McCALL were married in the autumn of 1959. Theirs was a literary as well as a marital partnership, with Ms. McCALL helping shepherd his 1963 book on Diefenbaker through the editing process.
Mr. NEWMAN once said she was his best editor.
The Diefenbaker book sent Mr. NEWMAN's reputation soaring, in a period during which Ms. McCALL continued writing. She received several Press Club Awards for magazine writing
She produced her own book nearly two decades later, several years after she and Mr. NEWMAN had parted company in 1977. The next year she married Mr. CLARKSON.
The 1982 publication of Grits: An Intimate Portrait of the Liberal Party peeled back layers of the governing party, offering Canadians telling glimpses of their leaders.
In one anecdote, she described Mr. TRUDEAU hearing over the phone that a hockey game was in progress.
There was an "awkward pause at the other end of the line and then Trudeau said, 'Oh, I see. What inning are they in?' "
Critics loved the book, which beat out a work from Ms. McCALL's former university professor, Northrop FRYE, for the 1983 non-fiction prize from the Canadian Authors Association. It was also nominated for a Governor-General's Award.
Grits -- praised as "one of the most important Canadian books of the 1980s" -- was locked in an end-of-year battle in 1982 with Mr. NEWMAN's biography of Conrad Black, The Establishment Manitoba
Nearly a decade later Ms. McCALL published the first volume of her two-volume work on Mr. Trudeau, collaborating with Mr. CLARKSON. The first volume won the Governor-General's Award in 1990.
Other works include The Man From Oxbow (1967) and The Unlikely Gladiators: Pearson and Diefenbaker Remembered (1999).
Ms. McCALL leaves her husband and three children, Ashley McCALL, Kyra CLARKSON and Blaise CLARKSON.

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CLARKSON o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2005-04-28 published
McCALL, Christina
Political writer and commentator, after a long time of illness in Providence Healthcare Centre on April 27 at seventy years of age.
Beloved wife of Stephen CLARKSON; loved mother of Ashley McCALL (Chris MONAHAN), Kyra CLARKSON (Chris GLAISEK), and Blaise CLARKSON (Tim LEWIS;) grandmother of Clare, Colin, Mylo, Talia, and Theo aunt of Jenny and David VINCENT.
A funeral service will be held on Friday, April 29 at 11 a.m. in Saint Thomas's Anglican Church, 383 Huron Street.
Donations may be sent to Victoria College, University of Toronto, Toronto M5S 1K7 or Amnesty International: 1-800-266-3789.

