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.

Mailbag - Another student from the past heard from - York Chan

(This is York photographed in 1973)

And this is York today:  He writes:  I am not sure why I looked so upset when the photo was taken in 1973.

I am a happy person now since I only work three days a week.  Attached is the photo taken at work. It appears that I am still wearing the same sweater! 

I got this in the mail yesterday.


Hi. I am York Chan, your 73 Grade 13 classmate in OCHS.  I stumbled onto the OCHS blog.  It is nicely done.  You must have put a lot of thoughts and effort in setting it up. 

I left Durham Region after graduating from OSCH.  In 1998,  I returned to Durham Region working in the engineering organization in Pickering Nuclear.

I appreciate OCHS for providing a breeding ground for a group of students from Hong Kong.  Mr. Arthur Chai treated this bunch of students as his extended family. He is certainly missed. 


York Chan

Good to hear from you York, and thanks for taking the time to ping me. 

Update August 2015

 Click on any pic for larger image:  John Donker & Tito-Dante Marimpietri (alumnus & city councillor)

 Suzanne, Anne & Suzanne (no further info)

Sister Anne Schenck, Paul Pulla (Director of Education) and Sister Conrad Lauber)

It's been awhile, and things have moved on.  The 50th Anniversary of the School has come and gone, and I've noticed that the official website is down.  I went and I was a little disappointed at the turnout. 

I've started collecting images around the web of the anniversary, and will be putting them up here, as perhaps a central place for archives.

My network of fellow students that I've kept in touch with is still in place, and I ping them once in awhile.  Just had a nice cafe chat with Carolyn who was named the Outstanding female graduate the year that I was named the outstanding male graduate.  One of my close high school friends has said to me "High school was sooo long ago!".  It's true, but it was a seminal period in my life. 

We are all older, and the list of the dead grows yearly.  One day it will be totally complete. To add to that list, is Howie Cannon.  He was in grade school with me at St. Joes, and went to OCHS along with many members of his family.  This is his high school pic and his obituary pic:

Time can be quite cruel to us all. Another one of my contacts just emailed me today and said that we are all getting long in the tooth.

However friendships forged in those crucible years last (at least they do for me), and although the past is the past, it is what made me today.

More reunion pictures from the web will be sporadically posted as I find them.  I hope that your universe is unfolding as it should, and should you wish, drop me a line.  I always respond.  

Best,

Ken

PS:  This link is a pdf history of the school that was compiled by Maureen Moloney, complete with pitchers -- although none suitable for colouring. Enjoy.  http://dcdsb.ca/DCDSB/History/Family06/Monsignor%20Paul%20Dwyer%20History%20Project.pdf

Monsignor Dwyer's Grave and Headstone

(click on pic to enlarge image)

With Monsignor Dwyer's bio added to the reunion website, (url  http://www.pauldwyer50th.com/3/miscellaneous4.htm ) the school is making a concerted effort to add Monsignor's history to its records and archives.

Monsignor was buried at Saint Augustine's Seminary in Toronto, and picture above is the headstone on his grave.

Gary Ranalli Outside the School

This is a colour snap of Gary Ranalli outside the school in the 1970's.  One would imagine that he has aged some since then.

Monsignor Paul Dwyer's Birthday and Date of Death

As it turns out, there was no local record of Monsignor Paul Dwyer's birthday and date of death.  Joe Szekeres wanted to record that data in the school history, so he went to the archdiocese and asked them for their records.  They provided them.

Msgr. Dwyer's date of birth is January 21, 1898.  His date of death is March 19, 1976. He was born 116 years ago this year. He has been dead 38 years.

The Papal Slippers of a Catholic Saint in an Oshawa High School's Principal's Office

 (click on pics for larger image)

On October 28th, 1958, a dark-horse candidate was elected Pope.   He was Angelo Roncalli who took the name of Pope John XXIII or John the Twenty-Third.  Pictured above, are the papal slippers he wore, at his consecration and coronation as Primate of the Catholic Church.  Because of his age, 77 years old at the time, he was elected as a stop-gap pope.  He turned out to be anything but.  He modernized the Catholic Church with the Vatican Councils.

On April 27, 2014 Pope John XXIII, was canonized as a saint in the Catholic Church. So how did the Consecration Slippers of a Catholic saint end up in the principal's office of a school in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada?

From 1921 to 1925, the future pope was head of the Society for the Propagation of Faith in Rome.  There he met a young seminarian from Parry Sound, Canada and they became fast friends.  That was Paul Dwyer, who went on to become a parish priest in Oshawa Ontario.  I don't need to recount how Monsignor Dwyer was responsible for the Oshawa Catholic High School, now the Monsignor Paul Dwyer High School in Oshawa.  Then-Father Dwyer served as chaplain as air force chaplain in World War II in England in 1941 and in 1945, he was assigned as Chaplain for the Eastern Canada Command.

