GOMARD
GOMBU
GOMERSALL
GOMERY
GOMES
GOMEZ
GOMARD o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2006-02-12 published
FILEY,
Karen
Susan (née
SANTARELLI)
Passed away peacefully February 10, 2006, with her family at
her bedside at Henderson General, Hamilton, after a brief but
courageous battle with cancer. Survived by her beloved husband
Bob, son Jason, daughter Laura-Lea (Leanne), dear sister-in-law
of Mike and Yarmila
FILEY, and nieces and nephews Ellen
REPASKY,
Katharine, Jeff and Greg
GOMARD and Erin and Megan
FILEY.
Missed
by her beloved pets Tosh, Maggie and Murphy. A celebration of
Karen's life will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers,
the family would appreciate memorial donations to Breast Cancer
Research, www.jccfoundation.on.ca/donations
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GOMBU o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2006-02-28 published
Bob MacDONALD, 76, chased the big stories
Longtime Sun reporter spent 55 years in business
'Banned for life' from press club several times
By Phinjo GOMBU,
Staff▼
Reporter▼
Bob MacDONALD, the Toronto Sun's legendary reporter and columnist,
was a scrappy Maritime conservative skeptical of all politicians.
But he remained to the end a loyal admirer of Robert Stanfield,
a fellow Nova Scotian who nearly became prime minister.
Like many other fellow Maritimers,
MacDONALD had a stubborn streak
that involved subservience to no one, recalled Peter
WORTHINGTON,
founding editor of the Sun, yesterday.
It was a trait that drove many of his editors crazy,
WORTHINGTON
said, although
MacDONALD always managed to redeem himself by
coming up with yet another great story.
MacDONALD, 76, died Sunday of prostate cancer. He was diagnosed
with the disease about 14 years ago.
"(MacDONALD) probably represents the Sun newsroom more than any
single individual," said
WORTHINGTON as he paid the ultimate
tribute to
MacDONALD, a reporter and columnist for 55 years.
"The newsroom won't quite be the same without him."
MacDONALD was born in the small mining town of Plymouth Park,
Nova Scotia, the
son of a shop steward on the railroad.
He graduated from Acadia University and then studied journalism
at Columbia University in New York City before being hired by
the Toronto Star in 1953.
He later spent a decade at the Toronto Telegram before joining
the Sun.
Colleagues yesterday remembered him as a brave, iconoclastic
reporter who never tired of chasing a great story, but who always
found time to mentor young reporters.
His scoops over the years were famous.
For the Star, using old contacts, he managed to sneak into the
room where Prince Philip was visiting relatives of the victims
of the Springhill mining disaster.
For the Telegram, he covered the
FLQ crisis, and for the Sun,
he wrote the paper's first front-page story about a $10 million
boondoggle involving the sale of supposedly surplus jets the
government had to replace.
WORTHINGTON said
MacDONALD would drive the Ottawa press gallery
nuts by breaking stories -- which they had to follow -- during
his occasional visits to cover Parliament Hill.
He was such a great reporter that
WORTHINGTON made sure that
despite his desire to be a columnist,
MacDONALD continued to
break stories for the Sun for some time.
Outside of the newsroom,
MacDONALD's exploits included the dubious
distinction, along with Star cartoonist Duncan
MacPHERSON, of
being "banned for life" several times after dustups at the press
club.
"When he was off the wagon, life was far more exciting, but it
was much easier when he was on it,"
WORTHINGTON said.
After he became a Sun columnist in the late 1970s,
MacDONALD
was finally able to freely flaunt his blue Tory beliefs, while
railing against the evils of communism and terrorism.
He had clear likes and dislikes. During the Bosnian conflict,
he supported the Croatians and opposed the Serbians.
One story around that time had him so angry that his twice-weekly
column had been cut to once a week that he organized members
of the Croatian community to picket the Sun until the decision
was reversed.
"The thing about my dad was that he talked to everybody, from
the most glamorous movie star and well-known politician, to the
guy walking on the street with his hand out because that's all
he had," said his only child, Moira
MacDONALD, a freelance writer.
"He was genuinely interested in people and the stories they had
to tell," she said.
Besides his daughter,
MacDONALD is survived by his wife Nellie-Joe,
grand_son Holm
GILL, sister Betty
HEIGHTON, brother Russell
MacDONALD
and nine nephews and nieces.
A memorial is planned for Thursday at a time and place to be
determined.
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GOMBU o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2006-03-14 published
Marie CURTIS, 94: Long Branch fighter on Metro Council
Marie CURTIS always spoke her mind
Fought doggedly for her constituents
By Phinjo GOMBU,
Staff▲▼
Reporter▲▼
As reeve of the long-gone village of Long Branch, Marie
CURTIS
took pride in being described as a plain-spoken housewife whose
political commentary was as crusty as the scrumptious apple pies
she loved to bake.
And as politicians -- including then-Toronto mayor Nathan
PHILLIPS
and Metro chairman Fred
GARDINER -- soon realized, they crossed
CURTIS's path at their peril.
