LIM o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2007-08-01 published
Father hailed as hero for sacrifice on Lake Superior
By Ian BAILEY and Matthew
TREVISAN,
Page A6
Vancouver, Toronto -- Kenny
LIM wasn't a strong swimmer, but
he was a strong father.
That devotion to his children prompted him to try to save his
son, Dexter, when they found themselves in trouble while swimming
in Lake Superior. The 10-year-old survived, but the effort cost
his 47-year-old father his life.
Cynthia LIM,
Mr.
LIM's wife of 15 years, conceded yesterday that
her husband wasn't much of a swimmer.
"He swam a little bit in pools, but only if he could see the
bottom," Mrs.
LIM said after a memorial service yesterday that
drew an overflow crowd to the family's Baptist church in their
central Vancouver neighbourhood.
She wasn't surprised by his final act. "He never would have hesitated.
That wouldn't have been in him."
Her brother, David
WRIGHT, agreed, standing outside in the sunshine
after the emotional memorial service where tears over Mr.
LIM's
passing mingled easily with laughter over Mr.
LIM's endearing
quirks.
"It's a horrible situation to be in," Mr.
WRIGHT said, pondering
the dilemma his brother-in-law faced in his final moments. "But
it does show what Kenny was like. The core of Kenny's character
was that love he has for other people. That's something that
won't be forgotten."
Mr. LIM, a graphic artist at CTV in Vancouver for the past
10 years, was coming home from Ontario after a four-week vacation
that took his wife and three children across Canada to visit
family in Toronto. In addition to Dexter, there are two daughters,
Malika, 14, and six-year-old Akita.
At about 2 p.m. on July 21, he was swimming in Lake Superior
with Dexter near where MacLean's Creek flows into the lake, Ontario
Provincial Police said.
The family was staying at Rainbow Falls Provincial Park - about
25 kilometres west of Terrace Bay in northwestern Ontario - and
were swimming after a week of heavy rainfall, said Nipigon Ontario
Provincial
Police
Staff Sergeant Brent
ANDERSON.
"There was some heavy runoff coming out of the creek and the
current being what it was, I think Mr.
LIM got out there and
got into that current," he said.
Staff Sgt.
ANDERSON said conflicting witness statements made
it unclear what happened next: Either Dexter started having difficulty
swimming and Mr.
LIM swam to his son's side, or they both had
trouble swimming.
"They were out there together and, at some point, it became evident
the father was struggling to swim and, at that point, the son
was certainly trying to help the father," Staff Sgt.
ANDERSON
said.
A nearby camper came to their aid, and the camper and Dexter
made it safely to shore. Mr.
LIM, however, slipped beneath the
surface.
About 90 minutes later, a boater who had volunteered to search
the lake with an Ontario Provincial Police officer found Mr.
LIM
in water 3½ metres deep, about nine metres away from where he
was last spotted. An autopsy report later confirmed he drowned.
Aspects of the situation may have been unclear to police, but
Mr. LIM's
Friends and family yesterday saw things with clarity.
He was a hero.
"No one wants to see anyone leave this earth," Jim Leung, a CTV
camera operator in Vancouver, said after the service. "But what
a way to do it, as a hero."
The pair had worked together for a decade. Mr. Leung last saw
Mr. LIM the day before he left on his vacation.
Mr. LIM was always cheerful - "I got a really good vibe from
him" - but seemed in especially good spirits before that break.
"He was so looking forward to getting away. It was one of his
first vacations for a very, very long time and I knew he needed
it. You know: pressures at work as anyone's life has. I was so
happy for him to take a breath and to be happy with his family."
There was little, if any, reference during the service yesterday
to exactly how Mr.
LIM died.
Mourners instead laughed and wept through vivid recollections
of how Mr.
LIM lived, touching on his devotion to his family,
his Friends, his colleagues and his Christian faith. There was
talk of his technical wizardry, his intense ability to focus,
and his dedicated service as a Cub Scout leader.
