JRHS Reunion Welcome All Grads

This extraordinary correspondance was sent to me (your web weaver) by Elaine Marshall Newman ('59) who then contacted the Reunion Committee via John Potter.

Dear John,

I expect that Elaine has told you about me; if not, well, I am John Rennie's daughter. My mother and I, with the help of my Aunt Alice (John's younger sister) have
gathered memories into an article for you for the JRHS Reunion. I hope it provides a picture of both my father and of the early history of schools in the area. It was a
wonderful experience for me to cull these memories from Mom and Aunt A., as with each story and with the reading (their files of clippings), I got to know my dad
better.

My husband and I would like to travel East for the Reunion, but as Elaine can tell you, we have several medical hurdles to surmount first. Right now, we do not know for sure.

Anyway, I hope the attached is suitable for your Banquet speeches, or publication or whatever. If you need to reach me during daytime hours, I am at
mblank@canadianwealth.com, or at 403-234-8191, ext. 223. My office fax is 403-263-0812. My home phone is 403-239-6016. I'm on Mountain Daylight Time
right now!

I look forward to being of further help, if I can, and to being with you all on Reunion Weekend...I hope!

Sincerely,

Margaret (Rennie) Blank
404 Ranchridge Bay N.W.
Calgary, Alberta
T3G 1V6

Text of Margaret's Letter

Dear Friends of JRHS,

The story of JRHS goes back not forty, but about 70 years. My mother remembers:

In the fall of 1930, John came to Cedar Park School. It was a 2-story building, complete with a gymnasium, in which an army sergeant, seconded from the base at St. Jean, held Phys Ed. Classes. Grade 7 to 10 students commuted by trucks from Beaurepaire, Valois, Lakeside, Cedar Park, and Pointe Claire. I think Beaconsfield and St. Anne de Bellevue had their own school. I was 14, in Grade 8, and John taught me science, or perhaps, geography, and history. I especially remember how he illustrated the travel of the earth around the sun. He stood on a student's desk, under the central ceiling light, with a softball.

The next year, he became Principal of Valois Protestant School. VPS was a two-room school -- really one large room with a folding partition in between - which took "Beginner's"- (something akin to kindergarten, I think) and Grades 1 to 6. I had attended VPS prior to Cedar Park, from April 1925 to the end of Grade 6. During those years, John would have been at Bishop's College.

John's teaching career began after he completed high school at Huntingdon Academy. He attended McGill for one year and then taught in Freighlesburg for several years before going to Bishop's in 1928. He told me he grew a moustache in those days so that he would look older than his oldest students. In the summers, because Freighlesburg was near the border, he worked for Canada Customs, and sold insurance to make additional money. At Bishop's, he was on the debating team, which enabled him to travel all over Canada, including a visit to UBC in Vancouver.

In January 1932, my father died suddenly; I was 15-going-on 16. This was a difficult time for me, and I left school briefly without completing Grade 9. However, I went back to Cedar Park for Grade 10, and John tutored me in History. The next year, I went to Montreal West High to finish Grade 11; my mother rented our family home to John, his brother Donald, now at McGill, and John Howden, a fellow-teacher. Mother and I went in to Montreal to stay with my aunt and uncle, Rex and Nell Wilson, in NDG; it was easier for me to commute to Montreal West from there..

My Aunt Alice Rennie, Dad's younger sister, supplies a couple of stories from Dad's days at VPS:

"The winter of 1934/35 was one of the best times of my life. I went in to Valois to live with John and Donald, to cook and keep house for the boys. In addition to his work as Principal, John also taught. In one of his older classes [must have been Grade 5] one time, he had a boy who wanted to play. Your father took him down to the Grade 1 class and asked the children there if they had toys and games to share with this boy, because all he wanted to do was play. He left the boy there for half an hour; when he returned, the boy was only too willing to go back to his classroom to work.

My father wasn't only a creative disciplinarian, however. He enjoyed providing his students with unique experiences. That winter, my aunt recalls,"He invited his Grade 5 class over to the house for sugar-on-snow. These were city children, and they didn't have the opportunity to enjoy eating maple syrup on snow, so one weekend, when he was home in Huntingdon, visiting his parents, your father brought back fresh maple syrup. He filled washtubs with snow [it was purer in even in the city in those days] and had the class in. He'd asked them to tell their parents to put them in old clothes, but that made no difference. They were visiting their teacher, their Principal, and that was very special, so all the children showed up in their Sunday best. In the end, it didnít matter; they ate the sugar on snow and had a memorable time."

Dad was always willing to go the extra mile. Mom remembers that while he was at VPS, the Principal of Cedar Park (Mr. McOuat, she thinks, who taught her French) was injured in an accident, so Dad was pressed into service, overseeing both schools.

