Just a couple of weeks ago, Michael Townsend got up early at his cottage on Stoney Lake (north of Peterborough) and took a bus to Toronto to join us at Queen’s Quay Disabled Sailing for the festivities of Opening Day 2010. On Wednesday, May 26th, 2010 Michael Townsend passed away.
As a member of our Board of Directors, Michael had made the trip from Peterborough to Toronto every month for the last 3 (4?) years. His dedication to the task of starting up a DSAO program in Peterborough has been unstoppable despite Michael’s increasing physical challenges. His decades of experience as a teacher, an historian, a sailor and an extremely active member of his community left us in awe as Michael regaled us with stories that would make a wonderful memoir.
The retired high school teacher was a past president of the Lakefield Historical Society and the Peterborough Historical Society, a member of the Trent Valley Archives, the chairman of the management committee for Hutchison House and a member of the Peterborough Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee, to name a few local organizations, in addition to his activities with DSAO. Michael even competed at Mobility Cup 2009 here in Toronto. Michael’s wife pre-deceased him by 20 years, and he kept on going with that “indomitable spirit”.
The board of directors of DSAO will miss Michael very much and are dedicated to making Michael’s dream of an accessible sailing program in the Peterborough area a reality. A celebration of Michael's life will be at the Lakefield College School on Friday August 20, 2010 at 4:00 p.m. Memorial donations may be made to the Lakefield or Peterborough Historical Societies or Disabled Sailing Association of Ontario as expressions of sympathy.
In Memoriam - George Rustscheff
It is with great sadness we announce that our friend and colleague of Disabled Sailing and DSAO passed away Valentine's Day, February 14, 2009, he passed away peacefully at Toronto General Hospital attended by close friends and family members. George Rustscheff had great passion and love for our waterfront and sailing. His presence will be missed by all and our prayers go out to his loved ones. George's ashes will be laid to rest at North Shore, Maui.
Born in 1956, George attended the University of Toronto, graduating from the School of Architecture. Following a brief period of internship, he changed direction and pursued a career as a professional tennis umpire on the Men's ATP Tour. This permitted George to combine both his love of travel and sports, including officiating at two Olympics, Seoul and Atlanta. Aside from his professional tennis association, George engaged in a variety of sports activities, focusing on his main passion, windsurfing. While home base was surfing with friends in Toronto, George used any available opportunity to pursue his hobby in Maui, where he has asked that his ashes take their final resting site at the fabled North Shore.
George's mother and father, Lilly and Kamen, brother Stan and wife Ruth (Stymiest), their children Stefan, Christina, and Nikki, sister Nina Stultz, her husband Richard, and their children, Ariana and Lex, survive George.
George was an active member of DSAO, and represented DSAO with professionalism and care negotiating with Harbourfront for a new ramp and docks. George will be greatly missed by all of us at DSAO.
Grant Application
The Debbie Donald Memorial Foundation has been established in memory of Debbie Donald, the Debbie Donald Memorial Foundation is accepting grant applications for financial assistance from:
Quadriplegic patients who are medically appropriate candidates for a breathing pacemakers, but are uninsured or otherwise unable to afford the device.
and
Patients already implanted with a breathing pacemaker who are no longer insured or in need of financial assistance for supplies and/or repairs of their equipment.
Debbie Donald was a friend, an inspiration, a loving wife, an avid sailor, a famous mouth painter who sold her artwork, self sufficient, and one of the longest surviving quadriplegic patients in history.
In 1972, at the age of 17, Debbie Donald became a C1-C2 paraplegic as a result of a diving accident. Her life was saved after extensive surgeries and implants to control her breathing, along with her unshaken determination to live.
After 13 years in hospitals and a short stay at the Transitional Centre at West Park Hospital, Debblie moved out on her own. During her rehabilitation she became interested in art and began sketching with a pencil held in her mouth. To assist her, Debbie was given art classes by a volunteer from the Ontario College of Arts. Debbie received a scholarship from the MFPA to further her painting skills.
Debbie was also very active in the community. she lobbied government and businesses, she volunteered to speak at schools, church groups, service clubs and visits patients with high spinal cord injuries. Debbie was an advocate for access needs of those with disabilities, she truly believed that everyone living with disabilities should have the opportunity to live a full and enriched life, and not be hindered by the many barriers to accessing services, whether they be an entrance to a building, living arrangements, or the wait time for Wheel Trans. She truly believed that one’s physical limitations should not hinder one from living a full and enriched life.
In 1999 Debbie was introduced to QQDSP and the Martin 16. This became a new recreational outlet as well as a sport. Debbie competed in the Mobility Cup, and in 2000, she competed in the World Cup in Chicago. She loved sailing, and it was in a sailboat where she felt free from her physical limitations, where she could race with others, and where the only hindrance to movement was the lack of wind. She then joined the Board of Directors of the Disabled Sailing Association of Ontario to share the love of her new sport of sailing with other disabled people.
For her services within the community, Debbie received the Commemorative Medal during the Jubilee for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
While Debbie may have been in a wheelchair, immobile save for her pretty, expressive face, she was a force of nature. You could not meet Debbie without being taken by her spirit and passion for living. She will be missed by all who knew her.
In Memoriam - Daren Tucker
Daren didn’t see the roll of newsprint falling from 2 floors up. He was in his early twenties when it caught him in his upper back. Daren had a C3-C4 spinal injury and required a ventilator. With the help of his wife Patti, Daren didn’t stop.
He was president of Ontario Wheels for Legs Successibility (OWLS) and their most enthusiastic sailor. So enthusiastic that he entered the Guinness Book of World Records in 2000 for an 8-hour sail across Lake Ontario in a Martin 16 using sip-and-puff technology. One of his favourite mementos was a photograph of Christopher Reeves and himself comparing notes on the equipment they were using.
Daren suffered a massive stroke on Thursday Feb 12, 2003. Our sailing community sorely misses him.
In Memoriam - George Breithaupt
On Labour Day weekend 1972, York film student George Breithaupt (say bright-up) missed a curve near his family's Muskoka cottage. The car tumbled five metres into rocks. George survived but when he finally was released from hospital a year later it was as a T2 paraplegic, stomach down.
Lightening isn’t supposed to strike the same place twice. In mid November 2002, his wheelchair tumbled off the ramp of a TTC bus. George was VSA, vital signs absent, before the paramedics brought him back. George came out of his coma, but he never really came back to us. On August 26, 2003 he left us forever.
DSAO is a family of organizations that promote and enable Ontarians with disabilities to experience therapeutic, recreational and social rehabilitation through the freedom of independant sailing. DSAO's objective is to build the sport of disabled sailing, assist with athlete development and sustain international competitive excellence.
