John Ferris grew up in Ontario in the prewar era, alternating between the country and the growing city of Toronto. He experienced the two worlds of Canada, and had positive memories of both. With the war, John enlisted, recalling it to be a duty and an expectation. John chose the air force, and he began […]
Archives: Oral History Project
Jal, Emmanuel
Emmanuel Jal was born in the Sudan on an unknown date in the early 1980s. He went through a series of struggles, including time spent as a child soldier in that nation’s civil war. Emmanuel managed to survive that time, and after being rescued by an aid worker, he went on to build a life, […]
Muinuddin, Talat
On April 28, 2017, Crestwood World History and Religion students took a day to take in the multireligious and multicultural character of Toronto. Students visited a Sikh gurdwara, a Hindu temple, and in the afternoon we visited the Noor Cultural Centre and Mosque, to take part in Friday prayers. It was a day for students […]
Gorman, Digger
“Digger” Gorman served in the Canadian Navy during the Second World War. Originally from New Brunswick, the future geology student – that’s where the name “Digger” came from – Digger was deep in his studies when the war approached. As a science/engineering student, Digger’s enlistment was originally deferred, but like many in his generation, he […]
Deverell, Rita
Rita Deverell was born in Houston Texas, 1945. She is an only child who grew up in the United States. She moved to Canada in 1967 to be with her husband. She got an M.A. in the history of religion soon after immigrating. Rita has had many jobs such as being on a school tour […]
Halpenny, Francess
Francess Halpenny hails from eastern Ontario, where she grew up in the 20s and 30s. The family relocated to the Toronto area early on, and it was there that the young Francess fell in love with books, as she made her way through the Great Depression and built upon her education, which would take her […]
Watt, Janet
Janet Watt was one of so many women who entered the armed forces during the Second World War. Janet chose to go in the navy, and she became one of the WRENs. As Janet entered the services at the end of the war, her time in the military was limited, though her experiences are very […]
Pietrzyk, Jenny
Jenny Pietrzyk was born in 1920s Poland, and she was a teenager by the time the war came. Finding herself in eastern Poland, Jenny and her family were in the Soviet zone, based on the Molotov-von Ribbentrop Pact. While the early years brought deprivation, the real onslaught for Jenny and her family came in […]
Hawker, Kitty
We met Kitty Hawker at the Sunnybrook Veterans Wing in April 2017. Kitty was born in 1920 in Windsor, Ontario, and she and her family spent Kitty’s early years in southwestern Ontario and the Detroit area. The family saw tough economic times during the Depression years, but they made it through, and by the time […]
White, Edith
We met Edith White at the Castle Peak Retirement Suites in Bracebridge, where she presently lives. Eve is one of several authors/editors who assembled At Your Age, a collection of stories of those who live there. The residents felt it was important for them to record their stories, which serve as a great entry point into […]
Jones, Eve
We met Eve Jones at the Castle Peak Retirement Suites in Bracebridge, where she presently lives. Eve is one of several authors/editors who assembled At Your Age, a collection of stories of those who live there. The residents felt it was important for them to record their stories, which serve as a great entry point […]
Allen, Ken
Ken Allen is a Toronto resident in his 101st year, interviewed in April 2017 by Masters at the McCowan Retirement Residence. Ken had many stories to share about his long life in and around Toronto. Ken was born in the then village of Todmorden, in today’s Broadview-Danforth neighbourhood. He remembers a very different Toronto, one […]
Grosberg, Bill
Bill Grosberg was born on September 21st 1924; he was only 5 years old when the Depression hit. During the Depression Bill had to work so he could afford to go to school; he worked at a boys camp, an experience that helped him a great deal in later life. Bill was still in school […]
Robus, Wally
Wally Robus was originally from England. He immigrated to Canada before WWII. Wally was in the Canadian air force during the war, and was posted to a number of bases in Canada. After the war, he got married and raised a family in Canada. Wally presently lives in the Sunnybrook Veterans’ Wing, where he was interviewed […]
Mason, Michael
Michael Mason was born September 14, 1928, in Czechoslovakia; he grew up in Hungary, with the name Miklos Friedman, in a family that he described as occasionally observant. His memories of his early life are typical of the time: he and his friends explored the countryside, went to school, and occasionally got in trouble. Michael’s […]
Vasilopolous, George and Penny
