{"id":22289,"date":"2022-09-30T12:37:08","date_gmt":"2022-09-30T16:37:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=22289"},"modified":"2022-09-30T12:39:52","modified_gmt":"2022-09-30T16:39:52","slug":"episode-601-the-day-we-said-good-bye-to-john-ricker-sept-24-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=22289","title":{"rendered":"EPISODE 601 THE DAY WE SAID GOOD BYE TO JOHN RICKER, SEPT. 24, 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"
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NOTE:  Those who did not know John Ricker might remember the movie Goodbye Mr. Chips which<\/div>\n
was a farewell to a beloved teacher.  This is the same thing.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Alan Skeoch<\/div>\n
Sept. 24, 2022<\/div>\n
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EPISODE 601    THE DAY WE SAID FAREWELL TO JOHN RICKER\u2026.SEPTEMBER 24, 2022<\/div>\n

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Marvi Ricker with guests at memorial to John Ricker<\/div>\n

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Time line for John Ricker<\/div>\n

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1923   born<\/div>\n
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1933     10 years old<\/div>\n
1943     20 years old ..RCAF, tail gunner, bomber command<\/div>\n
1953     30 years old \u2026history teacher, Parkdale C.I.<\/div>\n
1963     40 years old\u2026professor,  Faculty ofEducation, U. of , when I first met John<\/div>\n
1978     Marvi and John\u2019s marriage<\/div>\n
2011     87 years old\u2026.created the Castlefield Institute\u2026John\u2019s last class, <\/div>\n
then on Auust 7,  2023,<\/div>\n
John Ricker died\u202699 years old, his last class was over but not forgotten<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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We Said farewell to John Ricker on September 24, 2022, at the Faclultu Club of the University of Toronto.  It was a wonderful farewell with<\/div>\n
John\u2019s family injecting a lot of energy into this final goodbye including a half dozen or more of children aged 10 or less.  No tears.  Just<\/div>\n
a feeling of admiration of John\u2019s life orchestrated by his wife Marvi .<\/div>\n

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John Rickers\u2019 three daughters with Alan Skeoch at the Faulty Club<\/div>\n

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For a month I edited my speech for that occasion.  How could I put John\u2019s life into a five minute time slot?   There were many<\/div>\n
people who wanted to do the same thing and I was the \u2018closer\u2019 like Romano of the Bluejays.  So here are the pants I wanted to express.<\/div>\n

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1)  Bismarck once said that \u201cYou can do anything with children if you just play with them.\u201d  John Ricker did this with humour , respect, intelligence and boundless<\/div>\n
energy.  Those he taught were groomed as lifelong teachers.  John was succinct . He would throw out an opening comment\u2026often as a question\u2026and then join the fray<\/div>\n
of ‘Civil discussion\u2019 which was John\u2019s term for good teaching.  Today, were John still alive, he might open a class by saying  \u201cDemocracy is in mortal danger<\/div>\n
it seems.  Can democracy survive?\u201d<\/div>\n

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2) I noted in my previous episode that John commanded respect.   Good teaching only occurs when the teacher is respected.  Without respect little <\/div>\n
learning happens.<\/div>\n

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Here we see some of the joy John Ricker injected into our lives<\/div>\n

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3)  John Wardle and John Ricker created the Castlefield Institute ten years ago.  This was John Ricker\u2019s last class, a decade long classroom.  We met<\/div>\n
at his house once a month,  Who were we?  A cross section of people.  A judge, a publisher, a politician, three professors, a half dozen teachers,<\/div>\n
four winners of the Order of Canada, one winner of the Governor Genersl\u2019s award.<\/div>\n
a bunch of friends, Marvi on occasion\u2026and one little with dog called Montesqjuieu.  The dog was allowed to dominate.  Actually Monty was a pain<\/div>\n
in the ass.  He barked every time one of us spoke forcing us to tailor our comments.  Monty was silent when John spoke.  Monty made sure no one<\/div>\n
got garrulous.<\/div>\n
John justified Monty\u2019s presence by saying he had more respect for \u2018four legged creatures than he had for most of the two legged kind\u2019.<\/div>\n
That remark was typical.  Ricker could be very funny.  Also truthful.  I think he thought that little white dog had a higher intelligence than the rest of us.<\/div>\n
Monty, by the way, also stole our sandwiches when he could.  John saw nothing when that happened. Just grinned.  John was capable of <\/div>\n
spoiling children\u2026or was it forgiving indiscretions.<\/div>\n

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\u201cI respect four legged creature more than the two legged kind.\u201d (John Ricker)<\/div>\n