The year was 1953, and
CURTIS, who represented Long Branch --
a working-class community of about 10,000 long since incorporated
into Etobicoke -- on Metro Council, was a reeve who believed
in speaking her mind.
"If you wanted a job done, call Marie," recalled Mississauga
Mayor Hazel
McCALLION, whose long political career in local politics
was beginning just as
CURTIS's was ending.
"She was such an energetic, lively person who didn't hesitate
to take a stand on an issue,"
McCALLION said. "When she was active,
I was just a junior in local politics and I always admired her
and had great respect for her."
From her epic battles against the east-west Toronto subway line,
to helping the victims of Hurricane Hazel relocate, to creating
Toronto's regional parkland system,
CURTIS left her mark on a
city that was just beginning to take form.
She lambasted builders who got a permit for one thing and then
built another, called the youth of the day "big lumps" who didn't
deserve publicly funded community centres, and fought tooth and
nail for the interests of her constituents.
CURTIS, who is honoured today by Marie Curtis Park on the banks
of Etobicoke Creek and Lake Ontario, died Sunday at her residence,
Grey Gables, in Markdale, southeast of Owen Sound. She was 94.
She was predeceased by her husband of 55 years, Bryce
CURTIS,
in 1988, and by her son Bill in 1987. She is survived by her
daughter Joan
McGEE, five grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
Ann Marie McCARTHY, who was born on a farm in Wyebridge, near
Midland, was a shy country girl until an aunt visited from St.
Louis, Missouri, when she was 9 years old. Family lore has it
that the aunt took a shine to her and the two went back to Missouri,
where the girl discovered the joys of music, theatre and libraries
things she didn't have back on the farm.
Ann Marie, who never went to high school or university, was a
changed girl when she returned home. One of seven children, she
was 14 when her mother died, and by 18 she was in Toronto working
in a hat factory to help support the family.
A few years later she met her husband, Bryce
CURTIS, and the
couple settled in the village of Long Branch because -- much
like today -- a house in Toronto was out of reach.
Back then, the village was a poor community made up of people
who worked in about a half-dozen local industries that included
making paint, bricks and water meters.
CURTIS's first foray into politics came when she was elected
president of the local Home and School Association, where she
led a victorious battle to get kindergarten classes. The ease
of the victory piqued her interest, and she began attending local
council meetings to learn about the business of politics.
In 1951, her life took a crucial turn when she learned the deputy
reeve's spot was being filled by acclamation because nobody wanted
to run against him.
"I thought that was awful," she told a journalist. "Why, he hadn't
done anything but rubber-stamp the rest of the council all the
time I was watching. So I went out to try and find someone to
fight that drone."
Unsuccessful in finding the right candidate, she returned home
one day and said she had found the perfect person: herself. She
went on to win in 1952.
A year later, in 1953,
CURTIS ran for reeve -- roughly equivalent
to village mayor -- and was elected. Long Branch voters quickly
learned they were on to a good thing and continued to re-elect
her until she retired in 1962, a decade of municipal politics
under her belt.
Betraying her housewife roots,
CURTIS often said her proudest
accomplishments included getting the village streets paved because
she was fed up with complaints from parents about their kids
tracking road tar into the house. She planted crabapple trees
that still bloom every spring, and brought the village its first
artificial ice rink by encouraging woman to sell kisses to gentlemen
for $1 apiece.
But it was on Metro Council, where she was a charter member --
and the first woman to sit on the powerful executive committee
with "Big Daddy" Gardiner -- that she began to make her mark.
CURTIS's politics were both populist and conservative.
She likened fathers who deserted their families to people who
sold tainted meat from dead and diseased animals. Both, she pronounced,
should be horsewhipped.
CURTIS wanted police officers posted outside drinking establishments
to keep drunks from driving. But she didn't think government
could force people out of their cars and on to public transit,
and supported the ill-fated Spadina Expressway.
It was, however, her opposition to the Bloor-Danforth subway
line -- a pet project of the mayors of Metro Toronto's bigger
municipalities in the early 1950s -- that propelled her into
the limelight.
CURTIS said she couldn't support the idea because the residents
of Long Branch were being forced to subsidize the Toronto Transit
Commission while zoned bus fares in her village were rising unfairly.
The battle went all the way to the Supreme Court and twice cost
her a place on council's executive committee. But both times
she bounced back.
"My mother always told me that the only way she did really well
at Metro Council was because she did her homework first," her
daughter Joan said.
After she retired as reeve,
CURTIS continued to play a role in
politics for six years as executive director of the Association
of Mayors and Reeves of Ontario -- forerunner to the Association
of Municipalities of Ontario.
"She was well-respected by the elected people across the province,"
McCALLION said.
On leaving municipal politics,
CURTIS was urged by all three
political parties to run for the provincial Legislature. Instead,
she moved to a farm near Markdale to be with her retired husband.
Visitation is at Gentle Shepherd Community Church, 8th Concession
and Inkerman St. in Eugenia, near Markdale, today from 2 to 4 p.m.
and 7 to 9 p.m. A celebration of
CURTIS's life will be held at
the church tomorrow at 1 p.m.
