History & Alumni

Harry Deane MacDonald – The Ultimate Sacrifice

Can you remember what you did in your first year after graduating from York Memo?

For Memo grad Harry Deane MacDonald, the answer came easily…. go to war to stop Adolph Hitler and his German troops from attaining world domination. Harry was born in Toronto on November 16, 1919 to George and Violet MacDonald and the family set up their household in the Mt. Dennis area at Eglinton and Weston Road.

Like most boys of that era Harry’s interests centered around school and the many sports and social opportunities available at that time. He was a hard working and well-liked classmate and was remembered as a young man who had his goals squarely in his sights.

Harry enrolled at YMCI in the fall of 1933 – four years after the school had opened in 1929. A good student who participated in numerous activities his teachers remembered him as a hard worker who liked to help his fellow classmates whenever the opportunity arose. Harry graduated with his fellow classmates in June of 1938 and finding a place in the work force he then married the love of his life Margaret.

It would only be about one year later on September 1, 1939 when the Second World War would break out and Harry knew immediately, he wanted to be a part of the effort.

A year after applying to the Royal Canadian Air Force he was finally accepted on August 16, 1940 and after being issued his first uniform he was sent to the Manning Depot in Toronto for basic training. After the initial training was complete Harry was accepted into the Number 1 Initial Training School – the basic training school for air force recruits.

From there he graduated to the Elementary Flying School based in Cap-de – la – Madeleine in the province of Quebec where he was broken in on an aircraft called the “Fleet Finch”. For his final training Harry was promoted to the top Service Flight Training Centre at Camp Borden in Barrie, Ontario. It was during his time there that he trained on the much more advanced “Harvard” planes and on May 16, 1941 he graduated as a Sergeant Pilot

While most new graduates of the program remained in Canada as flight instructors for incoming classes Harry was immediately posted to his first war time stop in Britain – arriving there on July 17, 1941. While Harry had learned to fly on his various Canadian training stops, he still had much to learn about aerial gunnery, evasive tactics, formation flying and navigation - all under wartime conditions

After a brief stop with the No. 61 Operational Training unit in September of 1941 he was assigned first to the 54th Flying squadron and one month later settled in with the Royal Airforce 401 squadron based out of Kent, England. Harry’s first assignments included with sweeps over the north of France looking for enemy positions as well as making strikes against enemy shipping in the English Channel. On February 12, 1942 Harry engaged a German plane in his first mid air fight and his gunfire resulted in the enemy plane going down.

It was common for war time pilots to paint a message or picture on the side of their plane - usually depicting someone or something that held special meaning to the individual pilots. Harry chose the York Memorial CI crest and wording as seen in the 2nd picture above.

On May 1, 1942 after having participated in several live aerial battles Harry was promoted to the rank of Pilot Officer and was posted with his old training squadron RAF 401 as a training instructor. Harry continued to fly missions mainly over northern France where they would destroy German construction projects, train tracks used to move German war supplies and even some German barracks. It was his aerial combat missions however that distinguished him from his cohorts

Beginning on January 20, 1943 Harry engaged in a string of missions leading to one on one aerial battles that were all deemed as “successful” including his first confirmed kill of an enemy pilot on March 8, 1943. During one memorable mission on April 4, 1943 Harry was single handily credited with three destroyed planes and three more severely damaged enemy aircraft.

A few weeks later in recognition of his bravery and prowess Harry was promoted to the rank of Flight Lieutenant and during a three-day period covering May 13 to 15 he single handily shot down two German fighters and damaged two more. His bravery and valour did not go unnoticed and on June 4, 1943 Harry was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

His last victory in the sky would take place on July 15, 1943 when flying a patrol over northern France when his repeated attacking gunfire forced a pair of enemy planes to nosedive to the ground before exploding.It was to be his second last sortie having flown an astonishing 200 missions and arriving back home safely each time

On September 3, 1943 Harry was awarded an additional award bar for “Leadership and Gallantry”, It would be on his 201st and last mission – November 30, 1943 - that Harry was engaged above the English Channel – only this time he would not return to home base

His plane was shot down above the water and Harry was lost at sea – his final resting ground

Harry had made the “Ultimate Sacrifice” and along with millions of other soldiers paved the way for the freedom we all enjoy to this day. And on that plane that had became his final resting ground was the other love of his life – The YMCI crest

By Paul Lewicki

Sandy Air

What young Canadian boy has not grown up playing road hockey or shinny and imagined themselves as being part of a Stanley Cup or World Championship winning team. Sandy Air realized that dream as a member of the 1958 Whitby Dunlop’s, who travelled to Oslo, Norway to bring back a World Championship to Canada after a couple of major Canadian disappointments in the two previous seasons.

Sandy was born in Toronto in 1928 and spent his entire childhood living in the family home on Venn Crescent in the Borough of York. He attended Silverthorn Public School before moving onto Memo in the fall of 1942. Youth hockey was not as organized as our present-day game, and the boys would not begin to play in organized leagues until the age of 12 at the Minor Bantam level.

Prior to that age players would search out any sheet of natural ice they could find, to compete in unorganized shinny games. For Sandy and his friends their oasis was a plot of land known as “The Desert” – an old sand pit located at the corner of Cameron and Eglinton Avenues.

It would not be uncommon to see three or four games going on simultaneously on the same sheet of ice. While at Memo Sandy competed in Football and played on both the offence and defence which was very common in those early years. While there was no organized school hockey in those days, one of Sandy’s classmates was Harry Pidherny, who would go onto a 19-year pro career including a stop with the Boston Bruins.

After four years of minor hockey Sandy was invited to play for the Victory Aircraft sponsored team in the then Metro Jr. “B” League. He played two seasons at this level and performed well enough to be recruited by the OHA’s Stratford Kroehlers - where he played Jr “A” hockey and finished his final year of high school.

The following season he played his final year of Junior closer to home as a member of the OHA’s Oshawa Generals, where a solid year lead to the beginning what would be a five-year minor pro career, with stops in Milwaukee, Kansas City, Moncton, Boston and Washington. In returning to Canada Sandy began the next phase of his life and while working at new jobs returned to the amateur ranks, playing OHA Senior hockey with the Niagara Falls Cataracts. The next year with a job beckoning closer to home, Sandy joined the Whitby Dunlop’s Senior A team and spent the next six seasons in that very successful program.

In 1957 with such notable teammates as Harry Sinden,  the former York Memorial student and future coach with the Boston Bruins and Team Canada ’72 – as well as Stanley Cup winner and Leaf’s legend Sid Smith as player coach, the Dunlop’s would go on to win the Allan Cup, awarded each year to the Canadian Senior A champions. As an added bonus the Allan Cup champions would earn the right to represent Canada at the following years Worlds Championship.

