IN TRIBUTE

I had the pleasure to teach with Larry Vindischman throughout his eighteen year career at Brebeuf College School in Toronto.

Though we didn’t work in the same department, we did share the same passion for teaching young people as well as the same optimism about their future.

Larry was a dedicated teacher who usually began his day well before most of his colleagues. When I would arrive at school in the morning, he was usually just finishing a workout, looking fresh and ready to take on the day. I envied his golden brown hair, brushed back and looking more like a California surfer than a middle age teacher.

Larry always had a smile on his face and his very presence helped make our school a positive environment for learning. He was the founder of the co-op programme at Brebeuf, a programme that continues to flourish thanks to Larry’s initiative and planning.

In many ways, Larry and I became closer after he retired. He was diagnosed with cancer in March of 2011. I got my cancer diagnosis three months later.

For the past twenty one months, Larry and I had become what you might call phone-a-friends. We’d share updates about our respective conditions and then we’d just chat, especially about the good old days at Brebeuf.

No matter what he was going through, Larry always took the time to listen to my story. His compassion and courage have strengthened my resolve to keep fighting my cancer.

He was a brave man, a man who didn’t fear death. That’s a rare quality these days in a world which denies the reality that our lives are simply a gift….that we have no control over their beginning and end.

He loved playing black jack and, although knew a lot about good and bad cards, he never complained about the cancer hand he had been dealt. Again, what an inspiration to all and a reminder that he implicitly believed in the words, Thy will be done.

I will miss Larry. He was a good friend who has taught me much about life and death and my journey ahead.

May God bless him and his family.