Circular No 1020

 

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

Caracas, 8 of June 2021 No.1020 June A

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Dear Friends,

Here slowing down, with the issues.

Have been having shortages in all fronts, God willing and the George Mickiewicz Team, I shall overcome the situation.

Only for those with a kind heart, at the end of this issue, you will find the instructions to send funds, I know your limitations.

If you use zelle, then must use my registered email address ladislaokertesz@hotmail.com

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It is my understanding that Monsignor Michael de Verteuil is the spiritual director of the Living Water Community.  

To my knowledge, he is the only Abbey School non-seminarian student who became a priest.

I also know that some/many of our alumni are members/contributors to LWC.

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idmitch@anguillanet.com

Sun, 2 May, 12:49

Oh, dear, Salah,

I am so sorry.

I went through the same thing a couple of years ago. 

But, while mine only made it to 88 years, yours had a particularly good run to have made it to 102. 

That must be testimony to the loving care that you and your family members extended to her while she lived out her last years.

I know the pain is strong and no words of mine can solve it.

Time is the only medicine that will help.

With all best wishes,

Don

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From: Salah Wilson <sal_wils@hotmail.com>

Sent: Sunday, 2 May 2021

To all my brothers of the Mount

It is with some sad news that I bring to you the passing of my mother Matron Wilson at 102 years

Please inform the brotherhood about her passing.

Thank you

Salah Wilson

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Alan Date

Sun, 2 May, 13:02

Dear brother Salah,

My sincere condolences to you on your mother's passing. 

And wow, 102, that is a Lara of an innings, well done!

And may you be comforted by our Lord's words that He was going ahead to prepare a room for us, including for your Mum.

And may she hear Him say, 

"Enter faithful servant, you did well as Matron, many boarders, far from family, would have been comforted by you and your loving service..."

May she RIP.

Salah, you are reminding me now:

I remember leaving the junior dorm, having returned to the Mount to collect my blazer, to wear it at my mother's funeral.

I was 10 years old.

And also, this: do you remember a Mr. Mitchell, a teacher?

(No, not of the legal fraternity from one of them small islands!) 

A not-tall man, and he wore suits.

Well, we sometimes played pranks on him, but I retain, all these years later, a very fond memory of Mr. Mitchell, and I am in danger of tearing up now:

he would take my school boy letters to my Mum ("Dear Mummy, how are you? I am well...") and give them for transit to his relative who worked in the hospital / nursing home where Mum was, in what was to be the start of her terminal illness.

God bless you, dear Mr. Mitchell, and please look out for Salah's Mum, maybe even share some of your treasured Pax Honey you been keeping... 

Salah, through the sadness, may you always remember her love and His love. 

ps: I am off in 35 mins to attend the 1st public Mass we have had in months, and I will remember your Mum to Mother Mary, that she take your Mum to Our Lord. 

Alan

"I am with you;

I am your God..."  - Isaiah 41:10

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Salah Wilson

Sun, 2 May

Alan,

Thank you for those kind words and memories... I seem to remember a Mr. Mitchel ...but the age factor (LOL)

Thank you ...she remembered many people from that time.

When I asked her if she could call any names...the first one was Azar.

Michael Azar spoke with me recently also. 

Thank you all for being a part of my family.

(One more for the old Mt. St. Benedict and Abbey School)

Salah

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Nigel Boos

Sun, 2 May

Thank you for sharing this sad news, Alan, and thanks too, to you, my dear friend, Salah.

Dear Salah,

I am sorry to hear of the passing of your dear mother, at the over-ripe age of 102.

This is fantastic, and I wish her eternal rest in the loving hands of her Creator and Lord.

Your Mom was a lovely lady and a comfort to all the boys who presented themselves her infirmary whenever illness, disease or injury appeared.

Enjoy your new life, Matron Wilson, and one day we’ll all be reunited again with our God in heaven.

With love to you and Adiylah.

Nigel

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On May 2, 2021, at 1:06 PM,

Alan Date <alandate@gmail.com> wrote:

Nigel

It is age, I was meaning to include you in this distribution

bless you, cuz!

