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EESTI ELU reedel, 13. augustil 2021 — Friday, August 13, 2021
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Jaan Roos 1937–2021 Jaan Olav Roos passed away peacefully at Toronto’s Bridge point hospice on August 3 in his 84th year. Beloved husband of the late Reet Karu and father to MarjaLeena a.k.a. Jamie (Jayne), Martin (Frances), Richard (Katrin) and loving grandfather to Oscar, Nora and Julius. Cherished husband of Merike Kalm and step-father to Jeffrey (Dadanae), Susan (Tim), David, Leigh (Peter) and Nancy and step-grandfather to Dio, Jaz myn, Elijah, Sia and Sam. Jaan was born in Tartu, Estonia on January 22, 1937, the only child of parents Otto and Saima. Along with many others, his family fled the Soviet occupation in a harrow ing escape across the Baltic Sea to Sweden in 1944, arriving in Canada a few years later in 1950. As a young child, Jaan read voraciously. It is said that he read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica before the age of 10. After high school at Humber side Collegiate in Toronto, Jaan attended medical school at the University of Toronto, specializ ing in respirology. After marry ing Reet in 1968, he returned to Sweden for a respirology fellowship at the Karolinska Hospital in Uppsala, eventually returning to Toronto. Jaan’s professional career began in respirology. He worked for the Ontario Ministry of Labour in occupational medicine. In 1994, he married Merike and became a family doctor and coroner in Haliburton, as well as working with several nursing homes. Beyond his medical career, Jaan’s interests were far-reach ing. Jaan had a life-long passion for competition and racing. It began with running, which gave
Employment opportunity The Estonian Foundation of Canada seeks an OFFICE AND MARKETING MANAGER who will lead marketing, communications and community/donor relations for this national charity.
way to cross-country skiing, in turn leading to competitive race-walking. Among his many accomplishments, Jaan built and maintained community crosscountry ski-trails and competed in the 160 km Canadian Ski Marathon. He became a leader in the Ontario racewalking community, where he set a world-masters record for 50 km racewalk, which stood for several years, and very nearly qualified him for the 1984 Olympic Games. In 2012, he was inducted into the Canadian Masters Athletics Hall of Fame for his lifelong contribution to racewalking. One of his favorite mantras was, “to learn how to do any thing, one must teach it to others.” He applied this prin ciple to everything. He led race-walking clubs and taught countless people the nuanced pleasures of the sport. He was also very involved in the Toronto Estonian community and was an active member of the Eesti Üliõpilaste Selts (EÜS). As a Scout leader, he built an elaborate high-ropes course through the forest canopy. He was intrigued with kayaking and, in particular, kayak-rolling techniques. Jaan was an avid photographer, building a dark room and developing his own film. He was fearless in explor ing his musical abilities, and taught himself to play the guitar, piano, organ, accordion, harp and recorder. He played in the Estonian Folk Music Ensemble,
Are Estonian names translatable? Vincent Teetsov Eesti Rahvusringhääling (Es to nia’s public broadcasting organization) reported that in 2019, the most popular baby name for girls was Mia, followed by Sofia and Emily. For boys, the most popular name was Robin, followed by Sebas tian and Hugo. In Canada, the most popular boy names were Jackson, Noah, and Liam. For girls, it was Sophia, Olivia, and Emma. First names are applied in a more free-form manner, usually. Parents might get a baby book, run through its entirety with a pen in hand, circling the names that sound the best, and cross ing out the ones that they abso lutely will not use. On occasion, first names might be chosen to honour a relative they admire. And these names are something we can change informally or legally, as we determine what best suits our personalities. Of course, around the world, there
are varying rules about what letters, spellings, and names can be used. Last names are less indivi dual, though. Of course, they can also be changed legally, but this is a more sensitive change. Changes and additions of last names when a person meets their significant other can sig nify cohesion and starting a family unit for some people. But a surname in and of itself can attribute stories and a vision of places to your name. In Estonian, there are names like Mets (which translates into “forest”) and Jõgi (“river”), that have associations with natural and geographical features. They can shed light on where our families might have lived in the past. Or they can tell us about objects with personal or spiritual connections, such as with the nature-based beliefs of maausk. Then there are names like Kübar (“hat”) and Sepp (“smith”) that indicate what oc cupation a person in your fami
The successful candidate will manage the Foundation’s office and oversee and lead the funding applications program (as directed by the Board), create and manage fundraising and community awareness campaigns, and ideally plan and write content for platforms such as the EFC website and community news outlets. The applicant must have excellent project management skills, good writing and communication skills, as well as a basic understanding of Estonian. Familiarity with the Estonian community in Canada would be an asset. This position can provide flexible hours and could evolve in future. We are interested in hearing from you if you have most of these skills or willing to learn. Com pensation commensurate with experience. Please apply with resume to new email: estonianfoundationpresident@gmail.com Estonian Foundation of Canada is a registered charity that supports Estonian cultural and heritage initiatives across Canada.