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CLARKSON o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2005-04-30 published
Christina McCALL, Journalist, Biographer: 1935-2005
She combined powerful analysis with insightful writing to produce a groundbreaking examination of the Liberals, writes Sandra MARTIN, and then topped that by collaborating on the definitive study of Pierre Trudeau
By Sandra MARTIN, Saturday, April 30, 2005, Page S9
My, how she could write. Her sentences were as sensuous as they were illuminating. Every word, every comma, was sculpted and buffed as though she were working on marble not paper. Married twice, first to writer Peter NEWMAN and then to political economist Stephen CLARKSON, Christina McCALL moved in powerful political, journalistic and academic circles, but in the past dozen years she was plagued with illnesses, from diabetes to cancer to Parkinson's, and suffered from chronic pain.
Mr. NEWMAN, who flew from London to attend her funeral yesterday in Toronto, compared her to a singer with perfect pitch. "It is not something you learn, You have it or you don't, and she had it." Assessing her importance as a writer, he said: "On the negative side, the quantity wasn't there and I have no explanation for that because she could have done anything and everything. On the positive side, she brought a whole new way of looking at the political world."
Prof. CLARKSON, with whom she collaborated on Trudeau and Our Times, a two-volume study of the late prime minister, said she "had a novelist's intuition," which she applied to political actors instead of imagined characters in a fictional plot. "She could understand their motivation, their psychology and where they came from," he said, explaining that when they did joint interviews, "she would come out understanding the person and I would come out knowing the issues."
Christina McCALL was the daughter of civil servant Christopher Warnock McCALL and Orlie Alma (FREEMAN,) a registered nurse he had married after the death of his first wife. Christina grew up with an older half-brother, Sam, an older sister, Orlie and a younger brother, Brian. She graduated from Jarvis Collegiate in Toronto at 17 and spent that summer working at Maclean's magazine to help earn her tuition at Victoria College in the University of Toronto.
Northrop FRYE was a tremendous influence and she "always talked about his lectures as the intellectual highlight of her life," according to Mr. NEWMAN. She wanted to go on to do graduate work, according to Prof. CLARKSON, but money was scarce. So, after graduating with an honours degree in 1956, she returned as an editorial assistant to Maclean's, which was then under the editorship of Ralph Allan.
He became the second major influence in her life as a writer. "He wasn't religious, but he had all the advantages of believing in goodness and practising it, which is rare for editors," said Mr. NEWMAN. "He was our role model and we became his Disciples and tried to emulate his qualities." Ms. McCALL's first book, Ralph Allan: The Man from Oxbow (1967), was an anthology she edited as a tribute to the legendary magazine editor.
It was at Maclean's that she met Mr. NEWMAN. " She was very junior," he said, "but I was blown away by her ability," not to mention her allure. "Beauty and intelligence are a potent combination and she had both in spades." They fell in love, but he was already married.
She shifted to Chatelaine magazine. "She came to me in the late 1950s," said Doris ANDERSON, then editor of Chatelaine. "She was wonderful," said Ms. ANDERSON. " She was a great writer, very insightful with an original eye and she used the language with great skill and grace." Ms. McCALL had two other qualities that appealed to Ms. ANDERSON: She generated lots of ideas for the magazine and underneath her demure appearance she was a dedicated feminist.
She was also a woman in love. After Mr. NEWMAN divorced, they married in October of 1959. Shortly afterward, they moved to Ottawa, where Mr. NEWMAN became Ottawa editor of Maclean's. These were the years when he was writing his book Renegade in Power: The Diefenbaker Years with her help and she was beginning her study of Lester Pearson and the Liberal Party.
Asked if she chose the Liberals because he was already working on the Progressive Conservatives, Mr. NEWMAN said no. "Any good journalist in this country knows the Liberals are a natural subject because they are such a force in this country. What gives them such continuity and strength? Analyzing that is the prime ambition of every political journalist." Besides, "the people who ran that party were our Friends and contacts."
The NEWMAN / McCALL marriage collapsed in the early 1970s. They divorced in 1977. By that time, they had long since returned to Toronto. Ms. McCALL had worked as a freelance writer and as a contributing editor and writer to Saturday Night and Maclean's.
She had also become friendly with Prof. CLARKSON. He knew her first through her writing, which he admired for its depth, insights and authority. "You believed what she wrote," he said, "because you knew she had thought about it and often her perceptions were novel."
Prof. CLARKSON and his broadcaster wife, Adrienne CLARKSON, now the Governor-General, split up in 1973. Some time later, he invited Ms. McCALL, who was then working as a national reporter for The Globe and Mail, to have lunch to discuss the federal election of 1974. He asked her to dinner a year later and they gradually began a relationship.
They were married in 1978, bought a new home "to start afresh" with the respective children from their first marriages. "We were the operative parents," Prof. CLARKSON said simply. Later, he and Ms. McCALL adopted each other's daughters. "It was the symbolism of being one family rather than a split family," he said. That tight arrangement led to painful estrangements from the other biological parents -- Mr. NEWMAN and Ms. CLARKSON -- that were only resolved after the passage of time and the birth of grandchildren.
Grits: An Intimate Portrait of the Liberal Party was finally published in 1982. It was dedicated "with love and admiration" to Stephen Hugh Elliott CLARKSON. The book, which caused a sensation, was unlike most political writing at the time. It was a biography of a party, not a person, but it was written as a series of profiles of key figures (Keith Davey, Pierre Trudeau, Jim Coutts, Michael Pitfield, John Turner and Marc Lalonde) from the Pearson years through the Trudeau era.
"Grits is not only a brilliant portrait of how an arthritic party, drenched in scandal, suddenly learned to dance again, but also a textbook on how easily a bunch of young political junkies could take over a party," said historian John ENGLISH. "It endures as one of the finest analyses of Canadian politics ever written." Journalist Robert FULFORD, who picked up Grits again after he heard about Ms. McCALL's death, said: "It is still fresh and full of terrific insights into the politics of the 1960s and 1970s."
Besides forging a tight family unit, Ms. McCALL and Prof. CLARKSON decided to collaborate as authors, she bringing her writing talent and political insights and he contributing his organizational skills and policy analysis to their study of Trudeau, which won the Governor-General's award for volume one, The Magnificent Obsession in 1990. Prof. CLARKSON said the process was agonizing because her method was to start with the introduction and polish it before moving on, an approach he thought akin to "building the front door before you've got the basement foundations in."
They wrote every sentence sitting side by side at the same keyboard. Every few pages, they would "print out" and "haggle" over the punctuation and the wording. "It was very, very slow," he said. Even he can't remember who actually wrote of Mr. Trudeau, "He haunts us still," saying that their editor Doug GIBSON at McClelland & Stewart also had a role in shaping the iconic sentence. Mr. GIBSON recalls that they had written, "He still haunts us," and he shifted the emphasis by moving the second word to the end of the sentence.
Writing wasn't the only agony that Ms. McCALL and Prof. CLARKSON shared. For most of their marriage, she was in severe physical pain and he was the gentle and loving caregiver. "In the mid-1970s, she had back pain and then arthritis, but the serious illnesses began in 1993," he said, "when she was diagnosed with diabetes, followed by breast cancer four years later." It wasn't so much the malignancy, but the treatment that caused many of her subsequent health problems.
The surgeon cut her brachial nerve during an operation to remove the tumour in her breast, leaving her left shoulder, arm and hand in chronic pain. "She was a very classy, elegant woman and writer," said broadcaster Eleanor WACHTEL, who became a friend in the late 1990s, "but she was also very private."
Ms. McCALL didn't want anybody to know that she had breast cancer, and didn't want to be seen looking frail and ill. Ms. McCALL's world shrank and she saw fewer and fewer people as her illnesses progressed. Managing her pain grew harder, although she continued to help her friend Rosemary SPEIRS strategize for the Equal Voice website (a movement to increase the number of women in elected office in Canada). The real downhill journey began about a year ago when she could no longer be cared for at home. Until almost the end, though, say the few Friends who visited her, she was a very astute, very witty and very engaging conversationalist.
It was a rough and frustrating passage for the woman many considered the best political writer and analyst of her generation.
Christina McCALL was born in Toronto on January 29, 1935. She died in Toronto of cancer on Wednesday. She was 70. She is survived by her husband, Stephen CLARKSON, three children and their families.

