DACK o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2008-02-21 published
KNIGHT,
Alan
Peacefully, on Monday, February 18, 2008 at 83 years of age,
a champion to the end of a long and courageous battle. Most beloved
husband of Valerie, cherished father of three daughters, Jane and
Bob DACK,
Julie and Chris
BREGENHOJ of Australia and Melanie.
Proud grandfather of five, Matthew and John
DACK,
Elizabeth,
Jessica
and Michael
BREGENHOJ.
Predeceased by parents Jenny and Will
and siblings, Ruth
NEDVED,
Derek and Margaret
MacGREGOR. Remembered
and loved by many nieces, nephews and Friends. Alan's engineering
and business background was principally with British Oxygen in
England and India, Union Carbide/General Dynamics in Trinidad
and Chalmers Suspensions in Canada. Alan's interests ranged from
people, rugby, gardening, jam making and even beekeeping! A Celebration
of Life Service for Alan will take place at the Kopriva Taylor
Community Funeral Home, 64 Lakeshore Rd. West, Oakville, (one
block east of Kerr, 905-844-2600) on Saturday, February 23, 2008
at 1: 00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations gratefully received
for Ian Anderson House, P.O. Box 61034, 511 Maple Grove Drive,
Oakville, Ontario L6J 7P5. Heartfelt thanks to the staff at both
MacMaster Hospital and Ian Anderson House for their unwaivering
support. Condolences may be made through www.koprivataylor.com
- Give a helping hug to someone!
D... Names DA... Names DAC... Names Welcome Home
DACK - All Categories in OGSPI
DACOSTA o@ca.on.middlesex_county.london.london_free_press 2008-06-14 published
DACOSTA,
Frank▼ "
Non"
Peacefully with his family by his side on Tuesday, June 10th,
2008, Frank "Non"
DACOSTA of London at the age of 67. Adored
husband of Valerie. Admired and cherished dad of Dominique (Larry
ROUSSEAU), Danielle (Dwayne
EDEN), Jilaine and Mark
LOMAS, Rebecca
(Steve MORUP,)
Nieve and Will
LOMAS, and Tassie and Dorian. Loving
Poppy of Rowan and Max, Justin and Alex, Hannah, Gavin and Meg,
Ariel, Ronin and William, Emily and Isaac. Dear brother of Arlene
and Ken FINKEL,
Fred and Rosie
DACOSTA, Gus and Jacquie
DACOSTA
and their families. Visitation will be held at the Westview Funeral
Chapel, 709 Wonderland Road North, on Sunday from 2: 00-4:00 p.m.
The Funeral Mass will be celebrated at Holy Family Parish, 777 Valetta
Street, on Monday, June 16th, 2008 at 10: 00 a.m. Cremation to
follow.
D... Names DA... Names DAC... Names Welcome Home
DACOSTA o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2008-06-10 published
WILSON,
Mary
Alice (née
MOGAN)
Peacefully in her 87th year on Saturday, June 7, 2008, surrounded
by loved ones. Beloved wife of Jack (1919-2002). Lovingly remembered
by her cherished companion, John
JAKOB, and her children Paul,
Catherine COSTELLO,
Teresa
GEMMILL, Elizabeth
RAFFEL (Burton,)
Joan DACOSTA,
Frank,▲ and Martha, as well as 12 grandchildren
and eight great-grandchildren. A very special thanks to Giosi
BERNABEI for her loving care through Mary's recent difficult
years. Mary was a respected teacher for 25 years at Bayview Secondary
School. She contributed her time and talents to church choir
and seniors' group. She received a special award for her work
as a community volunteer with numerous organizations including
the Library Board and the Richmond Hill Arts Council. She lived
a long and full life and will be missed greatly. Visitation at
Marshall Funeral Home, 10366 Yonge Street, Richmond Hill (4th
traffic light North of Major Mackenzie Drive), on Tuesday, June 10
from 7-9 p.m. and
on Wednesday, June 11 from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m.
Funeral Mass will be celebrated at Saint Mary Immaculate Church,
10295 Yonge Street, Richmond Hill, at 10: 30 a.m. on Thursday,
June 12, 2008, her 87th birthday. In lieu of flowers, donations
may be made to The David Suzuki Foundation. "And her night shall
be filled with music."
D... Names DA... Names DAC... Names Welcome Home
DACOSTA o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2008-07-26 published
He was trying to sober up. He never got the chance
By Erin ANDERSSEN,
Page F8
'I'm home!" - that was how Mitchell
ANDERSON liked to announce
his arrival on the many late nights he staggered into the overnight
shelter at the Shepherds Of Good Hope in Ottawa, looking for
a place to sleep off a drinking binge. He had a regular panhandling
spot outside Elgin Street where, his Friends say, his smiling
compliments to passing woman helped him raise change for a bottle
of sherry faster than just about anyone else. Drunk, he couldn't
walk away from a fight; his face carried the scars of angry fists.
