Sunday, April 20, 2014
I have only known John Race for about a year. I envy those who have had the gift of knowing him longer than that. John and I were both both volunteers for the Grand River Team of the Trillium Foundation. We met at meetings and on one occasion at a visit to a group who had applied for a grant from Trillium. The man's knowledge was huge and his wit a delight. When he mentioned on a few occasions his calls to a variety of individuals seeking their support for a particular project, I was in awe.
John had completed his six-year term for Trillium but continued to attend meetings as a non-voting member because of the paucity of volunteers for this organization in Haldimand-Norfolk. On the occasion when this team awarded John a lovely plaque for his ten years of service, he quipped, "Hmmm, I see this says 'dash 2014' so I guess that means you're finished with me by then." He was quickly told by all present that they wanted that to be anything but the case.
Unfortunately, it is now the case and although I knew him for comparative so short a time, I will miss that good man's gentleness, wit, and iron hand in velvet glove, not my phrase but penned long ago, yet I can think of nothing that describes him better.
Catherine Berry Stidsen, Cayuga, Ontario
