John
de Souza – a Goan icon
By Norman Da Costa and Merwin de Souza
John de Souza was an indefatigable soul who, like Martin Luther King,
harboured a dream. He was a Goan icon. He was a man of many talents. He was
passionate about everything to do with the community – the Goan archives, his
alma mater Dr Ribeiro’s Goan School and the local clubs. He was a historian and
had the pulse of the nation at his fingertips. Ask him a question and within 24
hours you could be assured of an answer. Always willing to help on the
condition he was kept in the background. He shunned being in the limelight.
John had his finger in every pie and many
wondered where he got the energy to keep on motoring day in and out after
making that long trek to work from his home in Brampton to the Pickering
Nuclear Plant a distance of some 70 k/ms each way. He would get home, freshen
up and then give a few ladies a ride to bingos or any function being held that
evening. That was John, always willing to lend a hand.
His younger brother Romeo discovered John had
passed away overnight on March 20 after a few phone calls went unanswered. The
family usually met on March 19 to celebrate St. Joseph’s Day – the patron saint
of Dr Ribeiro’s – and also to remember the day their father had died. This man
with an encyclopedic mind saw his journey end at the age of 79 way too early
since he had so many irons in the fire that needed urgent attention - primarily
getting the different Goan organizations in Toronto together under one
umbrella. He was rebuffed on several occasions but John wasn’t one to throw in
the towel. He trudged on but his body obviously couldn’t pull him over the
line. He will be remembered fondly for being the driving force behind several
initiatives including the formation of the 55 Plus Goan Association, an
organization in the west end of the Greater Toronto Association with a
membership of 840.
The
55 Plus was formed after the West End Seniors could no longer accept any more
members. He was also the heart and soul of the Active Goans Club at
Mississauga’s Square One. John, of course, will always be remembered for
single-handedly running the popular Goan Voice Canada website that featured
local clubs and more importantly death notices. After several years John was
forced to bring down the shutters on his favourite venture much to the chagrin
of the community at large after Romeo had asked him if he had a succession
plan. For the first time, John admitted defeat but he still had so much on his
plate to keep him going. With help from Goans across Canada he promoted the
Konkani Rosary in video and was a founding member of the Friends of Goan
Welfare Society along with Jerry Lobo, Teresa Mandricks and myself to raise
funds for needy Goans in Kenya. We intend to close the account in the coming
weeks with a final donation in memory of John. John and I had a long
relationship. We worked closely on three Dr Ribeiro Goan School Ex-Students,
Canada, functions. John also kept in close contact with Merwin de Souza,
another ex-student, who lives in Florida and, like John, spends countless hours
keeping the extremely popular Goan School website alive.
John
and I also worked on the Railway Goan Institute 100th anniversary
celebration committee held in Mississauga on Sept. 20, 2009, and as co-editors
put out a comprehensive 46-page glossy brochure. Of course, this piece wouldn’t
be complete without a word from Merwin.
“John
was a history buff, particularly our Goan history,’’ wrote Merwin.
“He had an obsession for details, most of us would miss. Recently he was
obsessed with the old G.I. Duke St. building which was one of the few stone
structures built in 1905 or so. “Why stone? Do you know how much-corrugated
iron roofing cost at the time . . . the
sheer cost?. . . . Why such a permanent structure when many of our pioneers at
the time only had temporary permits?” He'd question. Like I knew the
answer?! He was fascinated by a seminal 1955 Golden Jubilee G.I. brochure
my dad published which to this day is often quoted in lieu of any other
community records. Interestingly, among his many other roles, he also assumed
the responsibility of community historian placing on record, in the many
brochures he produced, the journey of our generation.
John
would often say “If we don't know where we came from and the mistakes we made,
how do we know where we are going and avoid re-inventing the wheel each
time.” A hint of his engineering background and continual improvement process
would come out. “Never know why don't we do post-mortems on community events,
figure out what worked, what didn't, what we can improve on the next time and
pass the info on to new committees instead of reinventing the wheel . . . the only
way we can make progress as a community.’’
His
concern for the community was widespread from archiving a record of our
contributions on this planet to raising the question should we as a community
be concerned that our men and women of the cloth are being well looked after
in their retirement.
Lately,
it was becoming apparent John felt the time was running out and I could sense
he was getting frustrated. The community has just lost its most valuable
resource.”
Like
Martin Luther King, John’s dream of unity in the Goan community remains just
that . . . . a dream. Farewell, buddy, I will miss our weekly chats and I wish
all those boxes filled to the brim containing prized newspaper cuttings will
find a new home.
No comments:
Post a Comment