RIP Joe Pender

News in today (19/10/2016) that Joe Pender has passed away.   Joe arrived at OCHS in 1972 (I arrived in 1969) and he never taught me, so I didn't get to know him that well.  No further details are available at this time.

Joe is pictured above at the extreme left of the pic in July of this year.  That is Sister Conrad across from Joe on the extreme right.

This is Joe and his wife Martha at a school dance in 1972 or 1973 at the school gymnasium.

Updated 20/10/2016:

PENDER, Joseph

Passed away suddenly at home, on October 19, 2016.

Loving husband of Martha Pender(nee Durcik) for over 45 years. Cherished brother of Agnes Collins(Norm) and Pat Pender of Newfoundland. Brother-in-law to Henry. Predeceased by his parents Patrick and Margaret Pender(nee Murrin), his sister Mary Tucker, and his brother Frank. Joseph will be greatly missed by his many nieces, nephews, extended family and friends.

Friends may call for visitation on Sunday, October 23 from 7-9pm, with parish prayers at 8pm, at ARMSTRONG FUNERAL HOME(124 King St. E., Oshawa), with a funeral mass to be held at St. Mary of the People Catholic Church on Monday, October 24 at 10am. Cremation to follow. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations to either Lakeridge Mental Health, St. Mary of the People Building Fund or SickKids Foundation are greatly appreciated.

In pace requiescat.

Ron Yanch - Rest in Peace

Sigh ... Ron was in my class, and he was a good friend of mine in high school.  He was a barrel of laughs and really fun to be with. He had an acerbic wit and an easy-going attitude.  He died last Monday.

YANCH, Ronald Maurice 'Ron' Yanch - Passed away on Monday, July 18, 2016.

Beloved husband of Jodi.

Loving father of Steven & Amanda of Bancroft, Joey & Marissa and Tom, all of Grande Prairie, Alberta.

Grandfather of Brody. Beloved son of Loretta and the late James Yanch.

Dear brother of Larry of Oshawa, Natalie LaChappelle of Toronto, Bill & Sue of Salem, Jim & Anne of Oshawa, Joan Foley of Toronto and Cathi Kerr of Belleville.

Ron will be fondly remembered by his many nieces and nephews and their families.

Visitation will be held on Friday, July 22, 2016 from 10:00am - 11:30am at Baragar Funeral Home, Bancroft, ON. The funeral service will take place at Our Lady Of Mercy Catholic Church 96 Bridge St., West Bancroft, ON Friday, July 22, 2016. Rev. Patrick M. Dobec officiating. Interment at Bancroft.

In Pace Requiescat.

Sister Mary Buckley

Sister Mary Buckley, CSJ

Who in the 60th. year of her religious life entered eternal life on Monday, July 11, 2016.

 Visitation at Sisters of St. Joseph’s Residence, 2 O'Connor Drive, Toronto, Ontario Wednesday, July 13, 2016, from 2:30 – 4:30 P.M. with a Prayer Vigil at 7 P.M. 

Mass of Christian BurialThursday, 

July 14, 2016, at 10:30 A.M.Chapel, 2 O'Connor Drive, Toronto, Ontario 
Interment at Holy Cross Cemetery 

Sister Mary Buckley, CSJ (formerly Sister M. Clare) died suddenly at St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, on Monday, July 11, 2016, in the 60th year of her religious life. She is predeceased by her parents, Vincent Buckley and Margaret Lowe.  She will be dearly missed by her cousins, friends, CSJ Associates and her sisters in community. 

Sister Mary Buckley entered the Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto on September 7, 1956.  Throughout her life, Sister Mary’s primary ministry was in education as a teacher in the Catholic School system. 
 In 1983, she received her Master of Religious Education from Toronto School of Theology.  In 1991 to 2000, Sr. Mary was Circulation Manager of Catholic New Times.

  She shared her gift of teaching through her involvement in RCIA from 2001 to 2009 at St. Basil’s Parish.  She was also coordinator of CSJ Associates, Holy Family community, in Oshawa from 1997 to 2012. 

In 2006, Sister Mary resided at St. Joseph’s Morrow Park, and more recently at Joseph’s Residence, 2 O’Connor Drive, where she prayed for the Congregation and the needs of the world. 