Mr. WRIGHT chuckled at how his brother-in-law taught himself
to play guitar over the past five years. They struggled together.
"We would get together and try and strum some songs, but we couldn't
keep the rhythm. That was a funny time. But he kept up with it.
He would look [things] up on the Internet, look things up all
the time."
Mr. LIM had always loved music. "He was too busy with life to
[learn guitar], and he thought he would never do it, then he
saw his younger brother-in-law picking it up, and he thought,
'What am I waiting for?' "
Speaking an hour earlier to the gathered mourners, Mr.
WRIGHT
said Mr. LIM's death was a shock and a tragedy. "He had so much
living left to do."
Asked how the family was doing, Mrs.
LIM said, "It's tough,"
but added that their faith is strong and their church has offered
"awesome" support.
Mrs. LIM doubted her husband was afraid at the end.
"He loved his son so much he would have done anything. It didn't
matter. He wouldn't have thought. He would just immediately have
gone."
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LIM o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2007-09-01 published
LIM,
Jade
Jee
Pung
(Jade Teerath
RAM)
With great sadness we announce the death of
our beloved mother and 'Nai Nai', Jade Lim Jee
PUNG.
Born on
August 13, 1937, Jade passed away at Toronto General Hospital
on Wednesday, August 29, 2007 at the age of 70. Her sons Terry
and Jason, their wives Amanda and Nicole, and her granddaughters
Kate and Ellie were by her bedside the last days of her life.
We know that Mama has now joined our Papa, Teerath
RAM, who passed
away 25 years ago. Friends and family may visit at the Morley
Bedford Funeral Home, 159 Eglinton Ave. W. (2 lights west of
Yonge St.) on Monday from 5-8 p.m. Funeral Service Tuesday at
Yorkminster Park Baptist Church, 1585 Yonge Street, at 2: 00 p.m.
Interment to follow at Mt. Pleasant Cemetery.
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LIMPERT o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2007-10-11 published
RAHN,
Frederick "
Fred"
Donald
Andrew
Peacefully in his 95th year at Post Inn Village in Oakville.
Loving husband of the late Audrey (née
LIMPERT) and Dad to John
(Nancy) of Qualicum Beach, British Columbia, Joel (Margaret)
of Ottawa, Jay (Sharon
HARRIS) of Toronto and Julie-Anne of Oakville.
Fred was predeceased by his brothers Eric and Cecil and is survived
by his brother Ken of Vancouver. He leaves grandchildren Elizabeth
(Alan CHOW), Brian (Victoria) and Caroline (André
TREMBLAY) and
great-granddaughter Emma
TREMBLAY as well as many nieces and
nephews. Fred was raised in Kitchener and Tavistock, Ontario.
Fred's career encompassed management positions in sales, marketing
and human resources mainly in the wholesale fuel oil business
from which he retired in 1976. An early member of Grace Evangelical
Lutheran Church in Oakville, he was active in its development
for almost fifty years including serving on its lay Board at
the time the church's building on Spruce Avenue in Oakville was
constructed. Fred was an avid curler with the Oakville Curling
Club and, in later years, a keen lawn bowler with the Oakville
Lawn Bowling Club. Fred was also an active amateur film maker.
In his early retirement years, Fred took the Tourism and Travel
course at Sheridan College and then organized overseas tours.
Fred was also active in print and television modeling, including
a number of assignments as Santa's representative as well as
an 'extra' in film productions in the Toronto area. Fred particularly
enjoyed working on the Milton Berle film 'Off Your Rocker'. A Funeral
service will be held at 11 a.m., Friday, October 12, at Grace
Evangelical Lutheran Church, corner of Reynolds and Spruce Street,
Oakville, with reception to follow at Ward Funeral Home, 109 Reynolds
Street, Oakville (905-844-3221). Private interment at Trafalgar
Lawn Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations to Canadian
Lutheran World Relief (www.clwr.org) would be much appreciated.
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