ADAMS o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2007-06-13 published
'He couldn't wait to come home'
Killed in roadside bombing, soldier was a funny, down-to-earth guy, friend says
By Matt HARTLEY, Page A16
It was after dinner on Logan CASWELL's 12th birthday when Canadian military officials showed up at the door to deliver the grimmest news possible: Logan's big brother, Trooper Darryl CASWELL, was dead, the latest Canadian soldier to be killed in a roadside bombing in Afghanistan.
Logan's was not the only birthday that would forever after carry a dark taint: Trooper CASWELL was set to come back on July 31st, the day he would have turned 26.
"I still can't believe that he's gone," his stepmother Christine CASWELL told The Globe and Mail from the family's Clarington home, about an hour east of Toronto. "I'm just still in denial. He couldn't wait to come home."
Ms. CASWELL said her stepson was looking forward to being an "average Joe" again. Her husband Paul, Trooper CASWELL's father, had spoken with him by phone Saturday, and what would turn out to be the last e-mail from their son arrived from Afghanistan on Sunday.
Trooper CASWELL was killed while travelling with a convoy carrying supplies to a forward operating base in Khakriz, a northwestern district of Kandahar province, about 40 kilometres north of Kandahar City, when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle at 6: 25 a.m. local time. Two other soldiers were injured in the blast and transported via helicopter to Kandahar airfield for medical treatment. Both are expected to recover and return to active duty soon. He was the third member of the Royal Canadian Dragoons, based out of Canadian Forces Base Petawawa near Ottawa, to be killed by Taliban attacks in the past three months. Trooper CASWELL was deployed as part of the Reconnaissance Squadron from the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment battle group.
Those who served with Trooper CASWELL remembered him as a tough soldier and tireless worker who was never afraid to speak his mind. Trooper Keith Rombough, was a member of that same group. Together they trained at Canadian Forces Base Petawawa, braved patrols in Afghanistan and slept through dusty nights in the same tent, talking of their families back in Canada.
He said Trooper CASWELL and the soldiers he rode with dubbed their vehicle Ghost Rider after the Marvel comic book character. Monday's explosion wasn't the first time Trooper CASWELL's patrol had been the target of a Taliban strike. A few months ago, during a similar patrol, a rocket attack blew the front wheels off his vehicle, Trooper Rombough said.
"He'd always joke around about it," he said. "He took a small amount of pride in that."
Trooper CASWELL was born in Bowmanville, Ontario, and his parents divorced when he was 2. Growing up, he spent time living with his mother in the Toronto satellite communities of Clarington and Whitby as well as Sarnia, Ontario, before moving in with his father and stepmother in Clarington when he was 12. When his father remarried, young Darryl CASWELL was best man.
"One thing I'll never forget was that when Paul proposed to me, Darryl got down on his hands and knees and proposed to me, too," Ms. CASWELL said. "He was such a character. He was a good kid, with a good heart." A funny, down-to-earth guy, that's how Matt ADAM/ADAMS, Trooper CASWELL's best friend of 12 years will always remember him. Being a soldier and serving his country was the fulfilment of a lifelong dream for Trooper CASWELL, Mr.  ADAMS said. It was all he talked about as a kid, and his face lit up when he spoke of his experiences with the military. A fierce patriot, Trooper CASWELL once jokingly chastised Mr.  ADAMS's father for flying a frayed Canadian flag in the family's backyard.
"It was pretty hilarious how he shamed him into getting a new one," Mr. ADAMS said.
Just a few weeks ago, Trooper CASWELL and his crew took a few weeks of leave and travelled to Australia, where he met up with Kayla MYERS, an old friend from high school, now studying education there. It turns out she would be one of the last of his Friends to see him alive.
"He was very proud to serve his country. He was just such a great guy," she said.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper extended his sympathy to the CASWELL family and praised the ongoing efforts of Canadian soldiers in a written statement released yesterday.