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When I first started at OCHS, she was known as Sister Mary Claire.  She was a survivor of that horrible automobile accident on Taunton Road at Mitchell's Corners that killed two other nuns in June of 1969.

Sister Mary Buckley taught Math and that gave her a lot of street cred with the students.  In pace requiescat.

The Blog of Another OCHS Graduate - Soundings - John Barker

John Barker was in my sister's class - a schoolmate from my old OCHS.  He publishes a blog called Soundings John Barker which can be found here:  https://soundingsjohnbarker.wordpress.com/ 

John has had a eclectic career as a journalist, a fourth estate newspaper editor and sundry other gigs across North America. His career has been geographically diverse and now he resides in Thompson, Manitoba, the Hub of the North marked by a subarctic climate according to Wikipedia.

What is not surprising, considering his foundation education at OCHS, is that John is a hell of a writer and an incredible communicator.  His latest blog entry is a thoughtful, poignant piece that thoroughly resonated with me, now that I have no more ties left to Oshawa.

Here is the link to his piece about Oshawa being home:  https://soundingsjohnbarker.wordpress.com/2016/06/14/is-coming-home-a-geographical-place-or-place-of-the-heart-perhaps-it-is-some-of-both/

This is one online voice that is worth reading.

Kathleen Taylor Wins The Order of Canada

On June 30, 2016, The Governor General released a list of 113 appointment to the Order of Canada.  Kathleen Taylor was among them. Here is her Wikipedia entry:

Kathleen “Katie” Taylor (born August 25, 1957) is the Chair of the Board of the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), and the first woman to chair the board of a major Canadian bank.^[1] Taylor became Chair of the Board in January 2014, having served on the board since 2001, and has also chaired the Human Resources and Corporate Governance committees, and served on the Audit and Risk Committees.^[2]

Taylor is also the former President and Chief Executive Officer of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts.

Taylor is the Chair of the Board of the Hospital for Sick Children Foundation^[3] and a member of the Board of Trustees for The Hospital for Sick Children.^[4] She is also a director of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board,^[5] where she serves on the Audit and Human Resources Committees, and a director of Adecco Group, where she serves on the Audit Committee.^[6] In addition, she is Chair of the Principal’s International Advisory Board of McGill University, a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council of the Schulich School of Business at York University, and a member of the National Council of the C.D. Howe Institute. Most recently, Taylor was nominated to join Air Canada’s Board of Directors.

You can find my posts about Kathy by following this link: http://myochs.blogspot.ca/search/label/Kathleen%20Taylor

She was previously profiled as the most powerful woman in Canada.  The halls of OCHS have produced some notable and distinguished people that have contributed positively to society,  I am please to have walked those halls when she did.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/order-of-canada-recipients-1.3659510

Sister St. Patrick Conway C.S.J

Got a note from Joe Pender:

On February 25, 2016, Sr. Kathleen Conway C.S.J. (formerly Sr. St. Patrick Conway C.S.J) will celebrate her 90th birthday.  In September, 2015, Sister celebrated her 70th year as a Sister of St. Joseph.

The School is Shutting & Moving

This was sent to me in an email:

Perhaps you have already heard the news that Paul Dwyer Catholic High School will be shutting its doors in 2018/2019 and moving north on Harmony Road adjacent to the Legends Centre.  The name of the school remains intact and the staff at that time will move to the new building.  The school will be state of the art 21st century learning.  

Mailbag - Another reader writes:

I really enjoying hearing from people from the old OCHS/Dwyer daze.  Len writes to tell me about some more additions to the List of the Dead.

Hello,

I know of a few people from my class (1976-1981) who've died.

Jacques Kuypers - died around 1992 in Yellowknife, NWT.

Paul Schillings - died in August 1997. 

Greg de Gannes - died about 2 years ago in Florida.

Also, from the year behind me, Bob McArthur died several years ago in

Texas.

Also, Mr Van den Boom was a math teacher, and probably the best one in

the school. He was tough, but was always willing to match the effort

his students put in. One of my favourite teachers at Dwyer.

That's all I have to add. I enjoyed finding your page recently. Keep it

up.

Len

Thanks Len. I will get around to amending the list shortly.  Also I have some media clippings from the 50th Anniversary of the school, so I will post them here for posterity. As usual, click on any pic for a larger image.