In 1936, Dad left the teaching profession, and went into the insurance business full time, working for Manufacturer"s Life and brokering general insurance. He was dating my mother (now just 20); they were engaged in the winter of 1939 and War was declared 8 months later. Immediately, Dad went to officer's training at McGill; they were married just after Christmas, 1940. Dad was drafted after officer's training, and went into the Black Watch in 1941; he was posted to Val Cartier. In July 1944, Dad was one of seven Canadians chosen to join the British Military Government to re-settle German towns. He served in France, Belgium and Holland until the end of the war. While in France, he found himself back in a classroom again, teaching French to some of the Canadian soldiers at one of the universities in Paris.

Later he went to a displaced person's camp in Heidenau, Germany; in the spring of 1946 he had his first heart attack, and was flown to London and from there, taken home on a hospital ship.

In July 1947, the Member of the [then] Legislative Assembly died, and Dad won a by-election to succeed him; in 1948 he won the spot outright in a general provincial election. His chief work for the government was in education for the Protestant community; this involved being a member of the Protestant School Board, working on the creation of Sir George Williams [now Concordia] University out of SGW College, and the building of schools - elementary and high, Protestant and Catholic - in Pointe Claire and elsewhere. He also worked on the creation of a pension plan for teachers, and was working on this project when he died in February 1952.

At that time, I was just a teeny bit more than a glimmer in his eye-my mother was 6 weeks pregnant. That much he knew, but we never met.

My mother re-married in July 1957, but she never let me forget my Dad. This spring and summer, though, my knowledge has been increased several-fold. At the end of May, the time had come to sell the home of my dear Aunt Alice - a home that Dad had found for her and his parents when they moved in from their farm years ago. As my aunt is now in eldercare in Huntingdon, and my Uncle Donald is long dead, this task fell to me, with the assistance of several distant cousins (we Rennies have populated the County since the 1820's). In the house I discovered many wonderful photos and mementoes, including my father's Bible, his notes from his studies at Bishop's, and photographs of him as a boy with his sister, and with their cousins on the farm. In researching this paper, I went back to the files that my mother had given me with all of the clippings and photos of Dad's political career. Both reveal the foundation of my father's character: faith, family, education, thrift and hard work.

In an address to the St. Lambert Home and School Association during his time as Huntingdon County MLA, he said that various agencies share responsibility for the education of children: the home, the school and the church. I quote from the text of his speech:

"You cannot separate these three agencies and turn out a finished product! The attitude of your child started developing long before he entered the classroom! We must develop in children the attitude of wanting the tools of knowledge and spirit of co-operation with teachers. Good Canadianism and good Canadian citizenship is necessary. It is only to start the process for this in the home."

He said that some people often claimed the attitude of the church was not what it used to be. "But parents should go to church and take their children there more often." It is reported in the article outlining his speech, that he envisioned a bilingual country, and warned that some needed to change their attitude in this respect. He disapproved of what was known as 'sectionalism' in education, saying, "The sooner we get away from it the happier it will be for the whole country. In a country such as ours anything short of the best is not good enough."

Many people paid my father tribute on his death; over one thousand attended his funeral. In my mother's files, there are wonderful letters that sum up their regard for him, both as an educator and as a human being:

"The Protestant Committee of which I am chairman will in due course send you its expression of sympathy for you and of honour for your husband," wrote George Kilpatrick, "I, however, cannot wait for that day but must tell you now how much I mourn the death of one whose friendship enriched my life. There was John Rennie the politician, the businessman, the educationalist, but better than all was John Rennie the greathearted man, whose spirit touched so many lives for good and won so many friends!

Sinclair Laird [also, I believe, on the Protestant Committee of the government] added, "I had known and been intimately acquainted with Mr. Rennie for many years and admired his great ability and his general qualities of mind and heart. He had so much tact and common sense and was so anxious to help often and contribute his time and efforts to the common cause of education and social welfare.."

K.E. Norris, then Principal of Sir George Williams College:"As you may remember, your late husband was a very good friend of Sir George Williams College, to which he rendered a very important service in connection with the passing of its Charter in 1948. This was only one of many services which he was able to provide for the cause of education in this province".

And words from Mr. Lindsay Place, who many of you also know as a fine educator: "While Mr. Rennie taught as principal of the staff of the Valois School, he was unsparing in the amount of time and effort he gave to his work, setting an example for all to follow-the School Commissioners of Pointe Claire and Beaconsfield feel that they have indeed lost a sincere and loyal friend and they will always think of the late Mr. Rennie with admiration and respect."

Dad, you are a tough act to follow. But from what I know of your namesake school, of all of those who have administered and taught in it, the students who have graduated from it, and those now attending it, your values and your vision for education live on.