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ADAMS o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2007-08-08 published
Death of Canadian at actor's home a mystery
Coroner rules out dog bites and heart attack in investigation of what happened to scriptwriter Jacob ADAM/ADAMS
By Unnati GANDHI, Page 3
The last time anyone saw Jacob ADAM/ADAMS alive, he was playing with his friend Ving RHAMES's four large dogs.
The next morning, the Canadian scriptwriter was found dead on the actor's front lawn in affluent West Los Angeles, dog bites and blood all over his chest, legs and arms.
But what happened in those intervening hours has everyone from police to Friends scratching their heads. An autopsy yesterday found the 40-year-old did not die as a result of the bites, and that he was healthy in every other way.
Police say Mr.  ADAMS, who had been living at the Mission Impossible co-star's home for the past two years and worked as his professional stand-in, was seen outside the Brentwood, California., home at about 8 p.m. last Thursday. Half an hour later, Friends tried calling him but got no answer.
Whatever spurred one of the 90-kilogram mastiffs to give chase had Mr. ADAMS running so hard that police found his shoes more than nine metres from where his body was discovered.
"He made it to the gate, he got the gate closed to keep the dogs inside that grassy area, and he collapsed on the other side of that gate, about three feet from it," said West Los Angeles Lieutenant Ray Lombardo.
When police arrived, the dogs - one with blood on its right forepaw the other so old it hardly had any teeth - were running around freely on the lawn. Mr.  ADAMS was pronounced dead at the scene.
Yesterday, the dogs were still in the custody of animal control.
Mr. RHAMES's wife told police yesterday that the dogs, which the family has owned for about seven years, were very gentle.
"She said she has two young children and that the dogs had never viciously turned on anybody," Lt. Lombardo said.
Most of the bites were superficial, the Los Angeles coroner's office said yesterday. It was also determined that Mr.  ADAMS did not die of a heart attack and did not have any clogged arteries. The body is now being sent in for toxicology tests.
"At this point, it's simply a mystery. We're ruling it an undetermined death," Lt. Lombardo said.
He believes the dogs - "they're big dogs; they look like lions," he said - sensed something was wrong with Mr.  ADAMS and were trying to help him by pulling on him. There were no bites on the head or neck.
Mr. ADAMS, who is from the Toronto area, had met the Pulp Fiction actor several years ago on the Canadian set for Kojak, a made-for-television movie in which Mr.  RHAMES played a police detective. Mr.  ADAMS had written that film's script.
The two men got along very well in a short time and became good Friends.
"He took a real liking to Jacob," Anne DODDS, a long-time friend of Mr. ADAMS, said yesterday. Mr.  RHAMES then asked Mr.  ADAMS if he would like to work for him.
"He had apparently said to Jacob, 'When I'm here, I want you to stand in for me, but when I'm not here, treat my home in Vancouver, treat my home in Los Angeles, as your own home,'" Ms.  DODDS said in an interview.
"This man, when he was a friend, he was a friend," Ms.  DODDS said of Mr.  ADAMS. "If you ever had a down time, he'd give you that lift to make you feel better about yourself."
With that, Mr.  ADAMS moved to Los Angeles two years ago, where he lived in Mr.  RHAMES's estate with his wife and two young children. Mr. ADAMS is not married and recently got his green card.
The deal was that whenever Mr.  RHAMES was out of town - he's currently in Europe - Mr.  ADAMS would take care of the "odds and ends" around the house, police said.

