Eulogy for Claude Hoedel, written and delivered by Simone Hoedel January 18th, 2006
Good morning everyone. My name is Simone. I want to thank you all for being here to remember my father, Claude Hoedel.
Claude was born in 1938 in Killaly, Saskatchewan. Both his parents, Elizabeth Baumgartner and Ewald Hoedel, grew up in German speaking households in this small farming community where most families struggled to make ends meet.
Claude was the youngest of 6 children in the Hoedel family. His father, Ewald, farmed just outside Killaly on the family homestead, and later moved the family into Killaly where Ewald worked as the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool Agent.
Like my father, Ewald was a popular, intelligent and athletic fellow who liked his drinks. Ewald died in a boating accident in 1949, when my father was only 11 years old. I believe this was very hard for the family, especially for Claude.
My father was good in school and excelled at Sciences and Math. He was also a top-notch athlete. He admired his uncle, Jimmy Baumgartner, who was a famous baseball player in this area at that time.
Claude fell in love and got married in 1959 to Adeline Holitski, a local girl. They moved to Saskatoon where my dad went to the University of Saskatchewan to get his engineering degree. I was born in Saskatoon in 1961.
Our little family moved to Regina in 1964, where my dad worked for the Saskatchewan Power Corporation as an engineer. My 2 brothers, Craig and Shawn, were born in 1964 and 1966.
We moved to Alberta for a year or so, then in 1974 my dad found a job with BC Hydro. We lived in Port Coquitlam, BC for most of those years growing up. In BC, dad worked as the Superintendent of Gas Pipelines for the Fraser Valley.
In his spare time, he took up curling, and won a lot of championships as a skip. He also played on a team with my mom, Adeline, and together, they won a few trophies.
In 1982, dad returned to Regina to work for SaskPower and later TransGas. The family lived in a lovely home in Lakeview, which is a nice area. Dad did his best to provide for the family and be a husband and father.
My father, truthfully, struggled with an alcohol problem that curtailed his success and happiness. Although he always cared about us, sometimes we were in competition with the bottle for his affections, and this of course, cause a lot of grief.
Despite this problem, Claude worked until he retired in 1999. But after retirement, he began to suffer from more and more health problems. Years of heavy smoking and drinking took their toll, and he declined physically and mentally until he died last week.
I want to tell you how he died, because I was there.
These past few months, Claude was mostly in the hospital receiving treatments. But starting New Years Eve, he stayed in the Executive Suite at the Delta Inn in Regina, because that was the only smoking suite available. He was very elated: “Wow! I made it,” he said.
But a few days later, he was readmitted to the hospital with a blood infection and he declined very rapidly.
I spent some time watching TV beside him in the Palliative Care ward at the Pasqua Hospital. He was at this point, not really responding to the world around him. He had received his Last Rites.
I was watching the news when I heard a little groan from Claude, so I went to the bedside to see if he was okay. Claude was staring wide-eyed at the ceiling with a blissful, childlike expression on his face. I’d never seen anything like it before.
I said to him: “What cha lookin’ at, dad?” and looked up at the ceiling tiles he seemed to be staring at. When I looked back at him, one tear had escaped his right eye, and I wondered why he was crying.
But this was actually his last moment.
I marvel at how a person who struggled personally for so many years could find peace at the very end of his life like this. You can be sure Claude left this world spiritually pure, like the moment he was born. I was there to witness it. And we can all feel good about that.
Thank you.
Monday, 25 December 2006
Saturday, 16 December 2006
The Game is Up
by Simone Hoedel
copyright 1992
I.
You are two odd men out
From the hinterland
Dropping poisoned stones into the well
Filling spaces with your grins
And your loose shifting gazes
It's a token to your enduring enmity
You never seem angry
While you smash our peace
Clawing at our soft underbellies
Drawing out, like blood,
Our liquid flesh
Let me tell you:
We are full of our portions
Of discipline and vague threats
Of long held vigilance against
Your snares and slaps
II.
We go to the barrier
And toss off another load
Of useless metal for scrap
And bag up a pile of your
Anti-words for recycling
Ín our country these things
Have no meaning
Until they're destroyed
III.
You are two men
From the hinterland
Picking through the rubble
Of a lost time.