Father Dwyer was sent to both Vatican Councils as a clergy representative, and renewed his friendship with the now-Pope.  In 1961, Father Dwyer was elevated to the office of Domestic Prelate carrying the title of Monsignor.  At the time there were 14 distinct offices of Monsignor, however the Domestic Prelate was considered a honorary member of the Papal Household.  As such he received a gift from his old friend's household -- the slippers in which Angelo Roncalli was consecrated as Pope.

On the death of Monsignor Paul Dwyer, certain personal effects were bequeathed to the school, including the Papal Consecration Slippers. And that is how the Papal Slippers of a Catholic Saint ended up in the principal's office of a relatively unknown Catholic School in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada.

I can just see it now.  The school becomes a massive Catholic pilgrimage site in North America.

Paul Smegal At The Microphone

I don't know if this is a talent show, a play, a rehearsal or what, but something is going on onstage.  Paul Smegal is at the mike.  I can make out Marylee O'Neill and Dan O'Neill but I can't remember what was going on.  Circa 1970-71.

Obituary of Arthur Chai

Arthur Michael Chai

May 7, 1935 ~ September 12, 2014

After being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer more than one year ago, Arthur left us on September 12th to pursue his next great adventure. He is survived by Gloria - his wife and love of 47 years. He was the best of fathers to four sons: David (Genevieve), Greg (Jessica), Peter (Rona) and Tim (Erin), proud Gung-gung of 10 (soon to be 11) grandchildren and loving uncle to numerous nephews and nieces. Born in Kingston (Jamaica) Arthur attended a Jesuit seminary in Massachusetts for over a decade before pursuing his career in teaching and guidance at Paul Dwyer Catholic High School in Oshawa and St. Joseph’s College School in Toronto. In addition to spending time with family, Arthur was an avid sports fan who enjoyed traveling and fine scotch. He was well known to chat with anyone at any time, to enjoy good food and to dance the night away with our Mom until the very last song. His booming voice is now silent but will not be forgotten. Visitation will take place on Tuesday, September 16th at DeStefano Funeral Home, 1289 Keith Ross Drive, Oshawa (south side of Taunton Road, east of Thornton Road) 905-440-3595 from 2-4 & 6-9 pm. Funeral Mass will be held on Wednesday, September 17th at St. Leo the Great Catholic Church, 130 Watford Street, Brooklin, at 11 am. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Alpha Boys’ School in Kingston, Jamaica(www.mercysc.org) Memories and condolences may be shared at www.destefanofuneralhomes.ca

Rest In Peace

Thoughts on friends I lost this week

2014-09-24 By Bill Fox/Columnist Oshawa Express Death is such a difficult subject, don't you agree? Years ago, I heard Dr. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross speak at Massey Hall and she included a small mention of death. I will never forget her words that night, because they have given me consolation this week, with the death of two friends; Art Chai, a co-worker from my past, and a dear friend, Bob Carty. Art had been ill for some time, though I only heard about it a few weeks ago. Bob, on the other hand, was told only two weeks ago that he had four months left, 12 months if he had chemotherapy. He had his first chemo this week and unexpectedly passed away a few days later. As Kubler-Ross shared, the caterpillar holds a great lesson in our quest to understand death. In a sense we are all like caterpillars on this earth. We are bound by gravity with our feet stuck on the ground. When we die, it is like we are in a cocoon. I'm sure as children we all inspected cocoons and found them to be 'lifeless'. Yet, from that lifelessness arises a wonderful butterfly able to fly to great heights and look down on us all. I admit here that I have a difficult time at wakes and funerals. I don't know why but emotionally I find them difficult. When I was at Art's memorial mass this week, I was in awe of Art's wife, Gloria and their four great sons. They seemed to understand that death was simply opening another door. From the eulogy for Art: “(The) only son of migrant parents who were Chinese shopkeepers and entrepreneurs in the inner city of Kingston and rural area of Jamaica, and the last child to follow six sisters, Art learned some wonderful lessons about survival and negotiating the vagaries of life. He was no stranger to the underbelly of poverty and life in general. At an early age, he learned the value of hard work and how to get along with people of diverse cultures, means, faith persuasions; in short, how to receive life as it presented itself, molding it into something good, true and productive. Art never forgot his roots and humble beginnings, his Chinese and Jamaican heritage, and he integrated these deep cultural roots with a profound appreciation for Canada, his adopted country. His ambition was not to grow rich but to create abundance by sharing, giving time and talent, care and attention to whomever and whatever that was at hand.” And now for a little but about Bob: Bob Carty was an Ottawa-based documentary radio producer for The Sunday Edition and The Current on CBC Radio One. Prior to entering journalism, Bob spent a decade working on human rights and international development in Latin America. In 1981 he joined CBC Radio as a producer (later foreign editor and senior producer) for Sunday Morning. In the late 1980s, Bob and his family spent five years in Central America. His wife, Frances Arbour, worked with internally displaced people in Guatemala and Guatemalan refugees in Mexico while Bob covered military conflicts, human rights, development and ecological issues throughout Latin America for CBC, The Globe & Mail and National Public Radio. Returning to Canada in 1993, Bob resumed work for the CBC on feature documentaries. Bob’s work has won numerous awards including a Peabody and a Gabriel, several New York International Radio Festival Awards, and multiple investigative journalism prizes. More than this, Bob was a good friend for over 40 years. He played at our wedding and he and his son played at our oldest son's wedding. For most of those years, Bob was also my fishing buddy. I always looked forward to a week of fishing, sharing insights and laughs at my wife's family cottage every summer. St. Augustine is noted to have said: “Hope has two beautiful daughters; their names are Anger and Courage. Anger at the way things are, and Courage to see that they do not remain as they are.” This was the hope Art and Bob understood. Fiercely passionate about justice among people and making right what they deemed to be wrong.