				A Daughter's Memory of John Rennie This extraordinary correspondance was sent to me (your web weaver) by Elaine Marshall Newman ('59) who then contacted the Reunion Committee via John Potter. Dear John, I expect that Elaine has told you about me; if not, well, I am John Rennie's daughter. My mother and I, with the help of my Aunt Alice (John's younger sister) have gathered memories into an article for you for the JRHS Reunion. I hope it provides a picture of both my father and of the early history of schools in the area. It was a wonderful experience for me to cull these memories from Mom and Aunt A., as with each story and with the reading (their files of clippings), I got to know my dad better. My husband and I would like to travel East for the Reunion, but as Elaine can tell you, we have several medical hurdles to surmount first. Right now, we do not know for sure. Anyway, I hope the attached is suitable for your Banquet speeches, or publication or whatever. If you need to reach me during daytime hours, I am at mblank@canadianwealth.com, or at 403-234-8191, ext. 223. My office fax is 403-263-0812. My home phone is 403-239-6016. I'm on Mountain Daylight Time right now! I look forward to being of further help, if I can, and to being with you all on Reunion Weekend...I hope! Sincerely, Margaret (Rennie) Blank 404 Ranchridge Bay N.W. Calgary, Alberta T3G 1V6 Text of Margaret's Letter Dear Friends of JRHS, The story of JRHS goes back not forty, but about 70 years. My mother remembers: In the fall of 1930, John came to Cedar Park School. It was a 2-story building, complete with a gymnasium, in which an army sergeant, seconded from the base at St. Jean, held Phys Ed. Classes. Grade 7 to 10 students commuted by trucks from Beaurepaire, Valois, Lakeside, Cedar Park, and Pointe Claire. I think Beaconsfield and St. Anne de Bellevue had their own school. I was 14, in Grade 8, and John taught me science, or perhaps, geography, and history. I especially remember how he illustrated the travel of the earth around the sun. He stood on a student's desk, under the central ceiling light, with a softball. The next year, he became Principal of Valois Protestant School. VPS was a two-room school -- really one large room with a folding partition in between - which took "Beginner's"- (something akin to kindergarten, I think) and Grades 1 to 6. I had attended VPS prior to Cedar Park, from April 1925 to the end of Grade 6. During those years, John would have been at Bishop's College. John's teaching career began after he completed high school at Huntingdon Academy. He attended McGill for one year and then taught in Freighlesburg for several years before going to Bishop's in 1928. He told me he grew a moustache in those days so that he would look older than his oldest students. In the summers, because Freighlesburg was near the border, he worked for Canada Customs, and sold insurance to make additional money. At Bishop's, he was on the debating team, which enabled him to travel all over Canada, including a visit to UBC in Vancouver. In January 1932, my father died suddenly; I was 15-going-on 16. This was a difficult time for me, and I left school briefly without completing Grade 9. However, I went back to Cedar Park for Grade 10, and John tutored me in History. The next year, I went to Montreal West High to finish Grade 11; my mother rented our family home to John, his brother Donald, now at McGill, and John Howden, a fellow-teacher. Mother and I went in to Montreal to stay with my aunt and uncle, Rex and Nell Wilson, in NDG; it was easier for me to commute to Montreal West from there.. My Aunt Alice Rennie, Dad's younger sister, supplies a couple of stories from Dad's days at VPS: "The winter of 1934/35 was one of the best times of my life. I went in to Valois to live with John and Donald, to cook and keep house for the boys. In addition to his work as Principal, John also taught. In one of his older classes [must have been Grade 5] one time, he had a boy who wanted to play. Your father took him down to the Grade 1 class and asked the children there if they had toys and games to share with this boy, because all he wanted to do was play. He left the boy there for half an hour; when he returned, the boy was only too willing to go back to his classroom to work. My father wasn't only a creative disciplinarian, however. He enjoyed providing his students with unique experiences. That winter, my aunt recalls,"He invited his Grade 5 class over to the house for sugar-on-snow. These were city children, and they didn't have the opportunity to enjoy eating maple syrup on snow, so one weekend, when he was home in Huntingdon, visiting his parents, your father brought back fresh maple syrup. He filled washtubs with snow [it was purer in even in the city in those days] and had the class in. He'd asked them to tell their parents to put them in old clothes, but that made no difference. They were visiting their teacher, their Principal, and that was very special, so all the children showed up in their Sunday best. In the end, it didnít matter; they ate the sugar on snow and had a memorable time." Dad was always willing to go the extra mile. Mom remembers that while he was at VPS, the Principal of Cedar Park (Mr. McOuat, she thinks, who taught her French) was injured in an accident, so Dad was pressed into service, overseeing both schools. In 1936, Dad left the teaching profession, and went into the insurance business full time, working for Manufacturer"s Life and brokering general insurance. He was dating my mother (now just 20); they were engaged in the winter of 1939 and War was declared 8 months later. Immediately, Dad went to officer's training at McGill; they were married just after Christmas, 1940. Dad was drafted