Alan

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Nigel Boos

Mon, 3 May, 23:49

Bruce,

I believe you’d like to be included in this group.

You should find a number of email addresses you’d like to have in the “To” section, below

Nigel

905-426-8999

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Thanks Mitch for sharing this newsy-letter; great, warm and affectionate sharing of Abbey-memories.

God bless,

humbly,

Fr. Harold Imamshah

Former Monk & Abbey School Art & Religion Teacher( 1976, 1979-1984)

Servant of Mary for Jesus

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On Mon, May 3, 2021 at 8:53 PM

<idmitch@anguillanet.com> wrote:

A beautiful effort, Attila.

One of the best uses of Ladislao’s Circulars to date.

Thank you.

Best,

Don

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From: Attila GYURIS <gyuris@yahoo.com>

Sent: Monday, 3 May 2021

Dear Brothers,

For your reading pleasure I am enclosing a chain of emails from the Mount Circular from back in April of 2009.

It may trigger some neurons in many memory cells for most Old Boys from the 60's.   :-

They describe the story of Old boy Salah Wilson,  (at the time called Willy at the School) and his mother Matron Wilson

His mother (Iris Wilson) a dear lady who was the school seamstress during the decade of the early to mid 60's and who died yesterday at the age of 102 at the retirement home at the Mount.

Most Old Boys from the 60's will remember her.

Enjoy. (the chronological order of the emails is a bit jumbled but it is BEST TO READ FROM BOTTOM TO TOP)

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Salah Wilson's story (Matron Wilson's son at the School)

From: Glen Mckoy <mckoy43glen@hotmail.com>

Date: April 22, 2009

Salvador,

Oh, Thank you very much for this. I remember Salah, he is older than me, I remember when he started with the pan side Gay Flamingo´s down the hill,

I also met him a good few years ago, when he came with a pan side from Montreal to Halifax, that guy still looks the same, he must be a good age now.

I never knew his mother was a matron on the mount, as she left a year or two before I came up on the mount.

This is so great as we fit parts of this great puzzle together, God bless you all for these surprises.

Best regards my brother,

Glen McKoy

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From: coscarartsalvador@hotmail.com

Date: Wed, 22 Apr 2009

Hello guys,

Howdy. Here is the matron that used to mend and attach buttons to our shirts, in the dormitory above the chemistry room was her work room .

Do you remember her, she was a very nice lady.

God bless

Salvador.

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From: nigelboos@eagles-wings.ca

Date: Tue, 21 Apr 2009 23:24:36 -0400

Dear Salah,

What a wonderful story. Thank you for sharing it with us. I can feel, in every line, the love that flowed, and still flows, between you and your mother, and now that it has been exposed, the affection between Matron Wilson and Kitty Marcus.

How fortunate that the two old ladies have ended up in the same retirement home in Trinidad. Life is so strange!

Thank you also for your lovely pictures of Kitty and your Mom, your wife and yourself.

These are quite special, and I'm sure that the OB's will be pleased to read your story, which I am definitely going to forward to Ladislao for his Circulars.

I must have been at the Mount myself during the time that your mother was the matron, and so I must have run into (figuratively) her more than once, but to be honest, I do not specifically recall her. I'm sure others will.

Please give her our best regards, from all the Old Boys of the Abbey School.

It would be helpful if we had a telephone number for Angel Da Silva, so that Salvador will be able to get in touch with him directly.

Can you let me have it?

Once again, thanks for your first class story.

Nigel P. Boos

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On 21-Apr-09, at 8:23 PM, Salah Wilson wrote:

Greetings Nigel,

I have some new information for you and perhaps it can be passed on to Ladislao.

I got in touch with Angel Da Silva who remembers Salvador Coscarart much better than I and he will also be willing to meet with him when he comes to Montreal in June.

The latest Circular about Miss Marcus and the intentions were very touching.

I have some personal revelations to share.

First of all, I grew up in the village of St. John and attended the Elementary school in the Village. (Albert Ache and his brother attended this school for a little while before going to the Abbey).

Due to the fact that one of my cousins succeeded in passing his 'Common Entrance' exams to attend CIC (St Mary's College).

The following year Abbey school offered scholarships for three people to attend the school on the Mount.