Sadie Hawkins 1970

In this pic, Marryin' Sam aka Leo Barrett makes his debut on Sadie Hawkins Day.  Left to right are Dan Shutka, Tim O'Driscoll, Brian McLaughlin, Leo Barrett and Paul Coros.

The Final Tranche of My 1970 Class Members

Left to Right, Top To Bottom: Mike Bukoski, Linda Byrne, Gloria Chisholm, Colleen Bulger, Darlene Caldwell, Sharon Clark, Howie Cannon, Cathy Clinton

The Thirteenth Part of My 1970 Class

Left to Right, Top to Bottom:  Peter Bilissis, Jennifer Brady, Cliff Blair, Diane Brisebois, Anne Bryden, David Burke

Peter Bilissis is deceased (RIP).

My 1970 Class ~ Part Le Douze

Left to Right, Top to Bottom:  Marc Adams, Kathie Andrews, Teresa Alessandroni, Leo Barrett, Rocco Ambra, Belinda Bernier

Kathie Andrews and Leo Barrett are deceased.  RIP

My 1970 Class Continued - Part XI

Gotta say, that compared to the class ahead of us, the numbers exploded in our peer group, and the trend continued for quite awhile.

Here are some more members (more to come), and as usual Left to Right, Top to Bottom:  Mary Tass, John TenHaaf, Ted Vanderlaan, Ron Van de valk, Ron Yanch, Doug Zochodne

In the arena ~ 1970 ~ Hockey

Not sure what was going on here.  I think that this pic came from the dream team where a ragtag team from OCHS got together and won the championship.  I will have to ping Maureen Maloney for the story. This pic made it into the 1970 yearbook.

My 1970 Class ~ Part X

Left to Right, Top to Bottom: Chris Montgomery, Mike Ivanco, Chris Moskalewicz, Lucy Karcich, Yvonne Jensen, Cheryl Kelleher, Cathy Jones, Nancy Kennedy

Yvonne Jensen has passed away.

More of my 1970 class ~ Part IX

Left to Right, Top To Bottom again:  Tom Kraemer, Anna Lenczewski, Loretta McDonnell, Elsa Lack, Mary Lou MacCallum, Tim McKenna, Debbie Mackie, Jill McLaren, Gloria Murrant, Sue Mamelka, Glenn McLaughlin, Chris Muzyczka, Brenda Maurice, Judy McLinton, Suzanne Nadon

My 1970 Class ~ Part VIII

Left to Right, Top to Bottom:  Joanne Karas, Pat Kilistoff, Graz Karcich, Candy Knox, Lucy Kostrzewa, Barb Lambourne, Jeanette Kowal, Jane Landry, Henry Kowalewski, Nancy Legree

More of my 1970 class ~ Part VII

Left to Right, Top to Bottom:  Dennis Gleason, Andre Grotenhuis, Mary Coll, Marion Gleason, Lucy Jana, David Cooper, Mike Goreski, Rob Hickey, Paul Coros, Kerry Grant, Bert Hoefs, Carolyn Corrigan, Peter Grills, Terry Hughes, Marg Ihnat

My 1970 Class ~ Part VI

Left to right, top to bottom:  Mike Dionne, Nicole Gaboury, Barb Finley, Barb Gannon, Ron Finley, Anna Gardzinski, Liz Fitzpatrick, Cindy Germanis, Mary Fitzsimmons, Peter Gibbs

More of My 1970 Class ~ Part V

Left to Right, Top to Bottom: John Coleman, Susan Cragg, Larry Cyr, Joan Downey, Dan Dalby, George Dragota, Paula Delaney, Rosemary Duignan, Susan Dickey, Linda DuPont

Members of My Class 1970-71 ~ Part IV

Another tranche of my class members, Left to Right, Top to Bottom:  Mike Noonan, Dennis O'Brien, Carol Norrish, Marie O'Connor, Mary Novak, Shawn O'Driscoll, Francesca O'Boyle, Kathleen O'Halloran, Irene Sztajdocher, Chris Taafe