There was a lot of pressure attached to those journeys in any given year but it was an especially daunting task for the Dunlop’s in 1958. Canada had lost the 1956 Olympics to the upstart Russian National team and redemption was delayed when Canada boycotted the 1957 Worlds to protest the Soviet invasion of Hungary earlier that year. The team headed to Norway via ocean liner and over the six-day journey many of the players experienced terrible sea sickness before landing on European soil.The team chose not to fly as their General Manager and future NHL GM with the Minnesota North Stars – Wren Blair – was afraid to fly.

Fortunately for Sandy he was recovering from a serious knee injury prior to the tournament and was able to fly over to join his teammates. After completing an eight-game undefeated exhibition tour in Europe, the Dunny’s would go undefeated over seven games in the World Tournament before defeating the Russian’s 4-2 in the Gold medal game. Bringing home Canada’s seventeenth World Championship the Dunlop’s were given a hero’s welcome and to this day are one of the greatest success stories in the annals of Canadian hockey history.

The following year would see Sandy back with the Dunlop’s where he would play another three seasons, winning another Allan Cup in 1959, before retiring from competitive hockey after the 1959-60 campaign. Sandy moved onto a new career as a stock broker at Moss-Lawson – a journey that would see him work until December of 2019 before retiring at the ripe age of 91 years old.

Sandy is living a well-earned retirement in the Mississauga area and still gets together with a group of his peers at the pro hockey players luncheon, held every month at a sports bar in Markham. Needless to say, Sandy was a success on the ice and incredibly had an even better business career!

Paul Patskou

It should come as no surprise that a school which has produced several world class hockey players and coaches would also be the home of one of the worlds leading hockey historians. Paul Patskou spent five years at York Memo before graduating in 1970 before moving on to obtain a degree in history at York University.

Growing up in the Old Weston Road and Rogers Road area Paul had attended both General Mercer and Osler Public Schools before coming to Memo. As a young boy he could be found playing road hockey at the old Coke factory near his home or on the outdoor natural ice at General Mercer PS. Growing up in a household of true Leaf’s fans Paul learned to love the game at an early age and fondly remembers watching the Saturday night Hockey Night in Canada broadcasts with his dad.

It would be shortly after the last game of the 1959 regular season which saw the Leaf’s dramatically clinch a playoff spot that his father would pass away. Paul was only seven years old at the time.

Years later Paul began a search to see if he could find a video copy of the last game they had watched together and a career as a hockey historian was launched. It was on a 1997 trip to the National Archives in Ottawa that Paul finally found the tape he had been searching for and he was off and running in his life long pursuit of our hockey history.

Soon after, Brian McFarlane, the longtime “Hockey Night in Canada” commentator, learned that Patskou had a mutual interest in the history of hockey through film. McFarlane became a mentor. McFarlane said he had given Patskou old films, salvaging them from the basement of Maple Leaf Gardens after the former owner Harold Ballard told McFarlane to “get it all out of there.” Included were 800 plus Leaf games on tape.

In 1998, Patskou attended a meeting of the Society for International Hockey Research. Two days later, through word of mouth, the CBC called him to help produce a documentary about the closing of Maple Leaf Gardens, and his career took off for good. Called “The Columbo” of sports historical film he is considered the world’s foremost authority of hockey on video.

His projects and accomplishments read like a trip through hockey history. In researching a non-hockey film for a CBC documentary, he made a rare discovery at the end of the tape. It contained highlights of Willie O’Ree, a black player, who was called up by the Boston Bruins to play his first N.H.L. game against the Montreal Canadiens, breaking hockey’s color barrier.

Paul also used his vast knowledge and collection to help put together the “Classic Games Series” on the Leaf’s TV network, featuring games from as far back as the 1950’s. Other well-known projects he has contributed to would include:

•  The CBC’s great documentary series “A Peoples Hockey History” Three “Centennial” projects for the NHL’s 100th anniversary

• The highly acclaimed documentary on “Red Army” tracing the history of the historic Russian club team

• Contributed to over 50 hockey books to date.

Regularly called upon by such notable networks as TSN, Sportsnet, CBC, Leaf’s Nation Network and the NHL. Consults as a volunteer for the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. Paul’s personal collection at home includes such rare footage as Foster Hewitt calling a game on radio in the 1940’s, the 1967 NHL finals featuring the Leaf’s last Stanley Cup and rare footage of an outdoor game shot back in 1898 by none other than Thomas Edison.

Paul’s house has become not only a museum of sorts but an archive resource that has seen members of hockey royalty drop by to see long lost film of themselves in action. Ken Dryden, Red Kelly, Bob Baun, Bobby Hull and Frank Mahovlich have all made the pilgrimage to view rare footage of themselves that was thought to be lost for all time.

Paul continues his work to this day and has joined forces with many like-minded individuals who are all part of the highly regarded “Society for International Hockey Research” group bringing back the memories of our youth for all of us to live again. This picture at the top of the page was taken at a 2019 re-union of the 1968-1969 Toronto Marlboros.

Paul is shown with former Marlboros and YMCI classmates Fred Barrett (left) and Lorne Stamler (right), all having graduated with the class of 1970. Barrett played three years with the Marlboros before moving onto a solid 13- year NHL career. Stamler was a Marlboro for two seasons and went onto play four years at Michigan Tech before graduating to a pro career that included four years as an NHL player.

Paul also arranged a re-union of the 1973 Memorial Cup Champion Toronto Marlboros. In attendance was another YMCI alumni – John Hughes. Hughes was considered one of the greatest athletes in school history, excelling in football and track and field - all while a member of the Marlboros. He went on to play 6 seasons in the newly formed WHA before spending 2 full seasons in the NHL.

By Paul Lewicki

Gerrit De Boer

It should come as no surprise that a school which has produced several world class hockey players and coaches would also be the home of one of the worlds leading hockey historians. Paul Patskou spent five years at York Memo before graduating in 1970 before moving on to obtain a degree in history at York University.

Growing up in the Old Weston Road and Rogers Road area Paul had attended both General Mercer and Osler Public Schools before coming to Memo. As a young boy he could be found playing road hockey at the old Coke factory near his home or on the outdoor natural ice at General Mercer PS. Growing up in a household of true Leaf’s fans Paul learned to love the game at an early age and fondly remembers watching the Saturday night Hockey Night in Canada broadcasts with his dad.