sang in the Toronto Estonian men’s choir and performed at the famed Laulupidu in Tallinn. He was fascinated with music theory, and could happily talk about it for hours at a time. He built wooden furniture, a plywood catamaran and sur prisingly durable yurts from reclaimed materials, and had many opinions on building saunas. Jaan had more inspira tion than time, and he filled garages with the flotsam and jetsam of ideas which had run their course. Jaan was a unique and colourful polymath. He will be remembered by many for his open-mindedness, do-it-yourself creativity, passion for teaching and good humour. He will be missed. A memorial for Jaan will be held at a later time. Donations can be made in Jaan’s name to the Temmy Latner Centre for Palliative Care at http://tlcpc. org/ and the Estonian Foun dation of Canada https://www. estonianfoundation.ca/.
ly might have had. At least, that’s what we assume, because people heavily associate their identities with their jobs. Maybe someone just really enjoyed wearing exuberant hats, though, and really they weren’t a milli ner after all. It would be illuminating to know what our surnames mean, because they tell us where we come from, and maybe why we have certain aptitudes. Perhaps a relative was very muscular, which lended itself to hammer ing metal into shape as a black smith. Some Estonian names can be connected to other languages, including German. For example, the Estonian surname Peegel, which means “mirror”, is de rived from the German word “spiegel.” Other Estonian sur names are more directly applied from other languages, such as Johanson (from the Swedish Johansson). What about names that don’t have a clear literal meaning though? While quite a few (Continued on page 10)
October Annual Art Show This fall EKKT will again offer both a virtual and on-site gallery experience for their 66th annual exhibition. New artists include EKKT 2021 scholarship recipient Sofia Musta, EKKT Kalevip oeg Art Contest winner Sylvi Oja, photoartist, dancer and author Karin Vagiste, and photoartist and film director Montgomery Grünthal Lang ford. As part of our annual art exhibition, EKKT is very excited to feature Haudenosaunee Six Nations artist, author and illus trator Lorrie Gallant. Another guest artist is Latvian print maker and instructor from the Yukon School of Visual Arts, John (Janis) Steins. We are also excited to have Latvian painter and previous President and Board Member of the LATVIS Society of Artists Valda (Skrins)
Oestreicher. Additionally we are pleased that Toronto printmaker and past Artist in Residence of The Women’s Art Association of Canada Susan Farquhar will also be exhibiting her mixed media art. The EKKT art show will be held at the Todmorden Mills Heritage Site Papermill Art Gallery, 67 Pottery Road, Toronto, Ontario, running from Wednesday October 6th–17th, 2021. Our planned opening reception will be Thursday, October 7th, 6–9 pm, 2021. As last year created an opportunity for EKKT to have a virtual exhibition, our artists will again be seen in an on-line show from October 1st–November 1st, 2021. Ashley Lennox has shown with EKKT for many years, and her captivating art pieces relat ing to Kalevipoeg will be avail able to be seen at the show. Kõik on teretulnud! ELVA PALO
Kalevipoeg illustration by Ashley Lennox.
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