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GOMBU o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2006-03-29 published
'I just want to see my son'
They can only see him after autopsy has been done
By Phinjo GOMBU,
Staff▲▼
Reporter▲▼
Linda and Frank
BROWN were woken up by a 4 a.m. phone call from
an acquaintance with chilling news that their son, Jermaine,
had been shot dead.
But grief soon turned to anger and frustration as they spent
a frantic day yesterday crisscrossing the city in a futile bid
to view his body.
By day's end, the parents of 23-year-old Jermaine Lincoln
BROWN,
a high school high-jump champion and Humber College culinary
arts student, were bewildered.
"All I want to do is see my son," Linda
BROWN, a cafeteria supervisor
for the Toronto school board said last night in her townhouse
in the Bramalea Rd. and Steeles Ave. area of Brampton.
"I wanted to make sure that's the person they said is dead. I
wanted to see his face before they cut him up and did whatever
they want to do with his body."
The problem was that a girl who claimed to be their son's sister
falsely identified herself as Nisha
BROWN, went to 31 Division
with an ex-girlfriend and identified his body.
BROWN was fatally shot Monday night on Grandravine Dr. in the
Jane St. and Sheppard Ave. W. area. He had moved into an apartment
there in December after being accepted by Humber College where
he was training to become a chef.
Police at 31 Division told the
BROWNs there was nothing they
could do because their son's body had already been identified,
and they would only be able to see him after an autopsy was conducted.
The BROWNs said they then drove to the city morgue on Grosvenor St.
downtown where they were told they couldn't see the body because
they could "contaminate" evidence.
"I really feel deprived of not being able to see my son for the
last (time) the way he left this earth," Linda
BROWN said. "I'm
really upset. I thought the police were supposed to be working
with the community and family members. Right now, they are not
working with us."
The parents also said they are completely in the dark about what
might have precipitated the shooting because police have yet
to tell them or even officially notify them of the death.
Linda and Frank
BROWN know, their son, the oldest of six children,
as a kind-hearted, quiet young man whose passion was cooking.
"I can't swear for him," said Frank
BROWN, who also works for
the Toronto school board as an educational worker. "He's 23 years
old. Anything can happen.
"In my house, I have strict rules and regulations they follow.
I raised them the way I was brought up (in Jamaica) …to be sturdy.
I gave him the best."
What they do remember, however, is a superb athlete who won the
Ontario secondary school championships in high-jumping for Westview
Centennial College on Oakwood Ave.
They said their son would always come home after work and cook
up a storm for the family. Linda said his favourite meals were
all things seafood: sometimes shrimp, other times lobster. He
was also a fan of pasta dishes.
"He took after me," said Linda
BROWN, a smile breaking out for
the first time during the conversation. "He wanted to be a chef
and own his own business. He loved gourmet cooking."
To fulfil his dream, she said, her son enrolled in Humber College
in September for a two-year cooking course, after which he wanted
to either work or open his own business somewhere in downtown
Toronto.
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GOMBU o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2006-09-11 published
Fisherman dies off Port Credit
Son, girlfriend survive 3-metre swells
3 in water 90 minutes before rescue
By Phinjo GOMBU and Jim
WILKES,
Staff▲▼
Reporters▲▼
A routine fishing trip for salmon off Port Credit on Lake Ontario
turned into a tragedy when a 16-foot aluminum boat suddenly began
to draw water and capsized, killing a 55-year-old Georgetown
man.
And for almost 90 minutes after the boat sank yesterday morning,
Bryan RICHARDS, 27, and his girlfriend Elizabeth
SUTTON, 24,
hung on for dear life, bobbing up and down in three-metre waves,
desperately waiting for help
SUTTON had a life jacket on, while
RICHARDS, who didn't, lay
flat across a floating seat from the boat, all the while clinging
to his dead father.
RICHARDS said his father, Albert "Roger"
RICHARDS, died within moments of hitting the water. Police said
it is unknown whether the father was wearing a life jacket, but
his son said he was.
"My dad started panicking," said
RICHARDS yesterday from his
hospital bed at the Trillium Health Centre where he was being
treated for hypothermia.
"I reached over, grabbed him, and
as I pulled him back he turned
around and said 'I'm cold' and then passed away."
"I knew he was dead. It was just the look on his face."
RICHARDS said the three had headed out on their boat called the
Left-Handed Newfie around 7.30 a.m. to take part in a salmon
derby. Around 9.30 a.m., just as they were in the process of
changing lures on a downrigger system, the boat suddenly began
to draw water at the back and went down, stern first, throwing
all three into the water.
"It went back, up, down," said
RICHARDS, describing how his girlfriend
managed to grab on to a life jacket for herself in the nick of
time.
RICHARDS said while he bobbed in the waves in a bay just west
of Port Credit holding on to his dead father, he tried to keep
in touch with
SUTTON.
Both of them shouted back and forth at
each other, encouraging each other to stay conscious and saying
they loved each other, he said.
RICHARDS said that throughout the experience, rage built inside
him because he had his father in his arms and just wanted to
get SUTTON to safety.
"This is a dream and I want it to end right now," he recalled
thinking, but since it wasn't, he said he began to think about
his mother and his girlfriend's 14-month-old baby.