It would be shortly after the last game of the 1959 regular season which saw the Leaf’s dramatically clinch a playoff spot that his father would pass away. Paul was only seven years old at the time.

Years later Paul began a search to see if he could find a video copy of the last game they had watched together and a career as a hockey historian was launched. It was on a 1997 trip to the National Archives in Ottawa that Paul finally found the tape he had been searching for and he was off and running in his life long pursuit of our hockey history.

Soon after, Brian McFarlane, the longtime “Hockey Night in Canada” commentator, learned that Patskou had a mutual interest in the history of hockey through film. McFarlane became a mentor. McFarlane said he had given Patskou old films, salvaging them from the basement of Maple Leaf Gardens after the former owner Harold Ballard told McFarlane to “get it all out of there.” Included were 800 plus Leaf games on tape.

In 1998, Patskou attended a meeting of the Society for International Hockey Research. Two days later, through word of mouth, the CBC called him to help produce a documentary about the closing of Maple Leaf Gardens, and his career took off for good. Called “The Columbo” of sports historical film he is considered the world’s foremost authority of hockey on video.

His projects and accomplishments read like a trip through hockey history. In researching a non-hockey film for a CBC documentary, he made a rare discovery at the end of the tape. It contained highlights of Willie O’Ree, a black player, who was called up by the Boston Bruins to play his first N.H.L. game against the Montreal Canadiens, breaking hockey’s color barrier.

Paul also used his vast knowledge and collection to help put together the “Classic Games Series” on the Leaf’s TV network, featuring games from as far back as the 1950’s. Other well-known projects he has contributed to would include:

•  The CBC’s great documentary series “A Peoples Hockey History” Three “Centennial” projects for the NHL’s 100th anniversary

• The highly acclaimed documentary on “Red Army” tracing the history of the historic Russian club team

• Contributed to over 50 hockey books to date.

Regularly called upon by such notable networks as TSN, Sportsnet, CBC, Leaf’s Nation Network and the NHL. Consults as a volunteer for the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. Paul’s personal collection at home includes such rare footage as Foster Hewitt calling a game on radio in the 1940’s, the 1967 NHL finals featuring the Leaf’s last Stanley Cup and rare footage of an outdoor game shot back in 1898 by none other than Thomas Edison.

Paul’s house has become not only a museum of sorts but an archive resource that has seen members of hockey royalty drop by to see long lost film of themselves in action. Ken Dryden, Red Kelly, Bob Baun, Bobby Hull and Frank Mahovlich have all made the pilgrimage to view rare footage of themselves that was thought to be lost for all time.

Paul continues his work to this day and has joined forces with many like-minded individuals who are all part of the highly regarded “Society for International Hockey Research” group bringing back the memories of our youth for all of us to live again. This picture at the top of the page was taken at a 2019 re-union of the 1968-1969 Toronto Marlboros.

Paul is shown with former Marlboros and YMCI classmates Fred Barrett (left) and Lorne Stamler (right), all having graduated with the class of 1970. Barrett played three years with the Marlboros before moving onto a solid 13- year NHL career. Stamler was a Marlboro for two seasons and went onto play four years at Michigan Tech before graduating to a pro career that included four years as an NHL player.

Paul also arranged a re-union of the 1973 Memorial Cup Champion Toronto Marlboros. In attendance was another YMCI alumni – John Hughes. Hughes was considered one of the greatest athletes in school history, excelling in football and track and field - all while a member of the Marlboros. He went on to play 6 seasons in the newly formed WHA before spending 2 full seasons in the NHL.

By Paul Lewicki

David Devall

Dave Devall, CTV meteorologist and a York Memorial Alumnus started his career in 1956 with his first job in broadcasting as an audio operator. Who would have guessed that fifty-two years later I would be joining him while he recollected his years at York Memorial.

Graduating in the year 1951, Dave Devall was never a kid who enjoyed learning. He admits to being a procrastinator, and recalls his academic experience at York Memorial as being “okay.” Playing as a half back on the school’s football team, Dave Devall remembers a few other activities in which he participated, including the boy’s hockey team, Student Council and numerous clubs at school, but claims that his years could have been better if he was a bit more involved. Nevertheless, every time Dave Devall represented Memo, he felt a sense of pride wearing gold and red and being called a Mustang, a term born while Dave Devall attended York Memorial and still used today.

Despite his “okay” memories of high school, his eyes shine when he remembers Ms. Bennet, his English teacher who became an inspiration to him as the first teacher to introduce him to public speaking. A requirement of senior English class was oral composition, and while most students would rather do anything but make a speech, Dave discovered he loved to stand up and talk to people. He earned top marks in the school and went on to compete in regional and provincial competitions successfully. His trophy now proudly sits beside one of his father’s on their home mantle, and Dave’s career of “standing up and talking to people” is legendary.

Dave Devall grew up in the York Township Area, now currently known as the York South Weston Riding. His family was not rich, but they were not poor either. He had a part-time job at Loblaws and unbelievably earned the highest pay as a part time student making $1.65 at the time!

Dave Devall began his career in the Royal Canadian Air Force from York Memorial. He remembers clearly the day when a Flying Officer came and spoke to all the students on Career Day. With a total cost of $33,000 to train a pilot at the time (now approximately $1.5 million), Dave Devall joined the reserve. He became part of the 400, 411 and 2400 Squadrons in Downsview and got his Air Force papers there. Today Dave Devall still holds his pilot’s license and just recently was named Honorary Colonel with 436 Transport Squadron in Trenton, a huge honour of which he is justifiably proud. Occasionally he can be seen forecasting the weather in full air force uniform when he has been working during the day.

As I sit beside Mr. Devall and listen to his past, I see his eyes light up and twinkle as he recalls his memories in the Air Force. These, he believes, were his finest moments where he was taught morals, rules, and most important, discipline. If you have ever watched the news when Dave Devall broadcasts, then you are probably familiar with his special skill of being able to write backwards with both hands. This was another thing that the Air Force taught him. Early in his career, he was the fellow responsible for transferring information as it arrived to the duty controller, so he had the job of writing the status of the various squadrons in another room. The transfer consisted of writing all the information on the glass wall that separated the two- so the gentleman doing the writing had to do it backwards so the officers could read it.

While in the Royal Canadian Air Force, Dave Devall also juggled his education at Ryerson University. He enjoyed every aspect of broadcasting and this is why he enrolled in the Radio and Television Course. While studying at Ryerson, Dave Devall started looking for a part-time job. It was Kent Thompson who offered him his first job in television and sent him to Peterborough where he auditioned. With his unique talents, and his good looking charm, (thanks to a couple of years of modeling), Dave Devall got a job and started that same Monday. Everything seemed to be going great. He landed his dream job, was able to balance work and school into a manageable schedule and was still able to D.J. the dances at Casa Loma every Saturday night.