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We were all aware that the Castlefield Institute would be John\u2019s last class.  A fact that became more and more apparent as the years passed <\/div>\n
by.  But meetings were very cheerful..  Silly at times.  Thoughtful occasionally.  Stupid occasionally like the time<\/div>\n
I asked what the group thought about the possible election of Donald Trump as President of the United States.  \u201cThat will never happen\u2026the<\/div>\n
people of the United States are not that stupid.\u201d  Well, it did happen as you know and  the consequences of that election came the subject<\/div>\n
of a lot of our discussions.  \u201cDemocracy is a troubled spirit whose dream presents only visions of hell\u201d  In short we discussed populism and <\/div>\n
government by the lowest common denominator.  How arrogant of us.  But remember we were all friends freely expressing our ideas with no expectations<\/div>\n
that anyone gave a damn other than our little circle and one little white dog.  We laughed a lot.  Laughter is a kind of therapy. <\/div>\n

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“What I really like about the group is that not one of them has anything to prove or any particular brief to be argued or pursued. They are all just good people who like to talk about anything that interests them or, indeed, anyone else. And no one is worried about fall-out or similar meaningless nonsense\u201d  (John Ricker).<\/font><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

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4)  John was a voracious and thoughtful reader of non fiction up until he died. A skilled reader.  Back when I did short stories on CBC Radio, my Producer Doug Coupar<\/div>\n
cornered me after my first few broadcasts. \u201cAlan, those stories were good,\u201d (What was his next word?) \u201cBUT,  the radio audience has a one minute attention span… get<\/div>\n
your big idea out fast.\u201d   How does this connect to John Ricker, you ask?  John could read a 300 page book and winnow it down to a one sentence comment for us to <\/div>\n
consider.  Fitted our one minute attention spans. <\/div>\n

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 We had so much fun at those meetings even though the end was approaching.<\/div>\n

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5)  Then Covid 19 crippled the world in 2020.  And public meetings ceased for a time.  But we kept going as best we could.  Masked.  Then we turned to ZOOM which<\/div>\n
was a terrible alternative to meeting face to face.  John hated Zoom.  He wanted our laughter, our outrageous comments\u2026our flesh and blood presence\u2026the classroom.<\/div>\n
Those poor kids who now rely on Zoom for their education.  Push the ‘off air\u2019 button for gog\u2019s sake,  Thankfully we had John\u2019s backyard and could yell at each other  there.<\/div>\n

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6)  John Ricker, like most gifted people,  did not boost himself.  I never remember him saying anything about his job as a highly placed administrater except that it was<\/div>\n
a ‘poor substitute for teaching.\u2019   Not necessarily true.  But the comment made me feel good and changed my career path.<\/div>\n

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\"Handley<\/div>\n
Halifax bomber<\/div>\n

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\"C-GVRA<\/div>\n
Lancaster bomber tail gunner turret<\/div>\n

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7)   John Ricker said very little about his RCAF experience.  Just a few fragments over the years.  His father was shocked when John volunteered <\/div>\n
as a tail gunner on a bomber.   His father was a pacifist and wanted John to fall into line.  John, however, said, \u201cI could not stand idly by when all my friends were joining <\/div>\n
the war effort.\u201d  :After 1945 John said little about those war years.   He did tell me two things.   <\/div>\n

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\u201cI don\u2019t like to talk about the war because I survived where many of my high school friends did not.\u201d  (John Ricker)<\/div>\n

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His second comment I will never forget.  I had written a story about my cousin George Freeman\u2019s death as a mid upper gunner <\/div>\n
on a Halifax bomber in 1944.  (HX 313) .  John sent me a note,  It is a definition of FEAR.  I will always picture<\/div>\n
John scrunched up in that plastic glass bubble at the back of a bomber with machine guns that were almost useless just waiting for<\/div>\n
a German night fighter to open up on him.  <\/div>\n

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\u201cAlan, my stomach was a ball bearing and a bead of sweat at my neck became a river down my backside.\u201d  (John Ricker)<\/div>\n

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8)  John Ricker died on August 7, 2022.  He was 99 years old.  He was content.  He was not alone. <\/div>\n

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 How many of you know Bill Withers?  I would like<\/div>\n
to conclude my remarks using Bill Withers.  And I expect you to join me\u2026to repeat after me.  Loud and clear and heartfelt.  Are you ready?<\/div>\n

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\u201cAin\u2019t no sunshine.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cAIN\u2019T NO SUNSHINE,\u201d  (Faculty Club audience, Sept. 24, 2022)
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\u201cNow John\u2019s gone.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cNOW JOHN\u2019S GONE.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n


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Marvi tells me that John was a grammarian.  So let me change the words a bit.<\/div>\n

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\u201cTHERE IS NO LONGER SUNSHINE NOW JOHN RICKER IS GONE\u201d<\/div>\n

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Alpha and Omega<\/div>\n

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(Alan Skeoch, speech at John Ricker memorial, Sept. 24, 2022)<\/div>\n

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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NOTE:  Those who did not know John Ricker might remember the movie Goodbye Mr. Chips which was a farewell to a beloved teacher.  This is the same thing. Alan Skeoch Sept. 24, 2022 EPISODE 601    THE DAY WE SAID FAREWELL TO JOHN RICKER\u2026.SEPTEMBER 24, 2022 Marvi Ricker with guests at memorial to John Ricker […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22289"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22289\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}