The three people who qualified, by sitting and passing an exam were Franklin Chin, Anthony Cedeno and I.

(I already mentioned to you that Anthony Cedeno was my best friend and that he passed on in 1991 at a very young age ..may he Rest In Peace),

Deno, as we called him lived near the playing field you would have to pass in front of his house to go back up the hill to the Mount, Deno's father also worked at the Mount as a chef.

I have no idea where Franklin Chin is at.

But he did visit my home in the village about 10-15 years ago.

My mother has had a long relationship with Miss Marcus.

I actually knew her before I attended Abbey school.

At least every year around Christmas time Miss Marcus would visit our home in the village and bring my mother a Christmas gift and my mom would reciprocate with a Homemade Sponge Cake or Fruit Cake, it was an annual ritual.

My mom became friends with Miss Marcus because my Mom also worked at the Abbey School.

She worked there from before I was born until when I was in perhaps Form III...that would be sometime before 1952 until around 1966.

My mom was the Matron at the school.

She is now 90 years old and I spoke with her a few days ago and I mentioned about the "Old Boys' the "Boarders" and "Day Boys" and all what is happening on the internet, and the connections with everyone and about Miss Marcus, she was very excited.

I also told her that I wanted to speak about her employment at the Mount and she had no objections, she was very proud to have been a part of that experience.

She remembered how kind some of the students were to her ..one name that stuck out amongst the others was 'Azar' ..she clearly remembers him and his kindness to her

If he is on line please let him know this, there were others also.

She gave me some beautiful stories they all called her Matron, so if you were there during that period you would have met or seen her also.

I am very proud of my Mom she worked so hard to raise her children.

As an author I may yet write a documentary book on my experiences at the Mount.

It would make for a good story from a boy in the village to the Mount.

Abbey school was a very prestigious school, a school for the affluent.

About two or three years ago when I visited Trinidad I took my Mom to meet another "Old Friend" Father Cuthbert.

At first they had said that I may have to get an appointment because of his schedule ..

I told them that he would want to see too old Friends and I gave the names that he knew, Anthony Wilson and his mother Iris Wilson.

True to the person we know him to be, he came out almost instantly.

I took some picture... there was such a bright glow when they hugged.. anyone would smile when they see those pictures ...alas..

I am unable to find them at the moment they are probably on my computer in Trinidad.

However my mom who is now 90 years became ill a couple of years ago and because of some renovations at our home I was forced to take her out of our home for awhile , but as fate would have it.....I took her to the home for the aged on the mount where Miss Marcus is currently staying.

What a meeting of old Friends..... now..prior to this every time I returned home my mom always wanted to go look for her old friend Kitty Marcus, but this was the time it had to happen.

It was a great meeting Miss Marcus was very pleased to see me also, even though I had a big greying beard ..quite different from when I last saw her in my Chemistry class...but she still recognized me and of course her friend my Mom.

When Mother's Day came around I provided some entertainment for them by bringing up my Steelpans and back - up music along with my wife who does vocals.

It was a fun filled afternoon I gave her one of my autographed Steelpan text books and thanked her for all she had done and yes I told her that there was a lot of chemistry concepts in putting together such a book.

She took the microphone and gave a speech where everyone present applauded ....She was still quite active.

I do have a couple of pictures from this event they are attached ... insert are my Mom ( the Matron), my wife (the vocalist), Miss Marcus ( the Chemistry teacher) and I ( the Pan-Man and Author).

Life is filled with all sorts of twist and turns but these moments are unforgettable.

As I said I may eventually write a book about this continuing Saga.

All for now Nigel, that's a lot of reading...there still is more information

Salah Anthony Wilson

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EDITED by Ladislao Kertesz,  kertesz11@yahoo.com,  if you would like to subscribe for a whole year and be in the circular’s mailing list or if you would like to mention any old boy that you would like to include, write to me.

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Photos:

15LK0601WARACFAM, Richard Achue and family

21LK0522WAGRP, old boys Glen Schaefer and Krishna Toolsie visiting TT

17LK4439FBRMO, Raymond Morris

16LK6675FBDPIGRP, Dominique Piton