From: David Black 
Sent: Wednesday, April 5, 2017 8:45 AM
To: uncle-al3854@cogeco.ca
Subject: Fred Black

Dear Al,

I just wanted to let you and other Wayfarers know that my Dad, Fred Black, passed away yesterday morning. He had many happy memories associated with sailing, the TS&CC, and your class in particular - some of which I was able to share.  

Best wishes to all - Dave Black.

Hi Derek,

I hope you are well. I just wanted to let you, and through you my Dad's friends at TSCC, know that he died this past Tuesday. He was 84. As you know, he had struggled with lung issues for the past 6 years or so, but had a really good run here in Halifax before going into a gradual decline. Even as his physical limitations grew, his mind, humour, and positive outlook never faltered.

As you can imagine, for me this is bringing back a steady stream of sailing-related memories!

Best wishes, Dave.

--- On Sat, 4/8/17, GEOFF LEPPER wrote:

Dear Al:

I am not sure if you have heard this news about the passing of Fred Black but I thought that you might want to pass it on to the folks at TSCC and to all of the Canadian Wayfarer sailors out there. I had the good fortune to have known Fred since the mid 60's, first as fellow Enterprise sailors and eventually as a fellow Wayfarer sailor.

I have always found Fred to be a positive, thoughtful and gentlemanly human being and his wife Anne to be such a gentle, gracious thoughtful, and caring soul. It is not at all surprising that they raised four wonderful children - David, Iris, Katie and Nancy. I feel blessed by the many positive experiences which I have been lucky to share with Fred, Anne and their offspring, especially when they were all still living in Toronto.

As you know Fred made countless contributions to the club but I am thinking in particular of hearing him talk of getting out on the brutally cold April water to set mooring lines so that others could thus enjoy sailing on subsequent warm, relaxing June days and about the very many sailors of various ages who got their start in experiences on the water due to Fred's efforts with TSCC'S sailing schools - as you know teachers can have a profound impact on students' lives, no matter whether they be teaching students new languages or teaching students the joy of sailing.

It was with no hesitation that I chose Fred to ask to take my friend out as crew in the Round the Island race for her first sailing experience a few years ago. She said that he considerately gave her a safe journey in her first sail and in particular she told me that when winds were strong he said, "THAT is why we will pass on raising the spinnaker for now" as they went past a Wayfarer that found itself upside down and then, after the winds died in the Outer Harbour, in his usual tboughtful and eclectic way he discussed the environmental pros and cons of the cormorants which they could see diving near by.

Like my friend whom Fred took sailing, Fred was an avid cyclist and often cycled to work,

to sailing and to other locations when so many of us take the easy way out and stick to our cars once we can afford one. I was amazed at Fred's fitness and ability to casually keep up with me even though I was also an avid cyclist and much younger than Fred. Fred miraculously seemed to keep up the strength, fitness and energy of a 30 year old well into his 70's until illness suddenly took away much of his health. I suppose this shows that all of us never know when our health might suddenly fail and that this is a lesson to embrace life as did Fred.

Fred accepted his decline in health with incredible grace and no sign of anger or despair. When he became ill he told me that he had had a good and rewarding life and that he felt that he had no reason  to complain. I only hope that when I am faced with a similar situation that I too can respond with such courage and grace.

When  his illness stabilized after he had anticipated further decline, he seemed to take what years he had left as a wonderful and unexpected bonus and an opportunity in particular I believe to spend more precious time with his beloved wife and children and grandchildren I feel that I should also mention that I seem to recall that when Fred's situation stabilized that he resumed his role of taking meals to elders unable to leave home - there was Fred still giving to others, even while I believe having to cart around oxygen with him for his own health needs.

I will truly miss Fred as a dear and special friend of many years, as a sailing competitor and as a sailing companion and even more so as a friend in life. My thoughts go out to Anne and to all of Fred's family and friends in their difficult time. I hope that the wonderful years in which we all had the blessing of knowing Fred will be of some comfort to those close to Fred.