While working in Peterborough, Dave Devall managed a schedule where he could study and write his exams at school. Traveling back and forth from school to work seemed like a good plan, but Ryerson did not approve, indicating it would set a bad example to other students. They asked him to quit his job and it was then that Dave Devall realized that broadcasting was his passion. He packed his belongings from Ryerson, and with only a couple months before he would finish the semester and graduate, he quit school. This was his biggest disappointment; not being able to finish an important thing he had set out to do.

When he auditioned for CTV, over 2,000 other people were auditioning for the same position. Dave Devall was not aware of this and with the security of having his job in Peterborough and not knowing how much competition he had, made it easier. In 1961 Dave Devall was asked to join CTV as a broadcaster. The rest is history.

Coming close to retirement, Dave Devall would like to slowly phase out of the business, but it is not going to be easy with his great love for broadcasting, and a strong relationship with all the six o’clock team. Dave Devall would like to start enjoying the fruits of his labour. He does not exactly know what he would like to do when he is retired, but small tasks such as gardening, planting, even building a workbench are things he looks forward to, and motivational speaking is in the planning stages. He believes the active and interesting mind must be exercised and tested, so he is not completely ready for retirement anytime soon.

Concluding the interview, I asked Dave Devall what advice he gives to students who would like to enter the industry. He encourages students to keep an open mind and pursue many dreams, since “life has a way of taking you along the path that it wants you to go, not necessarily the path you want to follow.” Thanks Dave, and all the best.

Richard Jeysman

Mr. Richard Jeysman started high school at York Memorial in 1967. He has a great reputation in excelling in his academics and in the athletics department. He graduated at York Memorial in 1972 with a tremendous amount of achievements. He then continued to pursue his passion for football, gymnastics and science at the University of Toronto. There he received his bachelor’s degree in science majoring in physiology. He also graduated from Ryerson University and York University for further education in business. There he received his business certificate in marketing and executive studies in Business Administration.  

During his time at York Memorial he participated in over ten sports including basketball, cross country, football, swimming, track/field, among others. One of his proudest achievements was in gymnastics where he could be found competing for York Memorial across Ontario but also doing acrobatics for the yearly school play or celebrating a football touchdown by doing a back flip in the end zone. His athletic successes at York Memorial would, today fill a room with awards that make him one of the very best athletes that York Memorial has ever produced.

One of his highlights of playing sports at York Memorial was at the 1972 University of Toronto All-Star game in which he was a standout contributor. This led him to the University of Toronto, in physiology, where he stood out as an excellent defensive player, as well as student. His football performance and his team rose to national prominence playing in the College Bowl Championship which they lost by a narrow decision in front of 26,000 people at the CNE stadium. His football acumen at the University of Toronto caught the eye of the Hamilton Tiger Cats who selected him in the 7th round of the Canadian Football League Draft. His career in the CFL was short lived but his time in sports at York Memorial and moving forward to its culmination in the CFL taught him to “seize the opportunity and never settle”. Mr. Jeysman continued using this motto deep into his profession career.  

By luck, perseverance, intelligence, and drive, Mr. Jeysman altered the world for the better after he left the University of Toronto. He joined Sterling Drugs Ltd. where he enjoyed increasing responsibilities in sales and marketing . After serving time as a Director of Marketing, he then seize at the opportunity to build a new company in Canada. He started up the Canadian subsidiary of Ferring Pharmaceuticals from a newly start pharmaceutical business branch from Sweden into a large hundred million dollar product company ranked in the top fifty companies in Canada. As President of Ferring, he led the introduction of a number of important new medication that treat serious conditions across the therapeutic areas of Gastroenterology, Pediatrics, Urology, Obstetrics and Infertility. 

Mr. Jeysman is particularly proud of the development of a drug that aids in the post birth health of mothers. Carbetocin, a long acting analogue of oxytocin is a medicine that reduces the excessive loss of blood that occurs with percentage of women undergoing C- section and vaginal delivery of a child. Scientifically it is defined as postpartum hemorrhage. This drug is now marketed in 35 countries providing therapeutic benefit to mothers of the world who do not reside in high economic areas and where medical services are hard to come by. 

Mr. Jeysman’s drive, and confidence to take on such a challenging task leads back to his time at York Memorial where he remembers teachers like Ms. Parsons, Ms. Furlotte or Mr. Tan always taking the time for a young student who never stopped asking “why?” and saw the potential in a young student who successfully balanced himself between a life in athletics and science. 

Richard Jeysman retired in 2012. However, he is still quite active in his profession. He is a guest lecturer, mentor and an advisor to start-up companies who seek him out for his vast experience and abilities. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Liver Foundation heading up the government advocacy committee. Despite his age, he is a competitive Master swimmer with national ranking, participates in skiing and even heli-skiing on occasion. Overall, he is enjoying his retirement inspiring those who have the honour to interview him, and he is now a proud grandfather to a newly born baby girl—Madison.

Roderick Alexander Macdonald, O.C., FRSC 

Ronald E. WinterProfessor Roderick Alexander Macdonald is F.R. Scott Professor of Constitutional and Public Law at McGill University and a member of the Law Societies of both Ontario and Quebec. Professor Macdonald holds a B.A. from York University (1969), an LL.B. from Osgoode Hall Law School (1972), an LL.L. from the Civil Law Faculty, University of Ottawa (1974) and an LL.M. from the University of Toronto (1975). He received an honorary doctorate from the University of Montreal (2010) and from Osgoode Hall Law School (2011).

He commenced his career as an Assistant Professor at the University of Windsor in 1975, where he served notably as Co-Director of the Community Law Programme (1977-79) and where he commenced the teaching of the common law in French (1977). In 1979 he joined the Faculty of Law at McGill, where he served as Associate Dean (Academic) (1981-1983) and Dean (1984-1989). He teaches and publishes in the areas of civil law, commercial law, administrative law, constitutional law, jurisprudence and access to justice. Since 1975 he has published more than 200 books, essay collections, articles, reports and study papers. 

Following his Deanship at McGill, he chaired a Task Force on Access to Justice of the Ministère de la justice du Québec (1989-91). He served as a consultant to the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, to the Ontario Civil Justice Review and to the Federal Department of Justice on the interaction of federal law and the Civil Code of Québec. From 1989 to 1995 he was Director of the Law in Society Programme of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, and from 1997 to 2000, he was the founding President of the Law Commission of Canada, the federal law reform agency.

