Circular No 281

Newsletter for past alumni of The Abbey School, Mt. St. Benedict, Trinidad and Tobago, W.I.
Caracas, 24 March 2007. No. 281
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear friends,

I received this notice for Andres who keeps a nice calendar.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: andres federico freytez borges

Subject: Holy Day

Date: 3/21/2007 2:00:20 PM

Dear Old Boys,

Today is St. Benedict’s Day.

I’ll manage to go to church for the late afternoon mass.

Will pray for us all.

Freddy

Pax in Virtute. O.S.B.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------.
I am sending out to you the latest request from David De Boehmler.

I am sorry that time has not been as fortunate as one wished it to be, but I am sure that his friends have missed him and maybe because of this last request, they might communicate with David.

Like I always mention, please write so that your friends will see your writing and have the joy of hearing from you and remember the times when you played, sometimes had a fight with, and studied together (maybe let you copy a difficult homework), ( slipped you a scrap of paper during an exam).

Life is beautiful and more so when you live thru the difficulties, this is when you appreciate living.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------.
David de Boehmler

Wednesday, March 21, 2007 5:26:13 AM

Dear Ladislao.

I received your letter and kind words.

Thank you.

I would really appreciate it if I could have one last input on the M.S.B site.

So often I have read on the site about ex MSB men who have made their way in life.

Their successes and so on.

I would like to share something I consider to be very important in my life.

I would also be very interested to hear any comments or questions related to what I am about to say.

About two or three years after leaving Trinidad, I became one of Jehovah's Witnesses.

I found that I had a lot of unanswered questions in life.

It seems that in today's world filled with violence and disharmony, many people are looking for reliable guidance or some understanding of the things we see happening right around the entire Globe.

Everywhere we look we see problems.

Even the once paradise island of Trinidad has not escaped.

In the Bible at 2 Timothy 3.16,17 it says ' All scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for teaching for reproving, for setting things straight, for disciplining in righteousness, that the man of God may be fully competent, completely equipped for every good work.'

These words indicate that we can find trustworthy answers to every question of life in the Bible, including the question of why is there so much injustice and suffering.

Really, would we not expect, an all knowing God, to share this understanding with his very own creation?

I have personally found reliable answers to questions such as-

Why is there so much suffering?

What happens to us when we die?

What is God's purpose for the Earth and mankind?

What exactly is the Kingdom we pray for in the Our Father prayer?

Why are there so many conflicting religions all claiming to be from God?

Is all religion acceptable to God?

Will we see our dead loved ones again?

And how can we cope with the anxieties of life today?

These are just a few questions that I have found satisfying answers to from the God's word the Bible.

I have made it a priority in my life to have Bible based discussions with any one who would like to do so.

So if you would be so kind to put my thoughts on the MSB site I would deeply appreciate it, Thank you.

I know that this is an unusual request, but we have all gone our different ways and want to share some of the things that are important to us with the friends of Mount St Benedict.

I look forward to any questions or comments.

Thank you once again for your kindness.

David de Boehmler.

(Dear David, the Circular is made by you oldboys and although it is not a Blog it serves its special purpose for those that write. Ed.)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------.
David de Boehmler
Wednesday, March 31, 2007 5:26:13 AM

Dear Ladislao.

First of all, I deeply appreciate you posting my Email.

It really is important to me.

As to my 'Curriculum Vitae'.

Well I did only get to form 1, so I will have to make sure of the meaning.

Oddly the little Latin I studied at Mount has stayed with me all these years so I think I know what it means.

I seems to me that we little humans like to tell our story far more than read some one else's, so I am reluctant to spend much time on it.

Basically I am happy to have survived to 61, so now I really am an old boy.

Although the early years were a bit of a roller-coaster ride, for a long time now life has been fairly steady, as steady as it can be in a complex and difficult world.

I had a failed marriage during those 'roller-coaster' years which resulted in a delightful gem of a daughter 'Tara' now 36.

I have been happily married to my present wife Joy for about 37 years.

We had two children, Levi and Amber.

Amber died at 17 in a car accident.

Levi has one son, Harley, so the tent pegs have not been extended too far.

Joy and I live in a small coastal town right down the bottom of Australia, about five minutes from beautiful beaches and an awesome coast line, and about one hour from Melbourne.

I am effectively retired. And that is it in a nut shell.

Below is a recent photo of the old fellow and wife....

And yes, you are right; I do still paint, but now just for pleasure.

....Faithfully yours. David de Boehmler.