Penny Vasilopolous Haramis was born on June 20, 1940 in a small village in the province of Arcadia Greece. The village is called Colina which is 40km away from the town of Tripoli. She is the youngest of 2 other siblings. She attended school after the Germans left and remembers feeling more safe walking to […]
Casey, Gord
Gord Casey was born July 20, 1923 in Toronto, Ontario. While working in many different capacities during his life such as a cab owner, bus driver, transport truck driver, scuba diver and bar manager at O’Malley’s Tavern, Casey is best known as a Navy man. In 1941, Gordon Casey proudly joined the Canadian War effort […]
Sless, Gerda
Gerda Sless was born in Vienna and in her young life was raised by her mom, dad and her brother, along with her grandparents. Gerda and her brother shared a great bond and as siblings they had a positive relationship. One morning everything took a turn though – the war intruded upon their idyllic lives. […]
Preger, George
George Preger is a Holocaust survivor, and a Crestwood grandparent. He was born in 1936, in Vienna, Austria, an only child. George moved from city to city during the war but primarily lived in bunkers in Budapest to avoid being captured in the war. Remarkably he and his family were able to stay one step […]
Lewis, Jack
Jack Lewis was born in Montreal in 1925, the youngest in a family where both parents were war veterans. His father was a doctor, and his mother was a nurse, and they’d met in the battlefield hospital near Boulogne. They spent much of the Great War in that one location, and Jack remembers that in […]
Collins, Bernie
Bernie Collins was an RCAF navigator during World War 2. He started out his life in Toronto, Ontario, the only son in a large extended family. He helped his grandfather in his auto-shop, working with tin and learning to use his hands. When he got the chance, Bernie joined the RCAF, knowing that he was […]
Kingsley, Craig
Craig Kingsley is an active member of the Canadian Forces. He served aboard the HMCS Athabaskan in a 2000 action called Operation Megaphone, where crew from the Canadian destroyer boarded the Katie, a freighter returning Canadian military supplies to Canada after the Kosovo mission. Craig was a member of the boarding party, and he helped […]
Van Wart, Jean
Jean Van Wart presently lives at Sunnybrook, where she was interviewed by Charlie Nogas, Gabe Hirson, and Jacob Hanning, in her room in the Veterans’ Wing in February 2017. Jean was born in Quebec, and when the war came around she was attending Carleton University in Ottawa. Like many women in her day, she enlisted […]
Handler, Sid
Sid Handler was born In Vilnius, Lithuania in 1934 (at the time it was part of Poland and he was born with Polish citizenship) as Samuel Rezjewski. Through his childhood, he had lived close to lots of family, and was always surrounded by them. When the Holocaust Began and they were forced into the Vilna […]
Leibovics, Paula
Paula Leibovics was born on September 25, 1933 in Ostrowiec, Poland. Paula grew up with her five older siblings and parents, but sadly, her father and two sisters were killed during the Holocaust. When the War started, Paula was just six years old. During the Holocaust, Paula was sent to Auschwitz, and was there for […]
Amani
Anne-Marie Woods, aka Amani, is a Toronto performer who visited Crestwood for a Black History Month presentation in February 2017. She entertained and educated students with her show Journey Into Me, a series of songs, raps and spoken word mixed in with her unique storytelling style. Journey Into Me is the story of how Black History […]
Ratansi, Yasmin
Yasmin Ratansi is the Member of Parliament for Don Valley East. A native of Tanzania, in March 2017 she visited with Crestwood students bound for Tanzania, telling them about her time there. The students learned about the ins-and-outs of Tanzanian culture and other economic and environmental realities. After her talk with the Me-to-We students, she […]
Dawe, Andrea
Major Dawe joined the Canadian Forces a little later than the average recruit, making the big decision when she turned 30. After initial training, she focused on the logistical and personnel side of the military. In this regard she was deployed to Afghanistan, where she was stationed at Kandahar Airfield. While there she was responsible […]
O’Donnell, Robert
Major O’Donnell joined the Canadian Forces after completing his Bachelor’s Degree in English and History. After initial training, he was deployed in western Canada, where he worked at avalanche control in the Rockies. In 2005, he was asked to go to Afghanistan, where he led 30 soldiers in an artillery unit, providing support to coalition […]
Milsom, John
John Milsom was born in Toronto in 1921. Growing up against the backdrop of the Great Depression, his hobbies included a crystal radio set and visits to Dufferin Airfield, where he developed a love for flying. Both habits would prove invaluable in the war to come. In the 30s, he was fortunate to attend Upper […]