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CLARKSON o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2005-01-06 published
CLARKSON, Guy▲
Died peacefully on Tuesday, January 4, 2005 in his 83rd year. Guy was the devoted husband of Freda for 53 years. He was the loving and dedicated father of John, Ann and Mike (KOLOGINSKI,) and was the dearly beloved grandfather of Peter and Alex. Guy will be missed by his sisters Mary and Joan, and by Mary's husband Chuck (WHITTEN.) Guy▲ had four great passions in his life: his country, his family, Muskoka, and antique cars, trains and boats! He proudly served his country as an Officer with the Canadian Navy for five years during World War 2, which was a highlight of his life. After the War, Guy earned his Masters Degree in Economics from the University of Toronto. He wanted to work in public service, and served as the Director of Research for the Canadian Medical Association and later as a senior economic consultant with the Ontario Ministry of Health. He will be lovingly remembered as a man with a great heart and sense of humour by many dear family and Friends. Friends will be received at the Sherrin Funeral Home, 873 Kingston Road (west of Victoria Park Avenue), Toronto (416-698-2861) on Saturday, January 8, 2005 from 10: 00 a.m. until service time in the chapel at 11: 00 a.m. Interment at Saint John's Norway Cemetery. If desired, memorial donations to the Alzheimer Society would be most welcome. The family wishes to express deepest appreciation to members of their father's wonderful care team at Livingston Lodge.

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CLARKSON o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2005-01-16 published
JORGENSEN, Pamela▼ Shirley▼ (née BRIGHT)
Passed away at Headwaters Health Care Centre, Orangeville on Friday, January 14, 2005, in her 48th year. Cherished wife of Flemming JORGENSEN. Loved sister of Roger BRIGHT and his wife Kim of Manitoba, and Kathy POWELL and her husband Bill of Mississauga. Loving aunt of Jeffery, Jillian, Michael, Michael and his wife Heather and Heather. Also sadly missed by her other relatives and many Friends. Friends may call at the Dods and McNair Funeral Home and Chapel, 21 First. St. Orangeville, on Tuesday, January 18, 2005 from 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. Funeral Service will be held in the Chapel on Wednesday, January 19, 2005 at 1: 00 p.m. Spring interment, Greenwood Cemetery. As expressions of sympathy, donations to the Canadian Cancer Society would be appreciated by the family. A special thank you to Dr. David CLARKSON, the Hamilton Henderson Health▼ Care▼ Centre,▼ Dr. WILLANS and all the kind Staff at Headwaters Health Care Centre. A tree will be planted in memory of Pamela in the Dods and McNair Memorial Forest at the Island Lake Conservation Area, Orangeville. A dedication service will be held on Sunday, September 11, 2005 at 2: 30 p.m. (Condolences may be offered to the family at www.dodsandmcnair.com)

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CLARKSON o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2005-01-17 published
JORGENSEN, Pamela▲ Shirley▲ (née BRIGHT)
Passed away at Headwaters Health Care Centre, Orangeville on Friday, January 14, 2005, in her 48th year. Cherished wife of Flemming JORGENSEN; beloved daughter of John and Shirley BRIGHT of Peterborough; loved sister of Roger BRIGHT and his wife Kim of Manitoba, and Kathy POWELL and her husband Bill of Mississauga loving aunt of Jeffery, Jillian, Michael, Michael and his wife Heather, and Heather; also sadly missed by her other relatives and many Friends. Friends may call at the Dods and McNair Funeral Home and Chapel, 21 First. Street, Orangeville, on Tuesday, January 18, 2005 from 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. Funeral Service will be held in the Chapel on Wednesday, January 19, 2005 at 1: 00 p.m. Spring interment, Greenwood Cemetery. As expressions of sympathy, donations to the Canadian Cancer Society would be appreciated by the family. A special thank you to Dr. David CLARKSON, the Hamilton Henderson Health▲ Care▲ Centre,▲ Dr. WILLANS and all the kind Staff at Headwaters Health Care Centre. A tree will be planted in memory of Pamela in the Dods and McNair Memorial Forest at the Island Lake Conservation Area, Orangeville. A dedication service will be held on Sunday, September 11, 2005 at 2: 30 p.m. (Condolences may be offered to the family at www.dodsandmcnair.com)

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CLARKSON o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2005-01-29 published
CLARKSON, Margaret " Peggy" Ross
After a lengthy illness, on Thursday, January 27th, 2005. Loving wife of the late Frank CLARKSON. Beloved mother of Trevor (Lynne.) Grandmother of Jeffrey, Kevin and Mark. Friends are invited to Giffen-Mack "Scarborough" Funeral Home and Cremation Centre, 4115 Lawrence Avenue East (just west of Kingston Road), West Hill, 416-281-6800, for visitation on Sunday, January 30th from 2-4 p.m. Funeral Service will take place on Monday, January 31st, 2005 at 11 a.m. in the Chapel. Cremation to follow. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Alzheimer Society.

