In Memoriam

Dr. Alan D. Banack, a longtime member of the Academy of Lifelong Learning (the Jazz workshop, the New Yorker workshop) passed away on April 20, 2024.

Alan practiced medicine for over 50 years. In his early career as a family physician practicing emergency medicine, he was a superb diagnostician. However, for most of his career, Alan dedicated his life to the practice of Psychotherapy, empowering thousands of individuals to take control of their emotions and live a more joyful life.

https://www.legacy.com/ca/obituaries/theglobeandmail/name/alan-banack-obituary?id=54930354

Anne Warren died peacefully on January 14, 2025 at Toronto’s Kensington Gardens Hospice, surrounded by family. She was 91. 

Anne earned a degree in Biology at Newcastle, England and started working in Birmingham where she met her husband, John. They moved to Chicago before spending some time in California. After that they moved to Thunder Bay. Eventually they retired to St Catherines.

Throughout her life Anne had a passion for arts and crafts and for nature. After she moved to Toronto she joined the Academy and was for many years in the Web of Science workshop as well as other workshops that nurtured her inquiring mind and brought her many friends. Anne was a delight to have in any workshop, her engaging smile and sharp wit brightened many a dull day.

It is with sadness that we have to tell you that Eugene Veyda, a venerated member of the academy, died on December 14, 2024. He was 99 years old. It was always a pleasure to meet Gene and his wife Elaine at academy events. His thoughtful and humane ideas were an asset to Academy workshops. Gene had trained as a medical doctor at Case Western Reserve University. He was a good friend of the late Sandy Macpherson, also a medical doctor and Academy member. They were both part of the founding of the McMaster Medical School. Gene later became the Dean of Community Medicine at the University of Toronto.

VAYDA, Eugene

One of our long-time members of the academy died on June 26^th. Joe Casse was president of the Academy in 1967-8 and had been an active member of the academy until quite recently. I knew him particularly through the Economist Readers workshop. Joe could be counted on to participate in the discussions in a level headed, articulate way as befitted his training as a lawyer. He graduated from Osgoode Hall Law school in 1954. His take in our discussions was usually on the conservative side, but I understand that in his younger days he was a strong socialist. Whatever his opinion, was it always reflected his kindness and consideration for others. Joe is sadly missed by all of us.

Linda Tu

It is with sadness that I have to tell you that Jim MacKay has died. It is comforting to know that he died in the manner and time of his choosing, surrounded by his family.
Jim had been a member of the Academy for many years and enjoyed many workshops. In particular, he was a stalwart member of the Economist Readers. Jim could be relied upon to add his knowledge of mining and sailing to relevant discussions at our meetings. He always had a great sense of humour.

There will be a memorial for him on May 11th, the details of which have been printed in the obituary notice here:

– Linda Tu

Jeanette Clark passed away peacefully on April 1, 2024 at Sunnybrook Palliative Care from a recurrence of lymphoma. For many years she was an enthusiastic member of the Academy, as participant, committee member and facilitator.

Jeanette was born and bred in the city of Glasgow and exemplified the Scottish reverence for learning and self-improvement. She had a long and varied career as teacher/librarian, most latterly at Jesse Ketchum Public School. She often recounted that she “never let a child escape from her who didn’t know how to read and read well.” Many decades later some of her former students were still keeping in touch and paying Jeanette visits.

If the Toronto Public Library issued Frequent Flyer points, Jeanette could have gone to the moon and back many times over. Whenever you met her, her first question would always be, “What have you been reading?” followed by “What shall we talk about?” My enduring memory of Jeanette relates to Zoom calls we had during the pandemic. Sitting at her desk, cup of tea in hand, she would gleefully show off the teetering piles of library books she had assembled. Since she was such an assiduous reader of book reviews and publishers’ releases, she always seemed to be at the head of the hold queue for any hot new release. Jeanette had a high regard for all literature but would admit, if pressed, to having a special affinity for Irish writers, particularly Sebastian Barry and Seamus Heaney.

Jeanette also loved the arts in general. She was crazy about dance – less so classical ballet and more so cutting edge contemporary choreography. She was a regular attendee at the symphony and travelled the world for her special love, opera. Visual arts were also something she strove to learn more about – she loved reading the columns of Peter Schjeldahl, the long-time art critic of The New Yorker, and had a special regard for the work of the German Expressionist painter, Paula Modersohn Becker.

Above all else, Jeanette had an insatiable appetite for learning. One day, she told me she was feeling tired having been up half the night following a new interest – the satellite tracking of migratory birds. “It was so fascinating!” she exclaimed, “I just couldn’t stop.”

Jeanette brightened and enriched many lives. She will be missed.

by Susan Murphy

We regret to tell you that Margaret died peacefully at St. Michael’s Hospital after a long battle with Alzheimer’s on March 9, 2024, one day after her 83rd birthday.

She lived a loving, full and adventurous life. She was a radio controller with the Royal Canadian Air Force Reserves, graduated from the TGH School of Nursing, completed a degree in English at U of T and a Masters of Social Work at York University. She and her husband of 56 years, John, were the proud parents of two children. There were many family trips to Europe and Egypt.

She was a life-long learner and later in life joined the Academy for Lifelong Learning Toronto. She is fondly remembered by her fellow participants in the Memoir Writing workshop, 2019-2020.

by Tanya Long

It is with sadness that I must tell you that Jim McCartney died on March 15, 2024, just a week after his 88th birthday.

Jim and I were co-facilitators of the Economist Readers for many years. Jim was also a valued member of many workshops during his time with the Academy. He had a wealth of knowledge about history, a subject he had taught in high school.  Jim was a great outdoors man, enjoying canoeing, hiking and cycling.

I know the Economist Readers will remember Jim’s great contributions to the group with his wit and wisdom, and the great garden parties we enjoyed that he and his wife, Ingrid, hosted almost every June.

Jim had suffered from a couple of bad falls over the past few years and was not able to participate in the sessions as he used to.

He is greatly missed.

by Linda Tu