But sober, he'd offer up his last cigarette if asked.
They told some of these stories this week at his funeral, held
in a crowded chapel at the Shepherds, attended by staff who knew
Mr. ANDERSON, his family and his Friends from the street. They
spoke, in particular, to his teenaged daughter, Christine, hunched
over in tears in the second row, who had just been growing close
to her father again. They know who she is, because Mr.
ANDERSON
talked about her all the time. She was the reason he stopped
wandering and returned to Ottawa. Why, at 38, he wanted to deal
with his alcohol addiction and go straight.
"He was really trying to kick it," says Ryan
CURRAN, a frontline
worker at the shelter. "I honestly believed he was one of the
guys who was going to sober up."
He never got the chance.
Close to midnight on July 13, he was struck by a red Mazda sports
car while he was crossing Sussex Drive, several blocks from the
shelter. He died in hospital two days later, kept on life support
so his mother and brother, travelling from his hometown of Kenora,
Ontario, could say good-bye.
The driver, believed to be in his late twenties or early thirties,
didn't stop. Neither he nor his blonde female passenger has come
forward. As of Thursday, police had narrowed their investigation
to a handful of possible cars.
His Friends worry that his life is seen to matter less because
he spent it on the streets and his story is too much of a cliché
to draw the sympathy it deserves. Abandoned by his father, raised
by a mother who tried her best with limited resources, he struggled
in school, left home at 18, started drinking and couldn't stop.
He travelled from city to city, carrying everything he owned
in a bag. He drank cheap wine if he had the money, and rubbing
alcohol if he didn't. He went to jail repeatedly, mostly for
minor offences - disturbing the peace, failing to pay fines -
but after sobering up behind bars, he inevitably began the cycle
again when he fell back into the streets.
Lately, those streets, he told his older brother, Dave, were
getting meaner and, as he was getting older, his body was less
able to handle a night passed out in a park. He spoke more often
lately about getting away from them for good.
But where was he to go, shelter staff wonder, to solve all his
problems? They could take him in for a night or two, put him
on a waiting list for treatment. But those solutions aren't enough,
or they happen too slowly. As Paul
SOUCIE, executive director
at the Shepherds, points out in frustration, they can't send
alcoholics or addicts, many of whom suffer from mental illness,
into supportive housing - they're not able break the habit on
their own. The city's detox unit is almost always full, and by
the time there's a bed, Mr.
SOUCIE says, the person waiting for
it has been lost once more to the streets.
Over and over, the shelter staff see men and women like Mitchell
ANDERSON, seeking a cure for their disease, and they have to
tell them: "There's nowhere for you to go."
For the last three years, he stayed in Ottawa, to be near his
daughter, who lives in an apartment in Vanier, a neighbourhood
close to downtown, with her mother, Fatima
DACOSTA.
She and Mr.
ANDERSON
had lived together when Christine was young, then split up. But
as long as he was sober, Ms.
DACOSTA didn't turn him away when
he showed up at the door. "He was trying," she said at the funeral,
"to make amends."
He didn't need to be reminded to hide his addiction from Christine:
He could be a rough, sloppy drunk, and he never wanted her to
see that. Whenever he planned to visit, he went cold turkey,
his Friends say, even if they had a bottle to share.
One afternoon, Mr.
ANDERSON's daughter bumped into him on the
street, called his name, and he was too drunk to recognize her.
"He came and he was in tears," Mr.
CURRAN recalls. "After that,
he was sober for a couple of days, and then he would slip." He
kept trying. "I can't be a true father," he'd say sadly. "I have
too many problems."
Mr. ANDERSON spent his last afternoon with Christine. That night,
Mr. CURRAN suspects he was making his way back to the shelter.
It was his practice to show up early in the morning, though not
always in good spirits. "You wouldn't want to approach him then,"
says Mr. CURRAN. "
Most average citizens would walk away." But
he'd sleep it off, and, later, they might catch up over a sandwich.
They weren't so different, Mr.
CURRAN observes: They each had
a daughter and wanted to be the best fathers possible.
At his funeral, when Friends rose to speak, Wayne
BOUCHER described
how he met Mr.
ANDERSON when they were both living on the streets
of Toronto in 1995. In Ottawa, they often drank together.
"He was never a lost soul," Mr.
BOUCHER said, standing at the
foot of his friend's coffin. "He always knew the direction he
wanted to go. Unfortunately, we all got our addictions."
Erin ANDERSSEN is a senior feature writer for The Globe and Mail.
This is one of a series on individuals and families across Canada
who are dealing with mental-health issues.
D... Names DA... Names DAC... Names Welcome Home
DACOSTA - All Categories in OGSPI