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ADAMSON o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2007-01-03 published
FERGUSON, Ada Lauretta
Peacefully at the Peter D. Clark Centre, Ottawa on Monday, January 1st, 2007. Dearly beloved wife of the late Doctor Robert FERGUSON. Loving mother of Robert (Susan,) Donald (Judy) and Marilyn ADAMSON (Charles.) Cherished grandmother of Andrew, Matthew (Zartaj), Julianne (Bryan), Trevor, Sheri, Jeff and Sarah. Lovingly remembered by her several nieces and nephews. Predeceased by her sister Florence and brother James. She was the past-president of the Ottawa Women's Canadian Club, the Ottawa Civic Hospital Auxiliary and the Grenfell Association - Ottawa Branch. There will be no visitation at the funeral home. The Funeral Service will be held at Christ Church Cathedral, Sparks at Bronson, Ottawa, on Friday, January 5th, 2007 at 2 p.m. Inurnment at Christ Church Columbarium. Arrangements in care of the Central Chapel of Hulse, Playfair and McGarry. As an expression of sympathy, memorial donations to the Ottawa Hospital Foundation, Civic Campus would be appreciated by the family. Condolences/Donations/Tributes at: mcgarryfamily.ca 613-233-1143

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ADAMSON o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2007-06-15 published
YOUNG, Mary Winnifred (née HENDREN)
Passed away peacefully, on Saturday, June 9th, 2007 at Markham Stouffville Hospital in her 92nd year. Predeceased by her parents George and Gertrude HENDREN, her beloved husband Doctor Percival Musgrave YOUNG, her sister Ivah BRAND and her brothers Don and Ralph HENDREN. Devoted mother of Ian (Shirley) of Toronto, Roger (Kate KENNEDY) of Sudbury, and Heather (Pat PARKER) of Espanola and New Liskeard. Loving grandmother of Katherine (Ashley ADAMSON,) Karen (Todd JASIE,) Genevieve (Geoff NEWTON,) Brian (Karen,) Bradley (Jennifer LAVINIA,) and David (Michelle.) Proud great-grandmother of Emma, Megan, Tyler, Cassidy, Samuel and Eva. Mary was born on May 16, 1916 in Lakefield, Ontario. She graduated as a registered nurse from Kingston General Hospital in 1937 and married her beloved Percy in 1940. She moved to Sturgeon Falls, Ontario where Percy practiced as a general practitioner physician until 1977, when they retired to Toronto. Mary spent her life helping others and was involved in many community activities. Mary's greatest undertaking was raising her three children. She supported them in every way and always kept communications open. In more recent years she was a wonderful grandmother and great-grandmother. Mary had boundless energy and a great sense of humour that rubbed off positively on everyone around her. She loved nature and was the driving force in the family to purchase a boat, then land and a cottage on Lake Nipissing where the family still spends many of its happiest moments. This has kindled a deep love and appreciation of the out of doors in her children and grandchildren. Mary will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved her. She touched so many lives. She will always be in our hearts with great affection. A memorial service to celebrate Mary's life will be held at the Humphrey Funeral Home - A.W. Miles Chapel, 1403 Bayview Avenue (south of Eglinton Avenue East), at 1 p.m. on Thursday, June 21st. If desired, donations to the Childhood Cancer Foundation Candlelighters Canada would be gratefully acknowledged as an expression of sympathy. www.childhoodcancer.ca or 1-800-363-1062. Condolences and memories may be forwarded through www.humphreymiles.com

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ADAMSON o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2007-07-20 published
COOKE, George Blackstone
By Kaireen ADAMSON, Page L6
George Blackstone COOKE, known as Joe, was the youngest of five siblings. His father died when he was 10 years old, leaving Joe's mother to raise three teenage girls and two young boys through the Depression.
For pocket change, Joe and his brother caught dew worms on the golf course to sell to Lake Couchiching fishermen. Joe learned to swim and play lacrosse at Orillia's Young Men's Christian Association; he learned his love of Gilbert and Sullivan musicals at the local high school.
As a youth Joe sought adventure in Labrador, where he was employed building the Goose Bay aerodrome. He left for King's College in Nova Scotia, graduating as a sub-lieutenant. He joined the Royal Navy and served three years on the frigate H.M.S. Loch Fada, escorting convoys on the North Atlantic.
On VE Day, unable to get in the front door of London's celebrated Hammersmith Palais, Joe climbed to a second-storey balcony. He drew such a cheer that he threw down his hat, then his coat, and so on until, when apprehended by the shore patrol, he was down to his skivvies and the crowd was roaring its approval.
After the war, Joe enrolled at the University of Toronto, where he received an award for excellence in English literature. He continued his studies at Osgoode Hall Law School.