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CLARKSON o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2005-02-08 published
JONES, Mary▲ Whimster▲ (née WILKINS)
Passed away peacefully in her sleep on Sunday morning, February 6th, 2005 at Sheridan Villa Long Term Care Facility in Mississauga. Born November 6th, 1915, she resided most of her life in Toronto. Predeceased▲ by her husband, Dr. William Frank (Bill) JONES, her elder brother, Donald WILKINS, and her grand_son, Andrew JONES she will be sadly missed by her 5 children: Dr. Donald JONES (Dr. Patricia McEWAN) of Toronto, Carol DEETH (Paul▲) of Oakville, Margie DRINKWATER of Oakville, Heather JONES of Toronto and Bruce "Spider" JONES (Fernanda▲ MARTINS) of Murray Harbour, Prince Edward Island; and her 4 grandchildren: William and Brenda JONES, Peter▲ and Ian DRINKWATER. She▲ is survived by her brother Jaffray WILKINS of Perth, Ontario and sister Margaret CLARKSON of Seneca, South Carolina.▲ She▲ will be sadly missed by her dear friend Mona TUGBY of Hamilton. Mary was a long-time member of the Midland Golf Club, and the Ontario Genealogical Society. She loved to travel, play golf and enjoyed summers at the cottage at Thunder Beach near Penetanguishene. Friends may call at the Turner and Porter "Peel" Chapel, 2180 Hurontario Street, Mississauga (Hwy. 10, North of Queen Elizabeth Way) from 7-9 p.m. Tuesday. Funeral service will be held at St. George's On-The-Hill Anglican Church, 4600 Dundas St. W., Islington on Wednesday, February 9, 2005 at 2 p.m. Interment St. George's Church Cemetery. Donations would be appreciated to the Alzheimer Society of Ontario. Further condolences or shared memories would be welcomed at spiderj@magma.ca.

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CLARKSON o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2005-03-18 published
HAWKINS, Charles Eugene "Gene" P. Eng., Lt. Col. C.M.E. Retired
At his home in Mississauga on Wednesday, March 16, 2005 in his 63rd year. Surrounded by his loving family, Gene went Home; having faced his illness with great courage and dignity. Born on February 2, 1942 in St. Stephen, New Brunswick, the eldest son of the late Charles and Elizabeth HAWKINS of Pennfield, New Brunswick. Gene leaves his loving wife and best friend of 37 years, Diana (née LEE,) daughter Jennifer CLARKE of Mississauga and son Gregory of Ottawa; son-in-law Derek CLARKE, grand_son Connor, daughter-in-law Michelle and grand_sons Alexandre and David of Ottawa; brother Stephen D. HAWKINS of Glens Falls, New York nieces Janet LAUDY and (Mark) of San Francisco, California and Julie HAWKINS of Saratoga Springs, New York, dearest Friends Linda and Paul DESLAURIERS, Burlington, Vermont; sister-in-law Joanna and the late Donald S. HOGAN of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and nieces Stephanie HO and (Lawrence) of Hong Kong, Deirdre HOGAN, Toronto, and Christie Pratt and (Mark) of Sacramento, California; brother-in-law John S. LEE and Karen of Mississauga and niece Gillian DEMELO and (Victor) of Hong Kong and nephew Robert S. LEE and (Julie) of Ottawa, Ontario. For 33 years Gene served with distinction in the Canadian Military Engineering Corp. in various Canadian locations and in Germany. Upon leaving the military in 1992, Gene joined the City of Mississauga as Manager of Facility Services, retiring in 1997 to spend more time at his beloved summer home on Kennisis Lake, Haliburton, Ontario. His wisdom, generous spirit and delightful sense of humour will be sadly missed by all his family and many Friends. The family wishes to express their deepest gratitude and thanks for the caring and compassionate support of Dr. David CLARKSON and the team of Doctors and Staff at the Credit Valley Oncology Department. Friends will be received at the Neweduk Funeral Home - "Mississauga Chapel", 1981 Dundas St. W. (1 block east of Erin Mills Parkway), on Saturday, March 19, 2005 from 10-11 a.m. The family will celebrate Gene's life at a Memorial Service to be held on March 19, 2005 at 11 a.m. in the Chapel. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts to the Carlo Fidani Peel Regional Cancer Centre at Credit Valley Hospital or the charity of your choice would be appreciated. Neweduk Funeral Home 905-828-8000 www.neweduk.com
How 2 letter Surnames like HO work in OGSPI

