Circular No 968

Newsletter for alumni of The Abbey School, Mt. St. Benedict, Trinidad and Tobago, W.I.

Caracas, 23 of May 2020 No. 968

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Dear Friends,

How Can You Really Care - A Brand New Canticle by Nigel Boos & The Assumption Chorale.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuVIGBVITrs

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idmitch@anguillanet.com

Mon, 27 Apr, 04:45

Hi, Gillian,

If there are any of Leary’s old Mount papers left, could I trouble you to FedEx them to me at my expense?

Of course, you may have thrown them all away already

I have been charged by Nigel, Ladislao, and the others to try and assemble any of the documents that I can find.

I hope you are able to visit with the children, even if hugs are not permitted.

Maggie and I have no family responsibilities other than to each other, so we are simply keeping a low profile.

Fortunately, she has plenty of books to read, and I have a three-quarter acre yard that I work in for about two hours each day.

Keep safe,

Best,

Don

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From: Leary & Gillian O'Connor <gilleary@raafawa.net.au>

Sent: Sunday, 26 April 2020 22:26

Hi Don,

I have been doing the horrible task of clearing out some of the paperwork that Leary has collected over the years and came across an envelope with various photos and lists of Mount St Benedict students.

I took them over to Esmond this morning and he scanned the pages with photos (although small but for a change the group were obviously from early Mount Days). 

We did not worry with all the lists of names without photos.  

Leary was always a massive hoarder of things and bits of paper so it is not an easy job for me, especially as I know that if he was here with me he would put most of them back! 

It is painful but he will be none the wiser as I have not been able to visit him for the past three weeks because they are in lockdown. 

There is a set up where you can go and speak through the window but that would be far too difficult for me to do as I get too emotional even thinking of it and it would only confuse him and it might rock his boat as he has been quite happy in the home and my daughters speak regularly to the nurses who say he is the same gentle Leary and quite happy.

As he has lost a lot of his vocabulary (he can still say SHIT which amuses my kids as they say they never remember him saying that when they were growing up!

Esmond has promised to send the pages to you and, knowing him, he has probably already done so. 

Whenever I look at the photos that come with the Newsletters, I always notice that the early days are very few and far between so thought it might be of interest. 

Hope you don’t mind me giving you the job of the middle mind!

Thanks.

Gillian

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From: idmitch@anguillanet.com

Sent: Saturday, 25 April 2020 6:06 PM

Dear Alumnus,

Ladislao’s latest Circulars, No 960 and 960 Extra, are now published on the Blog:

https://2020circulars.blogspot.com/

I regret that one or two of the lines in the WhatsApp messages are not properly aligned.

I have tried to correct the formatting, but it has resisted all efforts to make it legible.

I hope you will excuse the poor appearance.

Best,

Don

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From: idmitch@anguillanet.com

Sent: Monday, 27 April 2020 10:08 

Thank you, Gillian,

I hate to trouble you and Esmond with a job that might be unnecessary.

If I could see a scan of one of the lists, I might be able to know if they are likely to be of interest.

The document you sent, for example, appears to be pages from Nigel’s history of the Mount which he circulated about 10 years ago. 

Nigel sent us a .pdf of the entire document, perhaps 60 pages long.

I am really hoping for things like his school reports, commendations, letters, etc.

I have a scanner myself, and, if it would help, I would offer to do the scanning of the originals and FedEx them back to you.

Best,

Don

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From: Leary & Gillian O'Connor <gilleary@raafawa.net.au>

Sent: Monday, 27 April 2020 08:30

I have not thrown away any of the papers but they looked like lists taken from somewhere else. 

Unfortunately, even if I was able to speak to Leary he would not be able to help much but I will ask Lisa (my daughter) to scan them and send them to you. 

I don’t want to send the originals in case I find some more and I am a sentimental beast.

Will check with Esmond if he has spare time on his hands as might be quicker as poor Lisa has got shingles and is in quite a bit of discomfort so might be a few days before she feels like doing anything, especially as her husband has just gone back to the rig and she will be on her own for the next fortnight at least.

Hope there will be something of some interest to someone!

Gillian

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idmitch@anguillanet.com

3 May 2020, 17:14

Hi, Ladislao,

Gillian says she forgot to copy these to you, and she has asked me to forward them.

I have thanked her for them. 

I think they are mostly lists Leary got from Nigel, but I did not tell her that.

Sadly, .pdf documents do not work on the Blog, so there is no point in putting them in a Circular. 

Things like Leary’s recommendations and his exam results are not important enough for me to ask her to copy them and send them to us as .docx documents.

Best,

Don

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From: Leary & Gillian O'Connor <gilleary@raafawa.net.au>
Sent: Sunday, 3 May 2020 01:19

Lisa has scanned the documents you said you would like to have. 

Please just dump them if they are not suitable but after I got a note from Ladislao also saying he would like to see them I thought I would ask Lisa to do it for me as took her over some lunch today so this is her payment! 

Her shingles are still troubling her but she knows how hopeless I am at doing anything different on the computer so assured me that all I have to do is to forward so hope they arrive! 

Esmond was on the golf course when I went there so thought I would take Lisa’s offer!

Hope they are of some use to you.