"I wanted to do more but I couldn't," he said. "I wasn't going
to let (my father) go."
Several fishing boats passed by but didn't see them despite the
fact that fishing gear was strewn all over the water. One boat
finally saw them and immediately radioed a distress signal around
11 a.m.
That was when police and other boaters converged around the scene
to mount the rescue.
Both RICHARDS, who works as a shipper and receiver with PL Foods
in Georgetown, and
SUTTON were taken to the Trillium Health Centre.
SUTTON was discharged late yesterday afternoon, while
RICHARDS
was kept overnight for observation.
RICHARDS said his father, whose passion was fishing, was on disability
from a workplace accident in a brake factory that had resulted
in his right leg being amputated.
He said his father, whom he called his dearest friend, had taken
part in countless fishing derbies in the area over the decades.
"All I know is that I won't step on another boat," said
RICHARDS.
"I may not even go fishing anymore. It was 'our' thing."
Among the first on the scene of the rescue were Peter
FAIRWEATHER
and Dan LETUAL of Oakville, who found
RICHARDS and
SUTTON shivering
in another fisherman's boat. The son was reaching over the stern,
holding onto his father's leg, unable to pull him over the gunwale.
"There was no way to hoist him," said
FAIRWEATHER, 42. "He was
a pretty big guy."
He said they looped a rope around the drowned man's leg, so the
son could be treated by police and paramedics.
"The son was definitely in shock," he said. "That was just his
reaction to hold on to him."
FAIRWEATHER said it was a rough day on the lake, with waves nearly
three metres high.
"We were bouncing around a lot," he said, adding that in such
conditions things can go from good to bad in an instant. "It
doesn't take much water in the back of the boat to swamp it."
"If you get hit by a wave sideways, the whole thing goes down
in 30 seconds it's gone," said fishing charter operator Brian
SLANEY, 45, whose huge boat dwarfs the 16-foot open aluminum
craft belonging to
RICHARDS. "
You have no time to get on your
radio and call.
"Wind is a powerful thing, water is powerful. I don't think it
would take long for them to start getting into trouble" once
the boat started filling with water, he said. "It's a real tragedy."
Another boater said it was "the worst conditions I've ever seen,"
recalling how the wind-whipped waves pushed his boat's bow "way
up into air."
Paul KRISTOFIC, who runs Salmon Strike Charters, was about three
kilometres offshore when he heard the mayday call over his radio.
"That's your duty as a boater on the water," he said. "So I pulled
the rods up and burned over there as quick as I could."
He saw debris from the sunken boat floating in the water, including
two seats later brought to shore by police.
"This is a tight community down here," he said. "It really hits
home.
"The water was pretty rough this morning, so you just have to
be careful out there."
He called the man a "friendly guy" who hung out at the dock to
chat up the charter captains and learn about good fishing spots.
Fishing
Friends said Roger
RICHARDS' nickname was also the name
of his boat. Others said they simply called him Lefty, because
his amputated leg had been replaced by a prosthetic one.
SLANEY recalled the man as "a real jovial guy" who loved to prowl
the docks near the mouth of the Credit River.
"This is where he liked to be," he said. "That's all we talked
about -- boating and fishing.
"It was his passion."
KRISTOFIC said boaters and anglers alike have to be ready for
trouble.
"Accidents happen everywhere, on the road and on the water,"
he said. "So you just have to be careful and make sure you're
well-prepared out there for anything.
"A lot of times the water can be pretty cold, so you should wear
your lifejacket all the time."
LETUAL was more pointed.
"You're a fool to go out if you're not wearing a life jacket,"
he said.
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GOMBU o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2006-11-15 published
Medical pioneer dead at 61
Noella LECLAIR received artificial heart
Defied the odds, lived for 20 years
By Phinjo GOMBU,
Staff▲▼
Reporter▲▼
When Noella
LECLAIR made history on May 1, 1986, as the recipient
of Canada's first artificial heart, doctors gave her at most
five years to live.
She proved them wrong. To the delight of her family and Friends,
LECLAIR went on to live a normal, healthy and happy life for
20 years.
The resident of the Ottawa suburb of Orleans, who died Saturday
at the age of 61, even opened up her own small store in the Byward
market, which she ran for more than 15 years.
"She always looked at (her life) as if she had been given a second
chance, which a lot of people don't get," her daughter Sophie
LECLAIR-
MICETICH recalled yesterday.
LECLAIR was 41 when she received a Jarvik-7 artificial heart
at the Ottawa Heart Institute. A week later, she received a human
heart from a 44-year-old Montreal man who had died after a traffic
accident.
LECLAIR died in the same Ottawa institute.
According to her daughter,
LECLAIR's heart was not functioning
well in recent months, but doctors advised against another transplant.
"She took it gracefully," said
LECLAIR-
MICETICH. "
She was happy
and ready to go. She looked at the 20 years she had with us as
a bonus."
Dr. Ross DAVIES, a cardiologist at the Ottawa institute who had
had LECLAIR as a patient from the beginning, described her as
a lovely lady, beloved by all the patients and staff.