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CLARKSON o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2005-03-28 published
He helped bring CanLit to the world
Gordon ROPER sneaked books on to curriculum
Group of Friends read to professor who went blind
By Catherine DUNPHY, Obituary▼ Writer▼
Gathered around Mollie CARTMELL's kitchen table in Peterborough are the chair, associate chair and past chair of Trent University's department of English, talking about the man who has meant the world to them and who helped bring the world the study and appreciation of Canadian literature.
Prof. Gordon ROPER had been teaching at the University of Toronto's Trinity College some 45 years ago when he found a circuitous if not somewhat duplicitous way to slip the study of home-grown Canadian novels into Trinity's previously wholly Anglophile curriculum.
These three -- and many, many others in academia -- are the products of that subterfuge, a generation of scholars and former students who proudly and wryly describe themselves as "Roperized."
They were also the core of a group called Roper's Readers, eight people who read to the 93-year-old at a set time each week, because ROPER had become blind about 25 years ago and because, they all said, ROPER was simply wonderful company.
"He made it always a pleasure, an unalloyed pleasure," said James NEUFELD, chair of Trent's department of English literature. "You'd knock at the door of Applewood (the retirement home where ROPER lived until he died in his sleep on February 20) and he would leap up, stride to the door, thrust his hand out. 'James, so good to see you.' Why wouldn't you go?"
"When he talked to you, he wasn't a blind old man," said CARTMELL, a retired high school teacher who met ROPER 15 years ago while writing a history of the local Young Men's Christian Association. She read him newsmagazines and papers Friday evenings, and treasured his conversation and commentary. "He turned me on to The New Yorker magazine, for which I will be eternally grateful."
The group started in earnest and on a schedule in 1997, after the death of ROPER's beloved wife, Helen. ROPER fell into a deep despair, a shocking revelation for NEUFELD, who had idolized ROPER since he took an English course from him his first year at Trinity College. It was NEUFELD who called Gordon JOHNSTON, associate chair of the English literature department and also a former Trinity student of ROPER's, as well as Mike PETERMAN, past department chair and currently a visiting scholar at Princeton in Canadian studies, and suggested they set up a regular timetable for visiting and reading. Others soon joined, including Peterborough Mayor Sylvia SUTHERLAND.
Tuesdays were NEUFELD's time; Mondays, JOHNSTON read poetry with him; Thursdays, PETERMAN and ROPER often read and discussed PETERMAN's current writing: "It was a special bond and terrific for me. I could hear myself making headway or getting caught. He would make suggestions; he was my best reader."
The last time they were together PETERMAN read from Leaven of Malice, a book by Robertson DAVIES that he's been teaching in his Princeton course on Canadian literature. DAVIES was one of ROPER's oldest and fastest Friends. "I said to him that I thought the novel held up well -- that it was bracing and funny -- and he was thrilled."
And that was ROPER's secret. He was the gentlest of critics he valued literature, studying it with a rigorous intellect but also with a genuine and generous affection. He made neither waves nor academic headlines; his scholarly output was small by some standards, but careful and precise, and always illuminating. Gabrielle Roy said his introduction to her classic novel Where Nests the Water Hen was the best critical piece on her work she'd ever read. Initially a student of American literature who was fascinated by Herman Melville, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Samuel Clemens, ROPER wrote an introduction to Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter because when he began teaching in 1948 there was no text available of this work for university study.
He was chair of English at Trinity College, a member of the graduate faculty at the university, a senior founder of Massey College and responsible as Senior Fellow Emeritus for developing the Massey College library, later renamed the Robertson Davies library. Northrop Frye and E.J. Pratt were his Friends. Governor General Adrienne CLARKSON was a student who phoned his nursing home last year when Peterborough was flooded to make sure ROPER was all right.
"Our class was small -- about 10 of us -- clustered around a table beneath the mullioned windows under the eaves. But as a result, years later, I never hear the word 'ambergris' (a waxy substance secreted by sperm Wales that's added to perfume) without thinking about Dr. ROPER explaining the elaborate metaphor of Ishmael's world," she wrote from Rideau Hall when she learned of ROPER's death. "He taught me not only literature, but also the meaning of caring about literature."
ROPER's greatness was displayed in the classroom. "He could give a whole lecture on the words 'Call me Ishmael,' said JOHNSTON. ROPER was a high-school dropout; he often joked it was the basis of his Friendship with Robertson DAVIES, also a doctor of letters without a high-school diploma. They met at a meeting at Peterborough's Y, when ROPER, from the back of the room, tossed off one of his trademark puns. ROPER took out his first library book when he was eight. When he was in Grade 10, the head librarian at Peterborough's library gave him the keys to the basement stacks because he was spending so much time there instead of across the street at Peterborough Collegiate Institute.
Nevertheless, ROPER attained his PhD in American literature in 1944 from the University of Chicago and was teaching there when he received the offer from Trinity College. At the time, ROPER had to work hard to obtain permission to teach a course on American literature, but by the early 1960s he'd manage to slip in two Canadian volumes at the end of that course. "It was a toehold," said NEUFELD, but not enough for ROPER, who hatched a plot with a colleague in the divinity school to devise a course of Canadian content he called "Spiritual Issues in Literature."
"That's how he got Canadian literature on to the syllabus," said NEUFELD. "It was one of the best courses I ever took. I taught CanLit at Trent on the basis of that course."
JOHNSTON remembered how ROPER smuggled Margaret Laurence -- another friend -- on to campus to address a class just after she had written The Stone Angel, one of a generation of Canadian books that jump-started the entire CanLit industry. In 1969, ROPER returned to Peterborough to teach at the fledgling Trent University. He was back in the classroom, where he was happiest, and he was closer to the family cottage on Roper Island on Stoney Lake where he and Helen spent summers with their children, Mark and Susan.
Later he suffered a colostomy, angina and blindness, but he remained upbeat and busy. When Roper's Readers decided to honour their friend last fall at the annual Rooke Reading Series by inviting the public to hear them read to him -- "and get a taste of our pleasure in doing it," as CARTMELL put it -- ROPER started making a suggestion, here, then there.
"He started to choreograph it," said JOHNSTON, with a laugh. One of his suggestions was that they read from the works of a local nature writer. It was a good one, they all agreed. "He always had in mind what he thought would be good for the community to hear."