While a student Joe met and married Dorothy LINDSAY. In 1951, Joe and Dorothy moved to her hometown of Renfrew, Ontario, in the heart of the Ottawa Valley. Fifty-eight years of marriage produced a family of six children and, eventually, 10 grandchildren.
Winters found Joe and his family on ski hills, where his advice to the timid was: "Don't look, just ski." On early spring mornings, canoes were lashed on trucks and Joe, family and Friends would head out to run the swollen creeks and rivers. When he heard the roar of approaching rapids Joe's face would beam in anticipation. "Ladies and gentlemen - we have ourselves a river!"
Joe established a thriving law practice in Renfrew. He was a natural community leader, a spirited participant in fundraising song-and-dance reviews and a friend to the developmentally disabled. An annual " COOKE's Outing" named in honour of Joe and Dorothy continues to provide recreation for individuals in Community Living.
In his retirement years, Joe and his family played host to many Friends at their sugar bush. The first boil came off in 1979 and the last in 2006, with many a red ribbon for the Cooke and Co. syrup entry in the Renfrew Fair. Joe made the most of his 85 years.
Kaireen ADAMSON is Joe's daughter.

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ADAMSON o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2007-12-24 published
ADAMSON, Adrian Cawthra
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Adrian on Friday, December 21, 2007, with great courage and surrounded by his loving family, following a long but ever hopeful struggle with Multiple Sclerosis and stroke. He is survived by his wife Esther FINE, his children Gil, Andrew and Keira and his brothers, Jeremy and Chris. Many thanks to the outstanding staff and volunteers at Bridgepoint Health and The Aphasia Institute and the doctors and staff in Intensive Care Unit B4 at Sunnybrook Hospital. He will be well-remembered by his family and Friends as well as his many students at Humber College, and fellow students of Cambridge, University of Toronto and TCS.
A service will be held at the Humphrey Funeral Home - A.W. Miles Chapel, 1403 Bayview Avenue (south of Eglinton Avenue East), on Friday, December 28 at 11 o'clock. A reception will follow in the Leaside Room. Donations in Adrian's name may be made to The Aphasia Institute, 73 Scarsdale Road, Toronto, M3B 2R2 and The Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada, 175 Bloor Street East, Suite 700, North Tower, Toronto M4W 3R8. Condolences and memories may be forwarded through www.humphreymiles.com.

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ADAMSON o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2007-01-01 published
Mary Bates BURNS, 89: Swing singer
Mary Bates Burns was a hit with the troops and once turned down a date with Frank Sinatra
By Matthew CHUNG, Staff Reporter
She was a decorated World War 2 veteran with "perfect pitch."
Mary Bates BURNS went from making bottle tops in a factory to entertaining overseas troops with a featured singing role in the wartime revue "Meet the Navy."
She later shared stages, and radio waves, with legends of the swing era and, according to family lore, once rejected a romantic overture from Frank Sinatra.
"Mary never did make a big thing about her celebrity status," said her sister, Peg HARRIS, 85, from her home in Prince Edward Island. "She certainly was a celebrity in Toronto."
BATES BURNS performed for much of her career as Mary BATES but later took her second husband's surname. She died December 19 at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, after a brief illness, at age 89.
Born June 6, 1917 in Newcastle Upon Tyne, England, she moved with her family six years later to Toronto's east end, near Pape Ave. and Gerrard St. E.
Her voice got noticed by co-workers in a factory and they encouraged her to try out for a local quartet. She got the job and performed with Jack ALLISON, Bill BOUNSALL and Helen RICHARDSON as The Crushy Swingers, after a successful audition for Orange Crush Co.
They quickly made a splash in the Canadian music scene, garnering airplay on CFRB and being featured on a radio broadcast put on by The Toronto Star Fresh Air Fund.
The quartet was spotted that summer by Rudy Vallee, the famous 1930s American crooner known for singing through a megaphone, as they performed at the Canadian National Exhibition.
Impressed, Vallee asked the group to sing on his Thursday evening NBC radio show broadcast from New York.