"I don't think we would have dreamt that people would have lived
more than 20 years with such good quality of life," said
DAVIES.
"It has just been a remarkable story all along, very satisfying
for the patient and family and very satisfying for the heart
institute and the medical staff."
Born in the small community of Plantagenet, northwest of Ottawa,
LECLAIR was destined to live a quiet life in Orleans with her
husband, Simon, who ran a furniture business.
Before her illness, she raised nine foster children, in addition
to her own daughter.
But on April 25, 1986, she suffered a heart attack that left
her on life support and technically dead.
A few days' later, family members gave doctors permission to
insert the Jarvik-7 artificial heart, and after a 3½ hour transplant
operation led by Doctor Wilbert
KEON,
Canadian medical history was
made.
"Heart transplantation was still somewhat young, so doing a transplant
was still pretty exciting," recalled
DAVIES. "It was very exciting
to be involved in the first mechanical circulatory-assist device
in Canada."
Back then, only the Ottawa institute performed such complex surgery,
something that is now routinely performed in select hospitals
across Canada.
LECLAIR's gratitude was such that she went on to become the Ottawa
Heart Institute's most enthusiastic volunteer: She organized
bingo games, took part in telethons and assisted doctors to help
calm patients who were nervous about impending surgery by discussing
her own experiences.
"At one point her doctor told me that she was (the institute's)
best spokesperson, obviously because she was living proof of
their capabilities," said
LECLAIR-
MICETICH.
DAVIES said the relationship between patient and the hospital
was long and fruitful.
"Our objective when we went into this was to improve her quality
of life," he said. "It turns out we couldn't have done it to
a more wonderful person because not only did we help her… she
returned the favour many fold both to the heart institute and
the community."
Funeral services are scheduled for Monday at Saint_Joseph Church
in Orleans.
LECLAIR is survived by her husband, Simon, and daughter
Sophie.
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GOMBU o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2006-11-28 published
Pepper-sprayed Croatian soldier dies
Friend who says
DRNASIN was 'black and blue' after altercation
on Toronto Transit Commission bus doubts that spray alone was
the cause of his death
By Phinjo GOMBU,
Staff▲▼
Reporter▲▼
A Croatian soldier who was pepper-sprayed by Toronto Transit
Commission special constables following an altercation on a bus
this month has died.
Jasen DRNASIN, 32, a Croatian war hero and the country's first
graduate from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, was taken
to hospital on November 12 in critical condition after an altercation
on a bus in the Eglinton Ave. W. and Royal York Rd. area.
DRNASIN reportedly showed signs of improvement a few days later
but died yesterday afternoon around 2: 40 p.m. at Humber Regional
Hospital.
DRNASIN's father Anton said earlier that his son suffered from
post-traumatic stress as a result of military service in Croatia.
He said he had been told that his son's heart may have stopped
because of the excessive use of pepper spray.
He said at the time he was angry and did not think his son deserved
to be pepper-sprayed but has not spoken publicly since.
At least seven Toronto police officers also responded to the
disturbance. The incident is under investigation by the province's
Special Investigations Unit, which probes circumstances involving
police and civilians that result in death or serious injury.
Friends of the Croatian-born
DRNASIN, who was also a Canadian
citizen but moved back to Croatia as a teenager, said they don't
believe he died just as a result of being pepper-sprayed.
"This isn't a case of someone having a bad reaction to pepper
spray," said Ranko
PLEJIC, who has known
DRNASIN since he was
10 and was his soccer coach.
When PLEJIC -- who along with others held a vigil for
DRNASIN
last week -- spoke to the Star he said
DRNASIN was "black and
blue over every part of his body."
"The whole pepper spray story, I think, is secondary. This man
was severely beaten, he's actually missing parts of flesh on
his throat. This man was beaten… His bladder catheter is strictly
pouring out blood. He's unrecognizable," said
PLEJIC.
PLEJIC also said that while
DRNASIN may have gone to fight in
Croatia as a young man, he wanted to stress that he remained
a Canadian.
He said DRNASIN also served in the Canadian military when he
was 16 or 17.
Not long after his military service here
DRNASIN moved to Croatia
to fight in its civil war in the early 1990s. He later went on
to graduate from West Point in 2000, the first Croatian soldier
to do so.
A year later, things went tragically wrong when he was charged
with stabbing his girlfriend Tanja Milanovic several times while
under the influence of drugs.
The case, according to Croatian news reports, brought out in
the open stories about rampant drug use in the Croatian army
during the preceding decade.
PLEJIC said that
DRNASIN, an engineer by training, had been back
in Canada since September and was looking to make some money
here.
DRNASIN's wife, from whom he was estranged, and his 18-month-old
daughter flew to Toronto from Croatia after he was hospitalized.
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GOMBU o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2006-11-29 published
Brick attack victim, 25, dies
By Phinjo GOMBU,
Staff▲
Reporter▲
A 25-year-old Toronto man and college hockey star hit in the
head by an object police say might have been a brick died yesterday.
Mike SERBA, who was home in Toronto for American Thanksgiving
from Norwich University in Vermont, was attacked early Saturday
morning in an alleyway near Bloor St. W. and Jane St.