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CLARKSON o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2005-03-29 published
KNOWLES, Ruth (née CLARKSON)
Peacefully at Centennial Place Millbrook, Ontario with family at her side, on Good Friday, March 25, 2005 in her 83rd year. Beloved wife of the late Paul of Aurora, Ontario. Dear sister of the late Irene ADAM/ADAMS and the late June PUMA. Loving mother to Sandra and Gordon SCOTT (Bancroft,) Brian KNOWLES and Penny KOCHANOWSKI (Aurora), David and Pat KNOWLES (Souris, Prince Edward Island) and Roger and Gail KNOWLES (Oshawa.) Dear grandmother of Kelly (SCOTT) and Jim MacKENZIE (Peterborough), Brian SCOTT (Georgetown,) Jeff and Leigh (SPICER) SCOTT (Orangeville,) Chris and Alison (TANNER) KNOWLES (Whitby), Scott KNOWLES (Newmarket), Jonathan KNOWLES (Halifax), Timothy KNOWLES (Oshawa), Adam KOCHANOWSKI- KNOWLES (Aurora,) Melanie and Karl VAARTJES (Mississauga,) and Jennifer KNOWLES (Souris, Prince Edward Island). Great-grandmother to Willow, Brianne, and Madison MacKENZIE, Keara SCOTT, Aaron and Rachel VAARTJES and Ashley KNOWLES. Remembered by Hildergard Storr KNOWLES and Lynnda McLay WELLS. We love you very much. May you rest in Peace! No funeral services planned, but a private family memorial will be held and Ruth's remains will be laid to rest alongside Paul's in the family plot at Aurora Cemetery. Arrangements entrusted to the Kaye Funeral Home "Memorial Chapel", Peterborough, Ontario.

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CLARKSON o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2005-04-25 published
CLARKSON, Robert▲ " Bruce▲"
Peacefully, after a brief illness at home, on Saturday, April 23rd, 2005 at the age of 60. Beloved son of Mary CLARKSON and the late Bill CLARKSON. Loving▲ brother of Nancy CLARKSON- LORETO and Dean CLARKSON, predeceased by brother-in-law Brian LORETO. Fondly remembered by other relatives and numerous Friends. Bruce will be remembered for his generosity, kindness and artistic talent as well as his droll sense of humour and unique, positive outlook on life. Family will receive visitors on Wednesday, April 27th, 2005 at the Ward Funeral Home, 2035 Weston Rd. (north of Lawrence Ave.), Weston, from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. Service will be held at St. Philips Anglican Church, (Royal York and Dixon) on Thursday, April 28th, 2005 at 11: 30 a.m. Interment at St. Philips Cemetery. If you wish, donations may be made to St. Philips Church - New Organ Fund, or Dorothy Ley Hospice, in memory of Bruce.

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CLARKSON o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2005-05-17 published
CLARKSON, James Arthur
James Arthur CLARKSON, 88 of 1766 Linwood Ave., Lancaster, Pennsylvania, died Friday, May 13, 2005 at Lancaster Regional Medical Center. Born in Clinton, Ontario, Canada, he was the son of the late Arthur and Margaret A. Steep CLARKSON. He was the husband of Audrey M. Hodges CLARKSON and they were married for 64 years. Mr. CLARKSON was district manager of Northern Telecom in Toronto, Canada for 41 years and retired in 1982. He served in World War 2 in the Canadian Army. He was a third degree Mason with the Andrew Hershey Lodge of Lancaster, and he was a member of Telephone Pioneers. Surviving besides his wife are two daughters, Sandra A. CLARKSON of Mountville and Lois Anne wife of Dr. Enrico MARTINI of Lancaster, five grandchildren, one sister, Margaret McGALE of Toronto, Canada. A Christian Prayer service will be held at the Charles F. Snyder Funeral Home, 441 N. George Street, Millersville on Tuesday at 2: 00 p.m. Friends may pay their respects to the family on Monday night from 7-8 p.m. and on Tuesday from 1-2 p.m. www.snyderfuneralhome.com