after officer's training, and went into the Black Watch in 1941; he was posted to Val Cartier. In July 1944, Dad was one of seven Canadians chosen to join the British Military Government to re-settle German towns. He served in France, Belgium and Holland until the end of the war. While in France, he found himself back in a classroom again, teaching French to some of the Canadian soldiers at one of the universities in Paris. Later he went to a displaced person's camp in Heidenau, Germany; in the spring of 1946 he had his first heart attack, and was flown to London and from there, taken home on a hospital ship. In July 1947, the Member of the [then] Legislative Assembly died, and Dad won a by-election to succeed him; in 1948 he won the spot outright in a general provincial election. His chief work for the government was in education for the Protestant community; this involved being a member of the Protestant School Board, working on the creation of Sir George Williams [now Concordia] University out of SGW College, and the building of schools - elementary and high, Protestant and Catholic - in Pointe Claire and elsewhere. He also worked on the creation of a pension plan for teachers, and was working on this project when he died in February 1952. At that time, I was just a teeny bit more than a glimmer in his eye-my mother was 6 weeks pregnant. That much he knew, but we never met. My mother re-married in July 1957, but she never let me forget my Dad. This spring and summer, though, my knowledge has been increased several-fold. At the end of May, the time had come to sell the home of my dear Aunt Alice - a home that Dad had found for her and his parents when they moved in from their farm years ago. As my aunt is now in eldercare in Huntingdon, and my Uncle Donald is long dead, this task fell to me, with the assistance of several distant cousins (we Rennies have populated the County since the 1820's). In the house I discovered many wonderful photos and mementoes, including my father's Bible, his notes from his studies at Bishop's, and photographs of him as a boy with his sister, and with their cousins on the farm. In researching this paper, I went back to the files that my mother had given me with all of the clippings and photos of Dad's political career. Both reveal the foundation of my father's character: faith, family, education, thrift and hard work. In an address to the St. Lambert Home and School Association during his time as Huntingdon County MLA, he said that various agencies share responsibility for the education of children: the home, the school and the church. I quote from the text of his speech: "You cannot separate these three agencies and turn out a finished product! The attitude of your child started developing long before he entered the classroom! We must develop in children the attitude of wanting the tools of knowledge and spirit of co-operation with teachers. Good Canadianism and good Canadian citizenship is necessary. It is only to start the process for this in the home." He said that some people often claimed the attitude of the church was not what it used to be. "But parents should go to church and take their children there more often." It is reported in the article outlining his speech, that he envisioned a bilingual country, and warned that some needed to change their attitude in this respect. He disapproved of what was known as 'sectionalism' in education, saying, "The sooner we get away from it the happier it will be for the whole country. In a country such as ours anything short of the best is not good enough." Many people paid my father tribute on his death; over one thousand attended his funeral. In my mother's files, there are wonderful letters that sum up their regard for him, both as an educator and as a human being: "The Protestant Committee of which I am chairman will in due course send you its expression of sympathy for you and of honour for your husband," wrote George Kilpatrick, "I, however, cannot wait for that day but must tell you now how much I mourn the death of one whose friendship enriched my life. There was John Rennie the politician, the businessman, the educationalist, but better than all was John Rennie the greathearted man, whose spirit touched so many lives for good and won so many friends! Sinclair Laird [also, I believe, on the Protestant Committee of the government] added, "I had known and been intimately acquainted with Mr. Rennie for many years and admired his great ability and his general qualities of mind and heart. He had so much tact and common sense and was so anxious to help often and contribute his time and efforts to the common cause of education and social welfare.." K.E. Norris, then Principal of Sir George Williams College:"As you may remember, your late husband was a very good friend of Sir George Williams College, to which he rendered a very important service in connection with the passing of its Charter in 1948. This was only one of many services which he was able to provide for the cause of education in this province". And words from Mr. Lindsay Place, who many of you also know as a fine educator: "While Mr. Rennie taught as principal of the staff of the Valois School, he was unsparing in the amount of time and effort he gave to his work, setting an example for all to follow-the School Commissioners of Pointe Claire and Beaconsfield feel that they have indeed lost a sincere and loyal friend and they will always think of the late Mr. Rennie with admiration and respect." Dad, you are a tough act to follow. But from what I know of your namesake school, of all of those who have administered and taught in it, the students who have graduated from it, and those now attending it, your values and your vision for education live on.