Between 2002 and 2004 he was a consultant to the World Bank in Ukraine and drafted that country's current law on secured transactions. In 2003 and 2004 he was a consultant on civil judgement execution with the CIDA-sponsored Legal Reform Project in the Republic of Vietnam. Since 2002 he has been a member of the Canadian delegation to Working Group VI (Secured Transactions) of United Nations Commission on International Trade Law and was on the team that drafted the Legislative Guide to Secured Transactions Law (2009). In 2007-2008 he chaired a Task Force for the Ministère de la justice du Québec that produced a Report on Anti-Slapp Legislation, the recommendations of which were enacted into the Quebec Code of Civil Procedure. In November 2011 he was named one of three Commissioners on the Commission of Inquiry into Corruption in the Construction Industry in Quebec (the Charbonneau Commission).  

Professor Macdonald has lectured widely across Canada, the United States, Australia, Chile, England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, and has held visiting positions at Osgoode Hall Law School, the University of Toronto, the University of British Columbia, the Australian National University, the Université Blaise Pascal in Clermont-Ferrand and the Université Paul Cézanne in Aix-Marseilles. 

In 1996 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and in 2004 he was named a Fellow of the Pierre Elliot Trudeau Foundation. In April 2007, Professor Macdonald was awarded a Killam Prize, Canada's most distinguished annual award for outstanding career achievement in research in the humanities and social sciences. In September 2007, he was honoured with the University of Ottawa Civil Law Faculty’s Ordre du mérite and in November 2007 was awarded the Sir William Dawson Medal for the Social Sciences by the Royal Society of Canada. In 2009 he made history when he became the 111th President of the Royal Society of Canada, making him the first law professor to hold the post. He was awarded the Ramon Hnatyshyn Medal by the Canadian Bar Association in 2010. He received the McGill University Lifetime Achievement Award for Leadership in Learning in 2011, the Paul-André Crépeau Award for Excellence in Comparative Law Scholarship by the Canadian Bar Association, Quebec Branch in 2012 and the John W. Durnford Prize for Teaching Excellence by the Faculty of Law, McGill University in 2012. 

Professor Macdonald was inducted as an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2012 and received one of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medals in 2013. On November 16, 2012 at an event at the Ottawa Convention Centre to mark the 130th anniversary of Royal Society of Canada (RSC), Governor General David Johnston announced the creation of a new library at Walter House, the RSC’s new headquarters in Ottawa. “I am equally delighted to announce that this new reading room, with the support and encouragement of his many friends, colleagues and loved ones, is to be named in honour of Rod Macdonald,” he added.  Former McGill Law Professor Macdonald’s leadership of the RSC was transformative, resulting in a greatly strengthened National Academy, as well as in the acquisition of Walter House, the first permanent home in the 130-year history of the RSC. 

In June of 2014 Professor Macdonald will be awarded the McGill University Gold Medal for Career Research Achievement.  

Christine Marshall

We drive out of Toronto on an icy March morning to interview Christine Marshall. The drive is calm and easy. We begin to see drifts of snow alongside the highway as we drive farther out of the city: a message of March in the country that will greet us at Christine's gallery and home in Bala, Ontario. I spend the drive up worrying about meeting Christine - whose reputation as a painter of nature is both extensive and well-deserved - especially as I know so little about painting. Yet when we arrive, the woman who comes out of her house to greet us is kind, and thoughtful: quickly hustling us inside her studio to greet us out of the cold. We make quick introductions and Christine's husband Frank comes to graciously introduce himself and offer us refreshments before heading out on his morning's errands and we begin the interview.

It wasn't until Christine's high school days that she ever seriously considered any kind of artistic career. From the first time they met, it must have been obvious to Miss Murphy, York Memorial's art teacher, that Christine held great promise. Likewise, when Christine began high school at York Memorial, she was immediately drawn to this art teacher, and together the two developed a sort of apprenticeship for Christine. Christine would help set up before art class, and was often relied upon to aid others. There were new challenges issued by Miss Murphy - among them, pottery, and art history lessons - which led Christine to incorporate new perspectives and artistic elements in her work, and led to her new interest in art and painting.

York Memorial also gave Christine the chance to meet her first husband, Greig Marshall. Greig was what Christine describes as an "extremely bright and energetic young man" who would later become the reason her artistic career took off. Although they had separate and distinct interests and friends in high school, her encounters with him there set the stage for their mutual decision to become teachers. They married soon after high school, then each went on to complete their education at Toronto Teachers' College.

After finishing high school and attaining a Fine Arts degree in university, Christine completed her education in teacher's college, where she became reacquainted with Greig Marshall. Together, they began teaching in Toronto. Christine has several reasons for becoming a teacher - among them the fact that it is particularly difficult for a young artist to make her living from her artwork without commercially commissioned work, deadlines, or contracts - but the most important one is that Christine genuinely loves teaching. Indeed, during the interview, she eagerly discusses the idea of having a group of York Memorial art students up to visit her so she can give them a taste of what the future holds for an artist. Although she claims to have "gotten teaching out of her system," it is clear that she still enjoys engaging and enlightening groups of future artists.

It was while Christine was teaching that she attained an Art Supervisor's Certificate and a Fine Arts Degree at York University in Toronto. For many years, teaching had consumed Christine. She gave all she had to the education of her city's offspring - students from grade school all the way through high school - and their growth into adults. However even as Christine reached the pinnacle of her teaching career, she continued painting on the side, and was often exhausted as a result. Splitting time between two equally consuming, wonderful tasks was grueling, but Christine had no intention of quitting her day job for a career that she was sure could never take off. But one day a neighbour saw one of her earliest mushroom paintings and asked if she would consider selling it. Christine was bemused that someone would wish to buy her artwork, and had no idea of what a fair price for such a piece would be. When she saw the neighbour the next day, she asked if thirty dollars was too much to consider paying for it!

Despite her humility - or perhaps because of it - Christine's artistic career took off. She sold one painting after another, exhausting herself physically and mentally until she and her husband took the risk of leaving their teaching positions to pursue and manage Christine's career as an artist. Of course, success came and Christine began to earn commission after commission. With the careful planning and marketing of her now late husband Greig, her career path was set. With each new challenge and subsequent success, Christine's following grew, allowing her the opportunity for travel, mostly within Ontario, but intermittently to places outside the province, and even the country. She traveled to Australia, and Africa, China, and Greece, painting the landscapes and wildernesses she had loved in her childhood. Through the 1980s and '90s the body of work Christine created is impressive both in size and variety of subjects -- from Ontario's birds and wildlife to the majestic animals of the African plains. Her accomplishments brought honours and opportunity. She was named 1994's Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters Artist of the Year. She met AJ Casson of the Group of Seven, who later wrote the introduction to a tome published about her life. She attended many events and met numerous other artists and has spent the past 25 years featured at most of the Ontario Resorts as their "Artist in Residence" beginning with her first appearance in Minaki Lodge in 1986. Christine spent a year as Artist-in-Residence at Minaki Lodge, and is still an active member of both the Spring and Fall Art Tours around the Muskoka region of Ontario.