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CLARKSON o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2005-05-21 published
CLARKSON, Russell Gordon " Barney"
Passed away suddenly on May 12th, 2005, Barney CLARKSON of Wellington, in his 86th year. Born March 14th, 1920 in Mt. Vernon, Ontario. Survived by his loving wife of 64 years Muriel. Dear father of Ron (Trish,) Rhonda (Bob) STEWARD/STEWART/STUART and Greg (Connie.) Loved by his seven grandchildren, Brett (Janice), Scott, Matthew, Mark, Paige, Shawn and Tara. Friends may call at the Ainsworth Funeral Home, 288 Noxon Avenue, Wellington, on Sunday, May 29th from 12: 30-1:30 p.m. Memorial Service in the chapel at 1:30 p.m. Reverend Jeff DE JONGE officiating. Cremation. Reception to follow at the Wellington on the Lake Rec Centre. Memorial donations to the Alzheimer Society, Ontario Stewardship Council/Ministry of Natural Resources would be appreciated by the family.

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CLARKSON o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2005-06-15 published
SCOTT, Marilyn Rose (née CLARKSON)
Peacefully at her home, on Sunday, June 12, 2005, in her 64th year, Marilyn left her earthly surroundings to be at the side of her late husband Keith A. SCOTT. Marilyn is the daughter of the late Garnet and Georgina CLARKSON, loving stepdaughter of Gloria CLARKSON. Dear sister of Bob and Lorraine CLARKSON, Oshawa Betty and Bob CHARTERS, Moncton, New Brunswick; Gary and Teresa CLARKSON, Kansas. Dear sister-in-law of Bill and Ann HARPER, Bracebridge; Dorothy and the late Lewis SCOTT, Bolton. Cherished aunt, great-aunt and great-great-aunt. Special family member of Diane and Brent PATTERSON. Adored auntie of Diana-Lee and Derek, Charmaine and Boni, Krystal and Gian-Paolo and Kevin. Cremation has taken place with interment at a later date. If desired, memorial donations in Marilyn's name may be made to the Caledon East Medical Clinic, 15995 Airport Road, Caledon East L0N 1E0. Arrangements by Egan Funeral Home (905-857-2213). Condolences for the family may be offered at www.eganfuneralhome.com

