YALE o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2007-06-28 published
YALE,
John "
Skip"
Everett
By Len LESSER,
Page L6
Recently, London, Ontario, lost a great counsellor who was cherished
by his students. John
YALE counselled students at H.B. Beal Secondary
School, as well as Laurier, Central and Wheable secondary schools.
The first time I met John we were both attending a professional
development day for the London-Thames Valley board of education.
He wore a blue blazer with a gold crest of arms from McGill University
along with a red cravat: the consummate gentleman.
John came to London, Ontario, in 1970 where he counselled an
eclectic group of students at what was then known as H.B. Beal
Technical School. It was unusual that he found his niche here:
he had a strong academic background after attending high school
at Trinity College, along with a bachelor's and a master's degree
in counselling.
As fate would have it, I found myself the head of students' services
at Sir Wilfrid Laurier Secondary School with John as one of my
counsellors. I found him to be the epitome of a good teacher.
With his quiet, patient, demeanour John was an excellent listener
to the many travails of his students. No matter how busy he was,
he always found the time to help those in need.
He thoroughly enjoyed interacting with his "kids." John was both
a mentor and role model for students, as well as staff who were
most fortunate to be guided by him.
He was a very proud, independent gentlemen who did it his way:
A second-hand older-model Volvo with leather seats with only
300,000 km. was the only proper way to travel.
John was an uncomplicated happy man with simple tastes. He enjoyed
a cold glass of beer after a friendly game of golf with his Friends.
He was a family man who shared his love of life with his wife
Rada for 44 years. His two children, Robert and Melissa, made
him proud to be Pappa to three gorgeous grandchildren, Christopher,
Olivia and Harrison.
John retired from the Thames Valley School Board after 27 years
of service in 1997. In July 2005, he was diagnosed with a deadly
form of brain cancer. The oncologist gave John's family the bad
news that he had four to six months to live.
It was simply amazing that, with the help of a clinic in Germany,
John survived for 19 months with no seizures. He was even well
enough to drive and meet with his golf buddies for lunch. Recently,
though, the seizures returned and John entered Parkwood Hospital
Palliative Care Unit in London.
There are thousands of John's special students who will be taken
aback when they read this essay. With all of the travails in
the world perhaps God needed a wise, compassionate man's counsel.
Len LESSER is John's friend
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