Today however, is a quiet day for Christine. As we wrap up the interview and tour, Christine invites us for a lunch she and Frank have prepared ahead of time. They are gracious hosts: engaging us in conversation, offering more food, and allowing us to enjoy the panorama through the windows of their home in the woods. It is easy to be overwhelmed by Christine's success artistically, and awed by where she is today: married to charming Frank, living in an open, welcoming house, and above all, surrounded by this inspiring nature. There are scenes of waterfalls and birds hung on the walls, while outside, the birds fluttering at the feeders inform us of the impending spring, even though the snow hangs off tree branches and crunches beneath our feet as we wave goodbye. For more information, or to contact Christine, please visit her website at: www.wildlifegallery.ca. Christine encourages visits and tours, and would be so happy to see more Memo grads in her studio.

Harry J. Sinden

September 28, 1972. One of the most memorable dates in Canadian hockey history. Team Canada defeats the Soviet Union in the now legendary "Summit Series", a result that would lead to dramatic changes in the way we viewed and played the game.

While most of us can think back to exactly where we were when Paul Henderson scored "The Goal", one York Memorial alumnus would definitely not have a problem recalling where he stood for the historic moment!

Harry Sinden was behind the Canadian bench as head coach of Team Canada 1972.

And despite his success on that day and his many triumphs with the Boston Bruins, Mr. Sinden had no hesitation in recalling his days at Y.M.C.I. as "the best years of his life"!

Harry grew up in a house on Bicknell Avenue directly across from a park that is now the site of cybridge @ George Harvey C. I.. It was on the outdoor rink in this very park that a young Harry honed his skills, as he did not participate in any form of organized hockey until he was thirteen years old.

The rink was the focal point of the community for young boys who would play on the natural ice until the lights were turned off at 10:00 sharp each night. With only one boarded rink for hockey players, the space was severely limited and would often see as many as five or six games taking place simultaneously on the same pad.

Harry attended Silverthorn Public School as a boy and did well enough to skip a grade, landing him at York Memo as a brash young thirteen year-old in the fall of 1945.

High schools did not compete in hockey at the time, due to the unpredictability of the weather on the natural ice outdoor rinks. In fact, the present site of Keelesdale Park and arena was nothing more than trees and the neighbourhood swimming hole.

It was at this point, however, that Harry began to take hockey a little more serious, playing for the first time in the city wide Toronto Hockey League. While at York Memo, he did participate actively in sports including football, basketball and track. While possessing a lot of heart, Harry admits he was not "the fleetest afoot" and claims to have been lapped in an 880 yard dash in the city finals.

Two staff members in particular stand out in his memory: the Principal during that era, Mr. J.W. Ansley and a favourite teacher was the legendary Doug Barbour. Mr. Barbour was instrumental in the development and support of many of the York Memo athletic programs and later went on to become its Principal.

Outside of sports, there were not a lot of activities to occupy a young man's time. Harry recalls losing on more than one occasion at an illegal black jack game held in the basement of a neighbourhood variety store that also served as the areas unofficial "off track betting parlour". A part time job on Saturdays helping the local Silverwoods milkman was the source of his limited budget at the time.

While at school, Harry maintained a straight "A" average and vividly recalls having to present an oral essay in front of his peers in which he spoke on the "Canadian beaver".

Perhaps his patriotism at the time was an omen of great things to come. After leaving York Memo in 1949 to play junior hockey in Oshawa, Harry eventually moved on to a minor pro career that would see him win a "world championship" in 1958 as a member of the famed Whitby Dunlops.

After his playing days had ended in 1965-66 as a player/coach with the Central Leagues Oklahoma City Bruins, he moved up to coach the NHL's Boston Bruins. With such legendary stars as Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito, he led a young Bruins team to the Stanley Cup in 1969-70.

A member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, the IIHF Hall of Fame, and winner of the prestigious Lester Patrick Award, Harry presently holds the position of Club President with the Bruins.

Residing in nearby Winchester, Mass. with his wife Eleanor, the proud couple are parents to four daughters and numerous grandchildren.

Souvankham Thammavongsa

Interview as told to Jackie Drew

How does a young woman who arrived in Canada barefoot in 1980 become a renowned poet, author, and a Giller Prize winner? This is the story of Souvankham Thammavongsa. Her friends at York Memorial called her Sue or Sou.

BACKSTORY

Souvankham’s parents came originally from Laos, a small country between Vietnam and Thailand. They built a raft out of bamboo to cross the Mekong River in order to reach the Nong Khai refugee camp in Thailand. This is where Sou was born.  She wasn’t given a birth certificate because those born in a refugee camp, are considered stateless.  Birth certificates are only given to someone who is a citizen and she belonged to no country.

A Canadian family, through a church program, sponsored Sou’s family. Sou has remained connected to these sponsors throughout her life. The Thammavongsa family arrived in Canada when it was snowing and her parents, who had never seen snow before, called it ice cubes. On their first day in Canada, the sponsor took off his fur hat to wrap around Sou’s bare feet and a longstanding friendship was born.

Sou’s family, like many, struggled to make a living. They worked long hours and among other things, started a sign making business. Now her father owns his own sign-making business, her mother works in a factory, bagging vegetables and her brother, also a popular former YMCI student, is a welder.

TIME AT YORK MEMORIAL

Because Sou’s parents worked a lot, and for a short time, the family lived in a van, Sou remembers York Memorial being a safe place for her.  She would come to school very early and sit in the hallway even before the lights came on.  She would sometimes sing and dance like a star in a Broadway play since no one else was around and she originally wanted to be an actor. Her fond recollections of teachers include Maxanne Ezer, who taught creative writing and Mr. Murchie who taught math.  Other memories include her many crushes, Jamaican beef patties on a bun from the convenience store, shepherd’s pie from the school cafeteria, the sports and after school clubs.

She felt lucky to be a member of such a diverse student population not being the only refugee or immigrant in the school.

Her experience at Memo allows her to write about characters who can make fun of the English language, characters who did not want to belong and would make fun of you for wanting to fit in, characters who insist on their own language and characters who are not embarrassed or humiliated about who they are or where their families came from, because as Sou says: “That was York Memorial”.