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CLARKSON o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2005-06-27 published
George BANCROFT, 82: Mentor and role model
George BANCROFT, 82, opened doors for black students
Former University of Toronto prof fought for diversity in the workforce
By Catherine DUNPHY, Obituary▲ Writer▲
A commissioner with the Ontario Human Rights Commission, executive director and senior policy adviser to the minister of multiculturalism and citizenship in charge of 125 staff and a $16 million budget, one of the seven-person team who wrote the groundbreaking Hall-Dennis report on Ontario's education, professor emeritus for scholarship at the University of Toronto, author, editor and contributor to a dozen papers and books, chair of umpteen educational community groups and professional organizations.
That's not all.
Hundreds of students credit George BANCROFT for their post-graduate degrees in education.
Claire ALLEYNE, registrar at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, said he was a "stalwart" in the black community, a dignified, old-school role model for the many he mentored.
"He was a fighter, but he did it by putting forth an educated, well-reasoned argument," she said.
Poet and University of Toronto professor George Elliott CLARKE hailed BANCROFT as one of a generation of black intellectuals whose work set high standards and opened doors for generations of black academics.
"These were the forebearers, the torch bearers, the door openers," he said. "We owe people like George BANCROFT a great debt."
BANCROFT was also the founder of the Harry Gairey scholarship awards (which has now been folded into the Harry Jerome Awards for outstanding black youth), one of the founders and a board member of Caribana as well as the Canadian Council of Christians and Jews. He was also a popular keynote speaker known for telling it like it is, not as people, even those listening, wanted it to be.
The latter trait is why his family believes he never received some of the appointments they think he should have. Plaques and honours from Indo-Canadian organizations, First Nations and Chinese-Canadian groups line the walls of his North York home, yet when he died May 16, at 82, BANCROFT had not received an Order of Canada nor a Senate seat, each of which his admirers had lobbied for on his behalf.
"He would have liked that," said his wife, Carole. "George was always passionate about seeing more blacks in stronger positions."
At university convocations, he would scan the crowd of graduates for black faces. He believed, fervently, that education would empower and promote young blacks within Canadian society.
"Where are they?" he would say to Carole. "They should stop dancing and start studying."
Friends have told her that while her husband was not afraid "to speak the truth to the powerful," he could also be quite acerbic about what he called the "race-relations industry."
In a 1984 edition of Graduate, University of Toronto's alumni magazine, he wrote of his decision to leave his tenured professorship and campus for "a rather palatial office with Her Majesty's Government of Ontario."
"I am a member of what is euphemistically called the visible minorities -- a wretched term," BANCROFT wrote. "As a result of increasing demand for significant rather than token recognition of minorities and to refute, 'you people do not apply,' Friends prevailed upon me to do so. I do not pretend reluctance. I wanted to enter what seemed to me to be the world of practical affairs."
But he missed his academic freedom and after three years he returned to U of T.
Even in the 1970s and 1980s, when multiculturalism policies were sweeping the country, BANCROFT often challenged what he saw as examples of stereotypical thinking. At one dinner attended by influential policy- makers and politicians, he ruffled feathers when he wanted to know why an Italian-Canadian couldn't be considered for the High Commission in Britain, as an example, instead of Italy.
"His main focus was how multiculturalism worked," said his son, George Jr., a 23-year-old student at the University of Toronto. "People shouldn't stay in their own groups all the time."
Upon learning of the appointment of Adrienne CLARKSON as Governor General, he personally wrote Jean CHRÉTIEN, prime minister at the time, expressing disappointment the post had not gone to a native Canadian.
In 1989, he was one of two commissioners of the Ontario Human Rights Commission calling for an investigation into the organization about its hiring practices after it became known that the head, Raj ANAND, had failed to hire any visible minorities for seven senior posts.
"I question why not a single non-white person was hired for the seven positions, especially considering the quality of some of the non-white candidates who applied," he told the Star in an article that noted that BANCROFT had "broken ranks" by speaking out.
BANCROFT called for an investigation of the matter. "The survival of the commission is at risk... (and) no taint can be attached," he said at the time.
BANCROFT came to Canada from his native Guyana in 1948.
"He was a young gentleman in white shoes, white suit, white panama hat and flamboyant ties who used purple ink," according to his older brother, Clarence, who said BANCROFT would have become president of the University of Guyana had he not followed so many of his countrymen to Montreal to study at McGill University.
He worked as a porter for Canadian Pacific Railways to finance that education, shining shoes, hauling luggage and learning how to hold his hand, palm up, close to his body, to receive the discreet tip.
"He talked to me about the emotions of that time. He was angry but never bitter," his son said.
Father also told son that many of the men with whom he worked became significant in their own right. Legendary head porter Harry GAIREY encouraged him to stay in school and BANCROFT never forgot. They were Friends until GAIREY died in 1993 when he was BANCROFT graduated from McGill with degrees in French and English, and moved to Toronto where he received his Master's degree and his PhD in educational theory. He taught at Forest Hill Junior High and Forest Hill Collegiate Institute for a decade -- although he had an unhappy work relationship with a principal there who never acknowledged his doctorate.
In 1967, he got a job in the U.S. at the faculty of education at New Jersey's Fairleigh Dickinson University but returned to Canada in 1969 to teach at U of T's faculty of education.
"He wanted to come back to Canada because it was less discriminatory although I hate that word -- than the U.S. and had an atmosphere in which he could make a better contribution," said Clarence, who is a retired school superintendent and church minister. George BANCROFT met his wife in 1976 at a Chopin black tie affair at Casa Loma.
She was a music teacher and graduate of the Royal Conservatory of Music, and he was a music lover who was studying the saxophone and piano, and less successfully, the violin. He was 60 when their son was born. He was ecstatic. "He thanked me for months for giving him an heir," she said.
After he retired he had more time for his hobbies: he was an enthusiastic collector of antiques and roadside treasures. "We have antique doors, pots, vases, tables chairs -- he liked finding things," said George, Jr.
The students continued to seek him out. They would come to him, to sit with him in his magnificent and cluttered study under the gaze of his collection of busts of Voltaire, Paul Robson, W.E.B. Du Bois and other great men to get help on their theses and work up their oral presentations with him. Even now, they telephone just wanting to come to the house.
"They still want to be connected with him," said Carole.

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CLARKSON o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2005-09-24 published
ALEXANDER, Ann (née ARNOTT)
On Thursday, September 22, 2005, we said goodbye to a loving mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, aunt, and a special lady. Beloved wife of the late Walter ALEXANDER. Cherished mother of Jean and Ron, Ron and Margaret, Barbara and Tom, Irene and John, Eric and Kathy, and Dianne and Steve. Loving grandmother to fifteen grandchildren and eighteen great-grandchildren. Dear sister to Helen, and Jean and Ron. Special aunt to many nieces and nephews. Predeceased by her granddaughter Karen Dianne KIRCHNER, her brothers Eric and Morris ARNOTT, and her brother-in-law Bert HARDIE. Friends and family are invited for a visitation at Dodsworth & Brown Funeral Home, Burlington Chapel, 2241 New St. (at Drury Lane), on Monday, September 26, 2005 from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. A Funeral Service will be celebrated in Ann's memory on Tuesday, September 27, 2005 at 12 noon from St. Christopher's Anglican Church, 662 Guelph Line, Burlington. A special thank you to the staff of Billings Court Manor, the nurses and doctors on the 2nd and 5th Floors of the Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital, for all of their kindness and compassion, especially to Dr. ROBINSON, Dr. ROBBINS, Sue CLARKSON and Nurse Janet of Billings Court Manor.

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