Very unfortunately I will be unable to attend Fred's memorial in Halifax. I had dental surgery yesterday and the surgeon wants me to come in the day of Fred's memorial for a follow up. A nurse also informed me that flying so soon after the surgery might not be wise. My advice to all is to stick to sailing and avoid ice hockey - dental problems crop up so much less frequently for tars. It is just so unfortunate that this timing prevents me from being there for Fred and his loved ones.

Geoff Lepper  (Wayfarer alumnus)

--- On Fri, 4/7/17, Katie Black <kblack1102@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear folks,

I realize a number of you will have already heard this news, so please don't feel you need to respond, but this is the distribution list we generated from my mum & dad's address book, and - this is the announcement that will appear in the paper.  There is an extended version of the first part that our dad wrote when he first got sick in 2010, and it is very entertaining but I don't have it on my computer and my sibs David, Iris & Nancy have all gone home tonight.  I live in Calgary so am staying with my mum here in Halifax.  We can send it along another time, but for now I wanted to get this out.  Please have a look at who's on the distribution list and if you see others who should know this news and don't seem to be here, please forward it.  Thanks, love Kate

Donald Frederick "Fred" Black died peacefully in Halifax on 4 April 2017 at the age of 84.  Anne, his beloved wife of nearly sixty years, was by his side. He is survived by his children, David (and wife Heather), Iris (and husband Donald), Kate (and husband Gordon) and Nancy (and husband John); his grandchildren Lorraine, Elizabeth, Everett, Adrian, Holly, William, Rory and Eleanor; his brothers Douglas (and sister-in-law Dorothy) and Harold (and sister-in-law Loeta) and many nieces and nephews. Fred was born in Vancouver on 29 January 1933 to Donald McIntosh and Lucy Robinson (Lee) Black, and as an infant journeyed to Manchuria, where his father was a missionary doctor.  With the threat of war, the family returned to Canada, eventually settling in Kelowna, BC where he spent an idyllic boyhood. He learned to fly at 16 with the Air Cadets, became an officer cadet at Royal Roads in 1951 and then studied Aeronautical Engineering at the University of Toronto, graduating in 1956.  A year later he married Kathleen Anne Avison and they embarked on a two-year working honeymoon in Weybridge, England. Returning to Canada, they settled in Toronto.In his long career Fred helped develop systems for diverse aircraft ranging from the Vickers Vanguard to the Dash-8.  He was an Air Force Reserve officer for many years. His love for flying never waned, whether working on test flights, taking his family on their first transatlantic flight to England, flying over Cape Blomidon in a Piper Cub, or dreaming up a new prototype on a paper napkin.Fred was an avid boatbuilder and sailor, who passed on his passion for the sport to his son and grandchildren.  He was a tireless volunteer at the Toronto Sailing and Canoe Club, and was equally committed to Beverly Hills United Church. He regularly delivered Meals on Wheels in Downsview. 

In recent years, he and Anne found a supportive church family in Saint Matthew's United in Halifax, and a community of friends in their new home at Parkland at the Gardens where, true to form, Fred was a boundless source of energy and wit.Even as his body failed, his optimism and good humour remained. He never stopped trying to make sense of the world. He wrote wonderful letters, built furniture, fixed houses, and helped mend aching hearts.  He showed us, again and again, that love is the best way.

A service of remembrance will take place at Saint Matthew's United Church, Halifax, at 3 pm on Monday,17th April. In Fred's memory, you may wish to make a donation to a charity of your choice.  Watch for whitecaps and contrails, remember the bright past and look forward to tomorrow. The family would like to thank the staff and residents at Parkland at the Gardens for their warmth and support.
       

From: D. Fred Blackl
Sent: Sunday, November 1, 2015 10:11 AM
To: Al Schonborn
Subject: Halloween

                                                                                Halloween 2015

I am writing this from my ward in the intermediate care department of “the Infirmary”, one of the two central hospitals that bracket our “Parkland at the Gardens” residence.  Coming there we knew we had a “plan B” with assisted living (nursing care} on the second and third floors, but this is “un-planned C”.  My breathing, which had been stabilized back in Toronto, had been gradually deteriorating, necessitating frequent rest stops in my regular short walks.  Monday AM things were worse when I couldn’t even suppress my panting when in my easy chair.  I was brought over here and pumped full of hot, moist O2--a most unpleasant experience.  The quantity is since moderated, and the mean of applying is now it more humane.  A CT scan shows a blood clot has inhibited my limited lung capacity and probably was the cause of the sudden deterioration.  Clots can be re-dissolved, but that takes time, as does the working out of a new meds mix  that will discourage more clots to form, so this looks like taking me well into a second week.  No matter.  With my diaries and my laptop, I’m set for months.