BECOMING A WRITER

Sou’s original desire to become an actor led her to audition for Little Red Riding Hood when she was in grade two. She did not understand that she couldn’t change the script and had to follow what had been written. Apparently, she kicked the wolf every time she encountered him and therefore did not get the part. She decided then and there that she wanted to be the person who could change the story i.e., the writer!

Sou had grown up in a home without books and every time she saw a bookshelf, she would beg her parents to take a picture of her in front of it, just as we do “when we go on vacation and think we won’t ever see things like that again.”

Becoming a writer is precarious. It is not a carved-out path like becoming a doctor or a lawyer where you go to school, get good grades, go to university and then proceed to medical or law school followed by an internship. Sou held many jobs while writing books: in the research department of an investment advice publisher, counting bags of cash five levels below a big bank, and she prepared taxes. While holding these jobs, Sou was also a published writer, publishing four acclaimed poetry books. But poetry is not very well-known to readers, and she caught her big break, when she started writing fiction.

As Sou says: “having talent and working hard” does not necessarily mean that you will become a successful writer. It’s a difficult and competitive field that requires luck in addition to talent! 

A SUCCESS STORY

Sou combined a lot of talent and a little luck to become the successful and award-winning writer that she is today. She has written four poetry books.  Her first book, Small Arguments won a ReLit Award in 2004. Her second book, Found, was made into a short film. Her third book, Light, won the Trillium Book Award for Poetry in 2014.

The short story collection How to Pronounce Knife, was the winner of the $100k Scotiabank Giller Prize, a New York Times Editors’ Choice and Time’s 100 Must-Read Books of 2020. Her stories have won an O. Henry award and appeared in The New Yorker, Harper’s Magazine, The Paris Review, The Atlantic and many other places.

In addition, How to Pronounce Knife was one of the ten most borrowed books from the public library in 2021.

PRESENT DAY

Sou is now teaching creative writing at Massey College, at the University of Toronto. As Sue says, creative writing often falls under English literature.  She admits that one of her greatest challenges is to convince students and their parents that what they are learning is as valuable as computer engineering or economics etc. Sue admits honestly that one of the rewards she derives from teaching is that she gets to see that she still has a lot to learn. She encounters students who are brilliant and whom she would classify as having more talent than she has. As a teacher, she uses her knowledge and experience to draw attention to the writing talent of the student and to encourage them.  

Sue is still an impassioned writer. She confesses that it doesn’t take much to motivate or inspire her to write because she loves what she does. Her feelings and experiences contribute to her story content and ability to translate feelings into the written word. In her own words:

“I know what it’s like to be the best at something and to get passed over. I know what it’s like to have a name that means something beautiful in my language, but not to have the same meaning in another language.  I know what it’s like to stare at mould on the walls, to watch someone with a sadness they can’t see.  These are just ordinary experiences, something that happens to everyone.  But how do we make our experiences feel real to someone else?  We like the ‘real life’ stories behind the stories, but the truth is the real-life story is actually incredibly ordinary and anyone can tell it. What’s extraordinary is to take something so ‘undazzingly’ ordinary and to make it a story, to draw people up close from the buzz and noise of the world and to get to say “Listen…” and they actually do!

Now the girl who ran the poetry club in York Memorial is writing a novel, and working on a television series based on her book How to Pronounce Knife. We want to wish her every success with her new book and continued joy and achievement in her chosen career.

Alan Tonks

I graduated from York Memorial in 1965 and after Teacher’s College volunteered to teach in Jamaica with the Canadian University Services Overseas (CUSO). Upon my return from Jamaica, I had an interview with York but because I did not have a university degree, I was not successful in getting a position. I went home very disappointed but got a call from Scarborough who wanted me to show up the next day to interview for a position. They seemed to like my experience in Jamaica because of the influx of Jamaican kids into Scarborough and felt I would be an excellent fit. I started the next day. I stayed with Scarborough taking leaves of absence during my political career. In fact, while I was the Mayor of York, I took courses and graduated with my M.A. and M.Ed because I now had a real interest in taking advanced courses to better prepare me as an educator.

My first experience in politics was to run for Councillor in the City of York against Lloyd Sainsbury a fixture at that time, and a war veteran, who lived in the community for many years. I lost, but it was a learning experience. The next time I ran for municipal election was when Jim Trimbee, who was a Controller in York passed away, and I was elected. Later in my political career I was elected Mayor of the City of York, remained in that position for six years, then became Metropolitan Toronto Chairman, and after nearly ten years in that position, oversaw the transition for the amalgamated city. For two years I then chaired the Greater Toronto Services Board, ultimately running for Member of Parliament, in which position I have served for ten years.

Let me reflect on some memories of Memo. I did not start at YMCI but spent the first couple of years of high school at Upper Canada College. I lived in the area, always wanted to go to Memo and actually hung around with guys who went to the school so when I decided to make the switch, it seemed a natural transition. However, it was not so easy. My first day at the school, I arrived at the main office and was ushered into the Principal’s Office to meet with Principal Rutherford and Vice-Principal Barbour. They looked me up and down and the grilling started. "So you want to come to York?" (In retrospect, it didn’t occur to me that I lived in the school district and had the right to attend but in those days you didn’t challenge authority). "What makes you think that York is ready to take you?" (I was so taken with that discussion that I remember it to this day). I think they had a perception of this private school kid thinking that this would be easy and blessing the school with his presence! Of course, in those days authority and law and order were how things worked in schools. Doug Barbour took me down to Mrs. Scott’s English Homeroom in Room 105—and that was the beginning.

I always remember an incident in Mrs. Scott’s English class. The teacher had not yet arrived and the class was a little disruptive. Mr Rutherford was walking down the corridor and one of the students, Rick, made a loud derogatory comment about him. Mr. Rutherford put down his briefcase, came into the room and Rick immediately began leaping over desks, up on the radiator, and out the window! At that time there was a high iron picket fence around the school and with Mr Rutherford running down the backstairs, Rick was up and over that fence, [ as I recall with some assistance] and headed up the middle of Eglinton Avenue as fast as he could run! Mr. Rutherford came back into the class, who by this time had witnessed the entire event and was very subdued. After a moment, he simply announced, "that from this day forward that student is expelled." I don’t believe that Rick ever came back to the school again.

I remember the 1962 T.D.I.A.A. Football Championship team that I played on. This was one of the last times when the championship was really a city wide event. Funny what you remember. It was probably the regional game that was most memorable. We were losing and on the last play of the game, our quarterback Gary Bedel, threw a ‘Hail Mary’ to Dave Bince who made a great catch for a touchdown that got us into the final.

