Monday, November 19, 2007

old friends

I am a newcomer to the group, who left Verdun in 1969. As usual with the passing of time, I lost touch with my friends. I wonder if anyone has knowledge of the following people-Lennie Savage, Bobbie Lawson,Doreen Benenati, Craig Mills, Ann Gray, Brenda Valley, Ralph Stopps. Thank you forany information

15 comments:

les__f MSN said...

Hi Fenitern,.......  the Len Savage you mentioned ,was he a teacher,.cause I recall Leonard Savage starting out at StWillibrord's school,..back in the early 60's,.he then went on to LCCHS ( as Math teacher Algebra etc etc ). and was married to Bryce Mackasey's daughter,.......  I have only seen mention of him ,.on one of those 'rate the teacher' or rate the school sites,............You may have some success there,...I wrote to him as a teacher back in the very early 80's and he was at that time at Lasalle Catholic Comprhensive School,.(maybe through them you could find a more recent contact.......   Just a thought.                                                        HF&RV

theomer MSN said...

A warm welcome to you, Fenitern!   I, too, am looking for Craig Mills . . . if it's the same Craig who lived on Beatty and has two sisters, Cheryl and Wendy.   Len Savage and his sister, Sharon, lived beneath me on Melrose Avenue.   So good to see you here.   Jack Haines a.k.a. TheoMer 

les__f MSN said...

Theo (Jack) ,.....  Do you know if that is Len Savage who became a teacher?                                                                                                                         HF&RV

theomer MSN said...

Good morning, Les,   I'm not sure.  More than likely, because I had heard that either he or his sister had married into the Mackasey family.  The Savages moved away from Melrose in the early 50s.   Jack 

fenitern MSN said...

Yes, Lenny savage was a teacher and married to a Mackasey daughter when we lost touch.  Craig Mills did live on Beatty, at the same time as I was on Osborne. Another couple of friends were Mike Dull and Charley Bloomfield, again on Osborne.

fenitern MSN said...

  my bad-it is Mike Duff, not Dull

LindaC. said...

I knew Doreen Benenati, went to art school with her in Montreal. She married Claude LaChapelle and had a son, Stuart LaChapelle. For awhile she lived at Iron Hill, P.Q. She was well-known for her Brome Fair posters. Doreen died from leukemia and I'm trying to find out when for a book I'm writing. That's how I found this page Linda Crabtree, St. Catharines, ON linda@lindacrabtree.com

Unknown said...

I ate lunch with my 89 year old uncle at the Brant Centre residence in Burlington, Ontario today, June 14th, 2017. Usually when I do that we are alone at the table, but today there was a new resident at the small table with us. She introduced herself as Brenda. I liked her and her bubbly way and her animated talk. She seemed smart and clever and witty. And I knew from what she was saying she had had life experiences that I found myself curious to know more about.

I found her to be a very interesting woman inspite of the fact that there was obviously some issues. She was a little hard to follow as she didn't speak in full sentences and her thoughts were disconnected. But I felt there was something about her that suggested she was well bred and a little upper crust in the days prior to whatever ailment was affecting her ablitity to communicate clearly. I am a former Montrealer, so when Brenda mentioned Nun' s Island , my ears perked up. And her rather jumbled comments made me ask her if she had been a teacher. I am a retired teacher and what she was saying made me wondered if she had been. I now know from reading online that her husband Leonard (Lenny) had been a teacher in Verdun. Verdun, by the way, being a place I knew well because an aunt lived there for years.

I eventually asked her full name but when she responded Brenda MacKasey Savage it meant very little to me. For some reason, the MacKasey name felt familiar to me, but it wasn't until a few minutes later when I asked her to spell it for me ,which she did, that she threw in the name Bryce. I had already had her confirm a few minutes earlier , that Savage was her married name and MacKasey her maiden name.

The minute she said Bryce, I immediately recognized the name and knew exactly who he was. I am a 70 year who lived in Quebec until I was 30, and was familiar with her dad's political career and life. I was pleased, surprised and quite caught off guard by who my uncle and I had just had fruit salad and cottage cheese lunch plate with, in the secure locked down area of this nursing home. What can I say, I was blown out of the water.