Toronto police said
SERBA had been at a nearby bar. When he went
to get money from a nearby bank machine,
SERBA said somebody
"sucker-punched" him.
Rather than call police, he and his Friends who were at the bar
went outside in search of the attacker.
SERBA was then attacked
with a blunt object, which put him in a coma.
SERBA, who was doing his master's in business at Norwich University,
was also captain of the hockey team last year.
Nicholas CROWDIS, 22, of no fixed address, is charged with attempted
murder. Police said yesterday the charge will be upgraded at
his next court appearance at Old City Hall on Monday.
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GOMERSALL o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2006-09-29 published
GOMERSALL,
Bill
By Ken MITCHELL,
Page
A18
Cowboy, father, rancher, poet. Born March 21, 1905, near Carp,
Ontario Died March 20, in Moose Jaw, of natural causes, aged
Bill GOMERSALL was often called the last Saskatchewan cowboy.
He was certainly the oldest, when he died the day before his
101st birthday. He had vowed to be on horseback on his 100th.
Bill's final years were among the best of a colourful life, for
at 97 he became a nationally celebrated cowboy poet, a craft
he had been apprenticed to the age of 12. His relationship with
horses went back even further.
In 1912, his father, J.J.
GOMERSALL, loaded his family and two
teams of horses into a "settler's special" boxcar, and headed
for the western boomtown of Moose Jaw. They ended up in a homestead
shack at Galilee, about 30 miles south, in the Dirt Hills. "The
good homestead land was long gone," Bill said. "We got a quarter-section
of rocks, hills and alkali sloughs."
Fortunately the patch was beside the C.N. railway line and the
train to Moose Jaw. J.J. acquired milk cows and promptly went
into the dairy business, shipping fresh cream to the city. Bill
and his siblings milked 20 cows, twice a day, and developed strong
hands. Their daily three gallons of sweet cream earned $120 a
month.
Bill GOMERSALL's schooling was also basic, terminating in Grade 6.
But he learned self-education fast. And resourcefulness. Entertainment
in the Twenties consisted of Saturday night "socials." Bill learned
to recite cowboy poems, memorizing them from newspapers. Until
his death, Bill could still recite the epic (and classic) Face
on the Barroom Floor.
When Bill left school, he took up horsemanship. J.J. taught him
to train "singles," or buggy horses. He started breaking horses
for local ranchers, and became a legendary bronc-buster at 14.
He rode in the early Calgary Stampede. Bill was a horse-whisperer
who bonded with the wildest mustangs. He organized rodeos all
over Saskatchewan, building up his horse ranch, the Running W.
Bill acquired his first herd by taking green horses in lieu of
cash, and became a shrewd horse-trader. For the next 50 years,
the first thing he did every morning was ride a horse. On a morning
ride he met up with his childhood sweetheart, Irene
PATON, and
they married.
To buy his ranch, he spent his winters on horseback hunting coyotes
through the Big Muddy Badlands. One winter he took 157 pelts
(average price, $11). Bill bought his half-section ranch with
cash in 1939, in a high coulee west of Spring Valley. At the
crest of the highest hill was a native tepee ring of stone. From
that ring he could see 20 miles across the hills.
Bill and Irene had four children: Bill Jr., Peggie, Doug and
Sherry. The family lived in the original homestead shack for
years before Bill could afford a new house. But they saw their
ranch expand to 17 sections of land. Bill had eight grandchildren,
and eight great-grandchildren. His granddaughter Rusty
QUAM became
a Canadian barrel racing champion.
When Irene died in 2000, she asked Bill to scatter her ashes
in the tepee ring above the ranch. He maintained an active independence,
driving into Moose Jaw daily for supplies. In 2003, Bill went
onstage to perform for the first time in 60 years. He delivered
The Face on the Barroom Floor at Regina's Royal Saskatchewan
Museum, in a clear bass voice that hypnotized the audience. He
travelled the country for three years with The Mitchell Boys,
performing cowboy poetry. He got standing ovations. On his (and
Saskatchewan's) 100th birthday in 2005, Bill launched his first
CD. Then he went for his long-promised horse ride. Bill
GOMERSALL
cracked his second century wrangler-style.
After the funeral his ashes, too, were scattered round the ancient
tepee ring atop the Cactus Hills.
Playwright Ken
MITCHELL is a friend of Bill.
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GOMERY o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2006-05-03 published
SMITH,
Margery
Louise (née
GOMERY)
Peacefully, and with dignity, on April 29th, 2006 in her 76th
year. Beloved wife of the late Arthur Lloyd
SMITH, loving mother
of Leslie Diane
(DEVINS,)
Susan
Mary
(FOSTER,) David Arthur and
Kevin Lloyd. Cherished sister of Frances (Allen). Predeceased
by her mother Gwendolyn Gladys
JOHNSON, her father, Geoffrey
Godwin GOMERY and her sister Joanne Rosemary
GOODYEAR.