The structure of the school has changed a lot with the new addition added after I left. The main hall and second floor are really much the same. I remember ‘Bugsy’ Arnold’s biology room, Mr Kennedy’s history room, Mr Brubacher’s Latin room, and Mr Dunbar’s room where he taught accounting- at that time teachers pretty much had their own rooms and didn’t move from room to room. I remember being in ‘Danny’ Tompson’s chemistry class when he was writing furiously on the board with the Bunsen burner going full tilt nearby. He always wore that white smock and of course his sleeve caught on fire with Danny being oblivious to it all- until we set up enough of a commotion to bring it to his attention!

The basement has changed dramatically. We never went into the girls’ locker area and vice versa or entered the school through the doors, nor in fact did any students enter through the front doors of the school, the cafeteria was in the middle, with doors opening up into the two gyms that had balconies around them. The old pool is gone. We use to swim in the buff, dive off the windows until a teacher arrived-it was always cold. I remember when Ivars and Barry threw Fred Hall into the pool one day. For some reason I was marched up to the office with both of them to see Doug Barbour who was then the Principal. He was prepared to expel all of us but if we apologized he would look for another punishment which I did ‘for the group’ [since the others would have none of it!]. We received about 2 months of detentions!

When I was here, I was part of a band- actually there were three rock and roll bands at the time. We used to play at the dances in the gymnasium. At one of the Spirit Week assemblies we got dressed up as women- of course with all of the exaggerations you can imagine-to perform. Afterwards two of the teachers-Miss Bennett and Miss Adams- went to Doug Barbour to voice their displeasure at how we had ‘demeaned females’ etc. That never entered our minds and it was all in good fun. Doug Barbour took the position that we had not really intended to offend and didn’t think "we were at the point where we can censor under reasonable grounds". Mr. Barbour was tough but fair and always seemed to be able to see both sides of a story. When I look at ‘Principals’ Row’ today, it is interesting in the first 40 years there were only 3 Principals at the school. In those days, people were hired and seemed to stay in one school their entire careers.

The rotunda at this school continually humbles me. It is like the Parliament Buildings. The pictures of the service men who gave their lives, the stain glass windows- this is really a living memorial dedicated to the contribution of those who came before us and gave so much for this country.

For me, York Memorial has always been a cornerstone school- a bedrock school. Everyone in the community wanted to come here. It was always consistently relevant in terms of its curriculum and pedagogy in the midst of new initiatives and specialized schools built around the area. The enrollment has always been steady. Generation after generation have come through this school. People are always looking for stability in education and they continue to opt to come to York Memorial for that reason. I had a wonderful experience here that I will never forget, cherishing the memories, the teachers and students that helped to shape my character and values. 

Ronald E. Winter

Extraordinary does not even begin to describe this York Memorial Alumnus’ career. Ronald E. Winter graduated from the University of Toronto in 1949 with a Bachelor of Applied Science degree and started up his own engineering firm just six years later in 1955. Ron not only went on to build the largest shopping centre in the province, he built an entire city.

Ironically Ron came into his profession much by accident. During most of his childhood life he thought he would become a doctor, just like his father. After a real life experience witnessing human damage, Ron discovered that the decision to become a doctor was not his own but rather his father’s.When Ron went to tell his father that he no longer wanted to become a doctor his father asked what Ron would rather become, Ron blurted out: engineer. “The only other occupation [he] knew”.

The roots of a man can often speak volumes about his personality; Ron’s roots were no exception. Ron’s hardworking personality can be dated back to his childhood. Ron was born in Toronto in 1926. Growing up in the Roseland area of Mount Dennis during the Depression, Ron’s parents made sure that he never had idle hands. Whether he was helping his loving mother garden or working summer jobs, Ron was always working. Ron’s father’s perseverance was due to the way his Scottish mother raised him. Ron credits his father for shaping his personality; diligence runs in the family apparently.

Ron started high school in 1939 and spent his five years at YMCI; Ron graduated in 1945 and started at the University of Toronto in 1946 where he pursued his dream of becoming an engineer that would one day “build a city west of Toronto”. Ron graduated UofT in 1949 with a Bachelor of Applied Science and this marked the start of his professional career as a Civil Engineer. Ron was taken in by R. K. Kilborn Associates promptly after graduating university. After building his knowledge and honing his skills Ron left Kilborn and started his own company in 1955. One of his first projects is one that many may recognize, the Chris TonksSkating Arena. Ron and his company designed a roof above the rink to keep the sun from melting the ice. Upon completing the roof the Township of York was so impressed that they hired Ron again to build walls around the rink, with this the arena was complete. R.E Winter & Associates’ reputation spread. 

Numerous projects and travels later, Ron came into contact with the man who would give Ron the opportunity to make his dream a reality; this man was Bruce McLaughlin. Bruce hired Ron and his company to design the city of Mississauga in 1959. Within 10 years of graduating from university, this extraordinary man designed an entire city as well as Square One Shopping Centre. His perseverance through the years paid off and he was able to accomplish his dream.

Ron has not only built an entire city from the ground up but he has built lasting relationships throughout his life that have helped him climb ranks and become the man he is today. It is easy to think of Ron just as a person who designed the city of Mississauga or the largest shopping centre in the province. But a man is not simply defined by his accomplishments in life, but also by the relationships and connections he builds with the people around him. The list of friends and connections Ron has developed throughout his career is a long one but one relationship shines brighter than the rest; the relationship he had with his wife. Ron met Jenny Carton in April of 1951 and married her the following year. On the day of the interview the first thing Ron brought in was a scrapbook filled to the brim with photographs of him and his wife. This scrapbook stands as a testament to the loving relationship he had with his wife. The first photos he shared with us the day we met him were of his wife and family;only after that scrapbook did he show us pictures of the buildings he designed. Ron might have very well built more meaningful bridges to people’s hearts than he did actual bridges in his career.

Ron currently lives in North York with his daughter. His son has followed in his footsteps and has become an engineer. Ron currently works at his local church, his hard working, diligent spirit is still alive and strong. Mississauga stands as a monument to Ron’s hard work and determination. After interviewing this man I have learned so much in the way of living life to its full potential. Ron personally credits his success to the book “How to Win Friends & Influence People” by Dale Carnegie. Sadly, the book does not teach you how to build a city; it does tell you how to build meaningful relationships. Ron says that everyone would benefit from reading such an outstanding book.I personally have a copy of the book lying on my desk and maybe, just maybe,with it I’ll build my own city.