She had only arrived a few days before , the health care provider who was there told me. When I told the attendant that this woman was the daughter of a well know Canadian politician, she had no idea about any of it. But now that I have it all figured out at 4:25 in the morning, I will seek her out next week when I visit again. And I plan to share what I know about Brenda with the nurses and other care givers. I think it just might make them understand the interesting woman I met today. Hopefully I can do it without invading her privacy too much.

LindaC. said...

When my mother entered long-term care, I made up a binder describing her life with photos and my sister and I also blew up some photos of her on her most memorable days and had them framed for the wall. For the five years she lives in long-term care until she decided she had had enough and stop eating and drinking, she was known as The Carousel Lady. Everyone has a past, no one is just a lump in a bed.

Anonymous said...

I am the Len Savage married to the late Brenda Mackasey Savage. We moved from Montreal in 1983. I continued teaching Math and eventually woodshop as it was my hobby.I retired after 36 years and still live in Burlington. My contact on Osborne Ave in Verdun was Eddy Iwasa
W and Ron Delaney. Eddy became a dentist and practiced in Kingston. Ron went into IT and retired, living in Ottawa now.

Les_F said...

Wow Mr.Savage glad you surfed by. I always got along good with you, you were more than fare in dealing with us young characters.......hahaha
I for one appreciated your help.
Also you were one smart cookie in the algebra and math areas.
I hope all is going well for you these days, and as I say it is really good to hear from you.
I mentioned in a post under this feed we are in now, that I once contacted you via mail to let you know that I had cause to help my youngest sister Barb while she was in school here in Victoria BC, I wanted to let you know that some of what you taught us must have stuck in my head,as I was able to help her with her homework......that youngest sister ,just retired from BC Gov after 37 years....Cheers ! Mr Savage (although I think I'm old enough to call you Len these days as being 70 has some privileges)....but for now it will be Mr. Savage

Anonymous said...

Hello Les, first of all please call me Len. Did I have the pleasure of teaching you in Lasalle or Verdun, I think it may have been Lasalle as I only taught Grade 7 in Verdun. I am 81 now,and retired for the past 26 years. I am a volunteer facilitator with the Alzheimer's Society. They kept me sane throughout the time that I was experiencing with my wife's illness. Where are you living now?

Les_F said...

Hi Len , the schools were actually St.Willbrords ,then VCH, then LCCH..........
I went through grade school with your brother in law Michael Mackasey ,then an experimental year where they tried 7th grade at VCH then there for 8th then on to LCCH.
How is Michael these days I have never heard or seen anything from him since we were kids.
I remember driving by his house during the October Crisis and being stopped by the army guard stationed outside there door...because we slowed to take a look they stopped us,and just at that moment Mike came out of the house and said it was OK because he knew us. Those were strange days in LaBelle Province.
if by chance you do see Mike please say Hello from Les
Cheers ! & Merry Christmas
LesF
If you prefer a direct email then contact me via this site with your email and I can respond from my own email. I will Not Post Yours or anyone's email publicly.

Nancy Landrigan said...

So interestingly enough, I just happened upon this thread looking for YOU, Mr. Savage! I guess I can call you Len too as I'm 61 now. I had you for math at LCCHS around 1977-78 and despite despising math ( I still do...not my strongest subject), I always enjoyed your class, your wit and some of the stories you would tell (most notably about the Catholic brothers that taught you when you were growing up). Anyway, just came here to say, "Thanks" for some good memories in high school. You were one of my more memorable teachers! Glad to hear you're doing well!

Les_F said...

Well thanks for surfing by Nancy Landrigan, you are the same as age as one of my sisters, she too loved learning from Mr Savage ( Len to us now....lol)
I can assure you that whatever you heard about the Catholic brothers and their teaching methods .....was absolutely true. It was a different time. I had a few direct encounters with a few of the brothers as well.Also witnessed some knock down drag 'em out encounters btwn some teachers and students. Overall it was interesting to say the least.
Again thanks for surfing by Nancy.
Cheers !
LesF