The performance was such a success BATES BURNS and the others moved to the Big Apple and made more appearances on Vallee's show as The Swing Kids. They disbanded in the late 1930s, and she launched her solo career.
BATES BURNS appeared as a featured vocalist with many large swing orchestras including The Modernaires.
In front of a microphone, BATES BURNS was "Marvellous… she was just a natural," her sister said.
It was back in Toronto, at the Canadian National Exhibition around the start of World War 2, that BATES BURNS rubbed shoulders with Frank Sinatra, then in the early years of his career.
"I think the story was, he asked did she know where a guy could get a drink?" said BATES BURNS's daughter, Kate BURNS Rapley, in a phone interview from England.
"He then said was there any chance of him having some company with that drink?"
BATES BURNS, married at the time to musician Ken ADAMSON, declined. She and ADAMSON were later divorced.
BATES BURNS joined the Canadian navy in World War 2 as a member of the Women's Royal Canadian Naval Services. She was a featured act in the "Meet the Navy" musical show that entertained soldiers stationed across Canada.
It was a dangerous time and "sad too, because you lost so many Friends in those days," said another sister, Betty JESSHOPE, 82, from her home in Oakville.
In 1944, "Meet the Navy" went overseas, playing around England. During a five-month run at London's Hippodrome theatre in 1945, the show received a rave from Beverley Baxter in the London Evening Standard.
"You don't have to visit the Hippodrome out of any sense of duty," she wrote. "The Canadian Navy has sailed up the Thames and London is its prisoner."
JESSHOPE said servicemen turned out to be an appreciative audience for her sister.
"In the navy show, the first time (BATES BURNS) sang… I think they had a hard time getting (soldiers) to shut up," JESSHOPE said, "because the young men just kept clapping her on."
After the war, "Meet the Navy" was shot as a film in Britain with BATES BURNS as a featured vocalist.
England also provided her with a second husband, accomplished saxophone player Bob BURNS, whom she wed in 1948. BATES BURNS performed there in 1950 with orchestra leader Bert Ambrose at Ciro's, a popular nightclub of the time. The pair had a son, Rob, in 1948, and daughter Kate in 1952.
BATES BURNS retired from singing professionally soon after the birth of her daughter and, around the same time, was divorced from BURNS.
She returned to Canada and worked as an electrologist for a while, moved back to England for a few years in the 1970s and then came back to Canada for good.
"I think she was never really sure where she wanted to be," said Kate. "She had gone back and forth all her life."
In fact, BATES BURNS made one last trip across the Atlantic in August, paying a three-week visit to Kate and her three children.
"She was very bright, she had all her faculties," said Kate.
BATES BURNS remained close with many Friends from the swing era, including composer Robert Farnon and Bert Pearl, bandleader on Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Radio's popular program The Happy Gang.
And she still loved to sing when together with family. "I don't think she ever appreciated how good (a vocalist) she was herself," JESSHOPE said.

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ADAS o@ca.on.grey_county.owen_sound.the_sun_times 2007-10-17 published
GRIMOLDBY, Bernadine (née BECHARD)
On Sunday, October 14th, 2007 at Hannah Walker Place. Bernadine GRIMOLDBY (née BECHARD) of Owen Sound in her 90th year. Predeceased by her husband James. Loving mother to Sherline and her husband Paul ADAS of Utica, Michigan, Jim and his wife Joyce of Owen Sound, and Garry and Cheryl of Ingersol. Sadly missed by grandchildren Debbie, Chuck, Linda, Michelle, Jamie, Susan, Linda Ann, Kevin, Trevor, and by several great-grandchildren. Survived by her brother Joseph BECHARD, sister-in-law Evelyn CHRISTENSON, and special friend Marion GRIFFIN. Predeceased by her sister Loretta BROWN. Friends are invited to the Tannahill Funeral Home for visiting on Thursday evening from 7-9 p.m. A Ladies Legion Auxiliary Service will take place at 6: 45 p.m. A funeral service will take place in the chapel, Friday, October 19th at 11 o'clock. Interment St. Mary's Cemetery. Donations to the Alzheimer Society would be appreciated.

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