We have been very comfortably settled at Parkland, and Anne is well accommodated there.  She moves slowly, but gets lots of physical and social support.  This afternoon she is involved in a Remembrance Day service plan/rehearsal, and on another day she is taking a varsity-level course of Medieval studies (Iris’s PhD field).  Two dining room meals a day are laid on, but each unit also has a comprehensive kitchenette, and tray service is available.  Housekeeping is a similarly shared responsibility.

As well as my memoir, i finally have time to read my Economist magazine, as well as trying to keep abreast with Aviation Week, and keep inspired with Kit-Planes.  There is also time to address the literary wasteland of a technological life; most notably  by reading George  Eliot’s Middlemarch, and also our book club’s monthly selections.

David’s office is only blocks away, and he pops in frequently if not off assessing Canadian aid projects in southern Africa.  His wife, Heather, has been directly involved in Canada’s focus on maternal health in the region.  That’s when they are not professoring here at Dalhousie.

Iris is even more attentive to us (being less travelled).  She has morphed those Jr. High violin lessons into old-time fiddling, and is now producing Don Messer style hoe-downs with Don Clark, her husband, in her in-laws’ ancestral country, the Rawdon Hills, just an hour inland from Halifax.  She too is  teaching at Dalhousie, in French.

Calgary-based “Katie Black” is our only westerner, although those of us from Kelowna would class it as “near east”. There she has a social policy directorship in Mayor Menshi’s civic administration.   Calgary is where my dad got his Canadian high school (he also boarded in Scotland) and it is from which he departed for WWI.

Nancy is 3 hr. east of here, at the Universite d’ Moncton, and proudly wears the iron ring that I put on her finger.

Altogether we have eight grandchildren; one in third year of General Arts at UPEI, and two more with big university decisions to be made for next year. 

In our move from No. 36 Loney (after 52 years) I uncovered 75 years of diaries, and inspired by Roy Swanson’s published memoire, and my family’s entreaties, I am setting out to do something with them.  Their five lines a day serves to jog my memory, but then I need to cull 4/5 of the routine stuff to make it readable.  Doing the early years (I’m just up to 1963) I keep coming across the same group of scholars, stalwarts, and skallywags.  (Yes, you!)  This is what moves me to write, to reflect on your many and varied contributions to my own happy existence, and to hope to get some feed-back in kind.

Going back to the Kelowna High class of 1950, I regret not attending our 65th reunion, but am ever so thankful to Charley Adam for the reports of our class, and of what has transpired in the beautiful Okanagan since my boyhood of the 1940s.

And our RMC Old Brigade just marked sixty years since graduation.  Jim McKeen, did you make it?  And what other Roadents?

112 Junior Birdmen from Canadian universities commenced RCAF pilot training at Trenton in 1952.  What a change to to-day’s skimpy intakes.  I don’t suppose we gave the taxpayers of the 50s a return on their investments, but it still feels like it was a noble cause.  Would you justify a URTP’15?  Could we tolerate the “normal attrition” of young lives in today’s world?

I’m afraid that Dave Marsden’s 1950 Goodyear Racer had some fatal flaws, and that we should thank his Kathy for diverting him to procreation.  But had the current Kit-Plane industry existed then, might we have been able to retain the youthful exuberance of the skies?  We seem to have relinquished popular aviation to middle-aged retirees.

Sailing has many of the same sensations and challenges, with a lot less cost and hazard.  I have no personal regrets about having made the switch, but it is hard to classify dinghy sailing as the potential national resource that aviation was.

All those babies born to us in that next decade!  Canada would definitely be the poorer without them.  Should we have had more?  How to motivate today’s youthful intelligentia to do their “national service”?  Can the Syrian refugees relieve us of our responsibility?

We have lived through a marvelous and challenging epoch, and most of us (including me) aim for more.  God be with you along your journey.