Sadly
missed by grandchildren Caren, Jason, Kristen, Ryan, Angela,
Olivia and Spencer. Friends will be received at the Neweduk Funeral
Home "Mississauga Chapel" 1981 Dundas St. W. (one block east
of Erin Mills Pkwy.) from 6-8 p.m. on Friday, May 5th. In celebration
of Margery's life, a private graveside service will take place
at Springcreek Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations to the
Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario would be gratefully appreciated.
Condolences dsmith01@sympatico.ca Neweduk Funeral Home 905-828-8000
www.neweduk.com
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GOMES o@ca.on.middlesex_county.london.london_free_press 2006-01-14 published
JONES,
Catherine
Lorraine
(MacCONNELL)
Suddenly at Strathroy Hospital on Thursday, January 12, 2006
Catherine Lorraine
(MacCONNELL)
JONES of Carlisle in her 69th
year. Beloved wife of Robert
JONES. Dear mother of Liz and Glen
STEWARD/STEWART/STUART of Carlisle, Ken
JONES of London and Keith and Helena
JONES of Carlisle. Dear grandma of Amanda, Dawn, Danielle, Samantha
and T.J. Dear great-grandma to Joseph. Dear sister of Peggy
ZUBYK,
Jean WELBURN and Helen
GRIFFITH all of London. Predeceased by
a dear daughter-in-law Jane
JONES, brothers Frank
MacCONNELL
and Fredrick
MacCONNELL and sister Marlene
MAY and special brother-in-law
Orville GRIFFITH.
Resting at the T. Stephenson and son Funeral
Home, Ailsa Craig where the funeral service will be held on Monday,
January 16th at 2 p.m. with Reverend Ken
TAILOR/TAYLOR officiating. Cremation
to follow with private interment of ashes at Carlisle Cemetery.
Visitation 7-9 p.m. Sunday, January 15th and 1 hour prior to
the service on Monday. Thanks to all staff of Strathroy Hospital,
Intensive Care Unit Nurses, Dr.
VANDEWALLE, Dr.
GOMES and the
Paramedics who assisted time and time again. Donations to Strathroy
Hospital or Carlisle Cemetery Board would be appreciated. A tree
will be planted in memory of Mrs. Catherine
JONES.
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GOMES o@ca.on.middlesex_county.london.london_free_press 2006-03-25 published
MALIN,
Frank
The family of the late Frank
MALIN would like to say a big thank
you to everyone who sent food, flowers, cards and kind words
to us during the time of our sad loss. Your thoughtfulness will
always be remembered. Thank you to the wonderful caring staff
of the Emergency and Intensive Care Unit at Strathroy Hospital
special thanks to Doctor Gary
PERKIN and Doctor David
GOMES for their
care and attention to Frank over the last 4 years. A big thank
you to Jean
BRODIE,
Barb
GRAY/GREY, Lynda
CROZIER and Rob and Josie
EASTON for being there for us at the hospital; Rev. Richard
GOLDEN
for his prayers and support at the hospital and the interment
the ladies of Melbourne for the lovely lunch that was served
to the guys at Blue Dragon for holding the fort; Elliott-Madill
Funeral Home for their understanding and compassion. A heartfelt
thanks from us all. - Chris
MALIN and family.
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GOMES o@ca.on.middlesex_county.london.london_free_press 2006-06-01 published
BOYLE,
Dennis
George
Of Exeter, age 36, passed away at Victoria Hospital, London on
Tuesday, May 30, 2006 after suffering a severe heat stroke at
his work place. Dennis is the beloved
son of Dorothy
SCHUETT,
and her partner Jim
WRIGHT of Walkerton; dear brother of Marilyn
and her husband Dave
O'DRISCOLL,
Julie
BOYLE and her friend Sean
GOMES and Scott all of Guelph. Dennis will be sadly missed by
all his family and Friends. Predeceased by his father William
BOYLE and infant sister Deborah. Visitation at Cameron Funeral
Home, Walkerton, on Thursday from 7-9 p.m. with parish prayers
at 8: 45 p.m. Funeral Mass will be held on Friday, June 2, at
11: 00 a.m. at Sacred Heart Church, Walkerton. Memorial donations
to the Heart and Stroke Foundation or the Epilepsy-Huron, Perth
Bruce would be appreciated as expressions of sympathy.
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GOMES o@ca.on.middlesex_county.london.london_free_press 2006-12-30 published
KASPERSMA,
Cornelis "
Kees"
The family of the late Cornelis (Kees)
KASPERSMA wish to express
sincere thanks and appreciation to Friends, family and neighbours
for their words of kindness, cards, flowers, food, donations
to the North Caradoc Presbyterian Church, the ALS Society,
or expressed their sympathy in any other way. We are greatful
to Doctor BUMA and Doctor
GOMES for their dedicated care over the years.
Special thanks to the nurses and staff at Strathroy Middlesex
General
Hospital.
Rev. Kathy
FRASER, your support, beautiful
service and personal touch will always be remembered. To the
North Caradoc Presbyterian Church Choir and the Mount Brydges Community
Choir, thank you for the wonderful, powerful songs. To Denning
Funeral Home for your professional help and care, thank you.
Special thank you to the staff at Brookside Retirement Living
in Watford where Dad spent his last few months in their loving
care.