Gillian

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From: Stuart Henderson <hendersons81@yahoo.com>

Sent: Tuesday, 31 March 2020 10:44

As you may know Arthur Knaggs lived near Dartmouth, Nova Scotia for many years.

Below is a note from Eion (received this morning) who has also lived in Dartmouth for many years; forwarding this to the Mount Boys who acknowledged my e mail of yesterday.

“Stuart,

Yeah, too bad about Art, but he enjoyed his life to the fullest and inspired a ton of people.  Was over to our house the weekend before and was still trying in his limited capacity to be his jovial old self.

Art was the archetype mount boy and scout, never forgetting and utilizing the skills taught him by Fr. Ildefonse.

He was prepared, organized, resourceful, prudent, spirited, fair and a leader.

Art was tremendously fond of The Mount and started the first "old boys" newsletter the "Bullsheet".

He will be fondly remembered as always by those who were lucky enough to know him.”

Stay home and keep well during this crazy pandemic.

Eion

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Obituary Overview

Knaggs, Arthur Robert

Arthur Robert Knaggs jumped into the world on Carnival Tuesday, February 27, 1932, in Trinidad and Tobago. Dis is a true Trini Man.

After 88 years of happy life, he passed peacefully in his sleep on Saint Joseph's Day: March 19, 2020.

Like Saint Joseph (the Patron Saint of Families), he was a shepherd that guided his flock through life.

Loving husband of 56 years to his wife Valerie and a role model father to 6 children A, B, C, D, E & F… Anne-Marie, Bernadette (Jack), Carolyn (Brad), Derek (Julie), Edward (Michelle), and Fleurette (Jesse).

He was grandfather to 10… Conor, Meggie, Timothy, Gregory, Samantha, Angelina, Jordan, Jenna, Jesse, and Jamie and Great Grandpa to sweet Ava.

His ‘flock’ also went way beyond that: extended family, friends, and even strangers - he truly influenced and guided thousands around the world with his magnetic personality, positive attitude, devout Christianity, unstoppable work ethic, and pure love and kindness. 

He set the gold standard of what a husband should be.

He truly and deeply loved his wife.

Together they built a wonderful life that always put each other first.

They showed us how to communicate with each other, how to make sacrifices for the family’s benefit, and how to stand strong.

As a father he found the right mix of patience, kindness, discipline, and love.

The most serious punishment was feeling you disappointed him and the best reward was a hug, a kiss and a toss in the air.

His King Scout skills and ability to fix anything taught us how to survive, improvise, and ‘Just do da ting’.

He was HIGHLY organized; with project lists, labels on everything, colour codes and a particular spot for all his tools.

We should all strive to be like him.

He was a force of energy, a lively soul, and full of mischief (which may have come from his days at Mount St Benedict).

He lifted the spirits of those around him with sayings such as ‘Happy days are here again’, his spontaneous singing and dancing, his love for telling a joke (or playing a joke on someone), and his amazing ability to make people smile.

He loved sports – both playing and watching – and would bellow and cheer above any crowd.

All of this wrapped up in a charismatic and handsome man with the deepest Trini accent that he was never too shy to share.

Arthur was a great writer and communicator.

He wrote a beautiful poem upon his engagement to Valerie that we treasure in their 50th anniversary book.

For special occasions he wrote (and performed) many calypso songs as ‘The Mighty Whitey’.

He could always be called on for wonderful personal speeches that he delivered with his special humour.

As the founder of his “OASIS” newsletter, he regularly encouraged the Old Boys of Mt. St. Benedict’s Abbey School to submit notes, letters, post-cards, business cards and personal anecdotes to him.

These he put together and copied verbatim and mailed out to his “hungry” former school-buddies.

It brought him joy to keep truly connected to everyone in his circle of life.

He was everything a true Christian should be – more than just a belief in God and the Church.

He believed in helping people with their most basic needs and setting them down a better path - the poor, the elderly, and those physically or mentally disadvantaged.

He was a big supporter of not just donating to charity but was always volunteering his time to help those in need and passing on his skills: ‘teach a man to fish’ he would say. He held no judgement.

He expected nothing in return.

We all admired how he gave of himself to help others and put them first.

He planted so many seeds of wisdom in all of us.

As he now looks upon us from above, it is our responsibility to show him how they grow.

Love and miss him always.

** Due to the world health pandemic, we will not be gathering for a funeral now, but we will celebrate Arthur’s life with a mass and wake at a later date. **

In lieu of flowers, we ask you to honour Arthur’s spirit of giving with acts of generosity and kindness to those less fortunate than ourselves.

There are many societies always looking for donations or volunteers.

A couple that were special to Arthur are:

Saint Vincent de Paul So: http://www.ssvphalifax.ca/

Salvation Army: https://salvationarmy.ca/maritime/

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EDITED by Ladislao Kertesz,  kertesz11@yahoo.com,  if you would like to be in the circular’s mailing list or any old boy that you would like to include.

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Photos:

64LK3600FBTFEGRP, Terrence Ferreira and UNKNOWNS

20KA0002KABWFE, Kazim Abasali and wife

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09NB0006REUNIONAJAX, Reunion in Ajax 2009