(Thank you for the resume, I understand your search and I am glad that you have found peace. Ed.)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------.
Now a change in line up, an email from my friend and classmate Wayne Vincent Brown:

------------------------------------------------------

At the Mount: Kitty Markus
Andres Larsen andres_larsen@yahoo.com
Sunday, December 24, 2006 1:07:20 PM

Dear Wayne:

I am from the same time as Attila at the Mount. 1964-1969.

Regarding Kitty Marcus:

She and her Mother were Jewish and, if I recall correctly, fled, Vienna, Austria somewhere around 1938, ending up, via England, in Trinidad.

Her Mother passed away a long time ago.

They both used to live just below the monastery next to the credit union and a small grocery store next to the Benedictine graveyard on the way to the guest house and further on down to the sports field.

She was indeed my teacher in German and I took lessons with her in her office which was next to Fr Bernard's office.

In my next e-mail I will forward you an e-mail I received with an update on Kitty Marcus from Fr Christopher.

You must be of the generation that was at the Mount with Urban Fedak and his brother. They both live here in Caracas.

Regards

Andres Larsen
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------.
Attila GYURIS wrote:

Hello Wayne:

Thanks for writing. Welcome to the group.

Let me know, and if you like, I will add your name to my list and forward you the threads we are discussing, so you can contribute with some memories or pictures also.

Ladiszlao Kertesz is an old boy from the late 50's early 60's who is sending out monthly circulars with email threads and picture contributions from many of us.

If you want you can ask him to put you on his list so you get the circulars too.

Send him a request to: kertesz11@yahoo.com

You can also find a bunch of old circulars and Abbey School photos in Don Mitchell's website:

http://msbtunapuna.blogspot.com/

By reading those circulars you can catch up on a lot of what has been happening at the Mount.

From the dates it seems you were at the Mount before me.

I was there from 1964 to 1969.

Wow, I didn't know that David Basanta had been a student there too.

Indeed he was my Spanish teacher throughout my years there.

Regarding Miss Kitty Marcus, I am not sure of her age, but she is very much alive and retired.

She is still mentally very sharp with a great memory, I am told. I don't know of her past history.

I do know she spoke perfect German.

In fact she gave German private lessons to Andres Larsen, maybe he can update you on her background.

I don't have a picture of her but maybe someone from the list can send you a photo. There was an Old Boys reunion at the Mount in 2003 and she was there.

As you may know the school closed some time ago and is now used as a drug rehab center.

The Abbey Monastery is still there, but with a much reduced monk population.

I think the best person to update you on Miss Kitty Marcus would be Fr. Cuthbert, who is at the monastery, or old boy Michael "Specs" D'Ornellas, who lives in Trinidad and has seen Miss Marcus recently.

How about it, Andres or Specs?

Just curious, how did you run into my email?

Regards,

Attila GYURIS

MSB 1964-1969
-------------------------------------------------------------------------.
Wayne Brown wrote:

Dear Attila

--you wont know me--at least, I dont remember you--but I was at the Mount from '55 to '60, and I gather from yours you were there sometime in the sixties.

The reason I'm writing is that yours mentioned Kitty Marcus, and did so as though she were still alive.

Is that true? Incredible if she is; she must be at least 105!

She was a good friend of my aunt when I was a student there, I thought of them as being roughly the same age, and my aunt would be 107 if she were alive today.

So I'm wondering. Kitty was a Polish (I think) Jew and escaped Hitler's Gestapo in the nick of time.

She was one of a handful of European Jews who wound up in Trinidad in the late 30s-early 40s, having fled the Nazis.

As for the others you mention, I seem to remember that Yip Chuck came late in my time at the Mount, and David Basanta was briefly in the same class as me―

I didn’t know he later taught there.

And I don’t know the others.

One "Chinaman", though, who was definitely not a good teacher--though he was an amiable and amusing man--was Father Chris, a Trinidadian priest. (I'm pretty sure he was still there in your time.)

He used to pray for a jockey called Sy Joseph who in return used to give him presents whenever the horse he was riding won, and the result was that Fr Chris was always interrupting our French or Spanish classes to listen to some horserace or other.

He also had terrific aim when pelting his duster at some student's head.

Anyway--be interested in news of Kitty Marcus if you have any.

Best,

Wayne Brown

(Glad to hear from Jamaica. Ed.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------.
I must remind you that not only it is sad for this Circular that we are one less but more so that I have not had the opportunity to meet him or even have an email to file in the archives that I keep for future.

So dear friends, write even if it is a couple of lines, for Posterity sake.

God Bless

Ladislao
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
07DD0001DDB, David DE Boehmler

07DD0002DDB, Joy De Boehmler

02UN0001WVBJAM. Wayne Brown

60LK0001LKEMAR, Ladislao Kertesz and Miss Kitty Marcus

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------