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GOMES o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2006-01-26 published
RODRIGUES,
Mabel
Alice
Passed away peacefully at Chelsey Park Nursing Home on Tuesday,
January 24th, 2006 at age 93. Beloved wife of the late Percy
RODRIGUES
Sr.
Loving mother of daughter Edith
GOMES and her husband
Rudy, from England, son Percy Jr. and his wife Maureen, and daughter
Marian. Dear grandmother of Mark and his wife Ellen, Neil, Elaine
and Alison and great-grandmother of Noah. Friends may call at
the Turner and Porter "Peel" Chapel, 2180 Hurontario Street, Mississauga
(Hwy. 10, North of Queen Elizabeth Way) on Friday from 7-9 p.m.
A Funeral Mass will be held at St. Patrick's Church, 921 Flagship
Drive (at Tomken) on Saturday, January 28th, 2006 at 10 o'clock.
Cremation to follow. As an expression of sympathy, donations
may be made to the St. Vincent de Paul Society.
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GOMES o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2006-02-01 published
GOMES,
Joao
Manuel
(November 20, 1953-January 31, 2006)
Of Campbell Avenue. Visitation 11 a.m-4 p.m. and 6-9 p.m. today
at the Ryan and Odette Funeral Home, 1498 Dundas St. W., at Dufferin,
Toronto. Mass 10 a.m. Thursday at St. Sebastian's Church to Beechwood
Cemetery. Mr.
GOMES, who died at home, is survived by: wife
Cidalia
children Paulo
GOMES,
Nancy
GOMES, Julie
GOMES; grandchild Tyler
GOMES; sister Maria
GOMES.
Parking is no problem - simply enter
from Dufferin, just north of Dundas.
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GOMES o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2006-03-04 published
GRAHAM,
Anne
Peacefully on Wednesday, March 1, 2006 at Bradford Valley Long
Term Care, in her 91st year. Loving wife of the late William.
Beloved mother of Marian
MOEN
(Jim,)
Bill
(Olga) and the late
Margery GOMES.
Anne will be sadly missed by son-in-law George
GOMES, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, great-great-grandchildren,
and all other relatives and Friends. Friends may call at Skwarchuk
Funeral Home, 30 Simcoe Rd., Bradford for visitation on Sunday
from 3-4 p.m. Funeral Mass will be held at the Holy Martyrs of
Japan Church, 167 Essa Street, Bradford on Monday, March 6, 2006
at 10 a.m. Interment Saint John's Cemetery, Newmarket. Donations
may be made to the Canadian Cancer Society.
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GOMEZ o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2006-05-12 published
SHEK,
Jean
Avon (née
ALDERWOOD)
Jean SHEK, beloved wife of Professor Emeritus Ben-Z.
SHEK, mother
of Elliot and Ghitta (Wendy
GOMEZ,) died on Wednesday, May 10,
2006 at Sunnybrook Hospital. Daughter of the late Doctor Henry
ALDERWOOD
and Ruby M.
GANDIER, she is survived as well by her dear siblings:
Kay PAGET, Hope
STEWARD/STEWART/STUART, Ruth
PERRY (Jack), Faith
SUTHERLAND,
and Philip
ALDERWOOD
(Helen.)
Jean had a long and distinguished
career in Social Work. She had a profound love of humanity in
all its varieties and colours and a firm belief in social justice.
Her funeral will take place at Bathurst Lawn Memorial Park (s.
of Steeles, e. of Bathurst) at 10.30 a.m. on Sunday, May 14.
A celebration of her life and a reception will follow at the
Winchevsky Centre, 585 Cranbrooke Ave. (six blocks north of Lawrence,
east of Bathurst). If desired, donations in her name may be made
to the Toronto Jewish Folk Choir or the Morris Winchevsky Schools
(416-789-5502), or to the Jean A. Shek Memorial Scholarship,
Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto (416-978-2011).
The family thanks Doctor Geoff
BOVETT and the nursing staff at floor
C-4, Sunnybrook, for their utmost care.
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GOMEZ o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2006-01-10 published
CULLINAN,
Jeanne
Anne, M.D.
January 7, 2006 in Rochester, New York after a courageous battle
with cancer. She is survived by her daughter Amanda Marie; her
parents, John and Angeline
CULLINAN and her sisters, Mary (Patty)
and Bob SPINELLI,
Diane
GOMEZ, and Terry and "Kip"
FYKE. She
is also survived by many nieces, nephews and good Friends. Most
recently, as an associate professor of Radiology at the University
of Rochester, she was program director for the Diagnostic Radiology
Residency Program and was the director of the Women's Imaging
Center. Following a career in Ob-Gyn, she studied Radiology at
Mount Sinai Medical Center (1989-92) in Miami Beach, Florida
and has had clinical and academic appointments at the University
of Rochester, New York, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada,
and Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee and
at Allegheny
University Hospital: City Avenue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Services will be held in Rochester, New York later this week.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made
in Jeanne's name to the Wilmot Cancer Center, University of Rochester,
601 Elmwood Ave., Box 704, Rochester, New York 14642. To light
a candle in her memory visit www.anthonychapels.com
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