In the barrios and shantytowns
You shave your heads
And begin a chant
And far off to the north and east
The drumbeats enjoin
An old old rhythm
Buried for generations
Deep, and far from home.
copyright 1992
I.
You are two odd men out
From the hinterland
Dropping poisoned stones into the well
Filling spaces with your grins
And your loose shifting gazes
It's a token to your enduring enmity
You never seem angry
While you smash our peace
Clawing at our soft underbellies
Drawing out, like blood,
Our liquid flesh
Let me tell you:
We are full of our portions
Of discipline and vague threats
Of long held vigilance against
Your snares and slaps
II.
We go to the barrier
And toss off another load
Of useless metal for scrap
And bag up a pile of your
Anti-words for recycling
Ín our country these things
Have no meaning
Until they're destroyed
III.
You are two men
From the hinterland
Picking through the rubble
Of a lost time.
In the barrios and shantytowns
You shave your heads
And begin a chant
And far off to the north and east
The drumbeats enjoin
An old old rhythm
Buried for generations
Deep, and far from home.
The Green Woman
by Simone Hoedel
copyright 2002
In the little Peruvian pueblo of Aguascaliente, at the foot of Machu Picchu, I discovered a very decent earthy restaurant called Chez Maggy's.
One afternoon, after an arduous day with hordes of tourists on the ancient site, I visited the spot for a bite to eat. After the meal, I asked for Mate de Coca, a medicinal Andes drink, because I wasn't feeling very well, I said. Coca tea is very popular and common among tourists and locals, and bags of coca leaves sell in stalls on the street for about two dollars.
I asked the server, a Native American, what the relationship was between this Coca leaf tea and cocaine. He came to join me at my table and asked me, in Spanish, if I would like to hear a traditional story about coca. Of course, I was delighted.
A long time ago, a woman arrived in the land of the Incas who was very beautiful, and whose skin was green. She was from the "Selva", jungle or forest, and her name was "Quolka". All the Incas fell in love with her, so that whenever she left, all the people were so despondent they didn't work or eat or do anything productive.
Eventually "Los Sabios" (wise ones) felt the problem was so great for the people, they decided they had to get rid of the woman of the Selva. One of the wise men met with Quolka and killed her, then caused the green woman to be caught up in a flame, which burned her to ashes.
And while the people were despondent after Quolka died, after a while, a plant grew out of the ashes where the woman of the Selva had died and burned. The people noticed the plant was very "suave" (sweet, soft) and had a lovely scent.
Then he demonstrated how they took three leaves fanned out between two fingers, bit off all of the leaves but the very bottom of the stems, and chewed the hojas de Coca. So I did the same.
"Gracias", I said, "Me siento mejor." (I feel better, thanks)
copyright 2002
In the little Peruvian pueblo of Aguascaliente, at the foot of Machu Picchu, I discovered a very decent earthy restaurant called Chez Maggy's.
One afternoon, after an arduous day with hordes of tourists on the ancient site, I visited the spot for a bite to eat. After the meal, I asked for Mate de Coca, a medicinal Andes drink, because I wasn't feeling very well, I said. Coca tea is very popular and common among tourists and locals, and bags of coca leaves sell in stalls on the street for about two dollars.
I asked the server, a Native American, what the relationship was between this Coca leaf tea and cocaine. He came to join me at my table and asked me, in Spanish, if I would like to hear a traditional story about coca. Of course, I was delighted.
A long time ago, a woman arrived in the land of the Incas who was very beautiful, and whose skin was green. She was from the "Selva", jungle or forest, and her name was "Quolka". All the Incas fell in love with her, so that whenever she left, all the people were so despondent they didn't work or eat or do anything productive.
Eventually "Los Sabios" (wise ones) felt the problem was so great for the people, they decided they had to get rid of the woman of the Selva. One of the wise men met with Quolka and killed her, then caused the green woman to be caught up in a flame, which burned her to ashes.
And while the people were despondent after Quolka died, after a while, a plant grew out of the ashes where the woman of the Selva had died and burned. The people noticed the plant was very "suave" (sweet, soft) and had a lovely scent.
Then he demonstrated how they took three leaves fanned out between two fingers, bit off all of the leaves but the very bottom of the stems, and chewed the hojas de Coca. So I did the same.
"Gracias", I said, "Me siento mejor." (I feel better, thanks)
Thursday, 30 November 2006
East Timor: Western Aid Fuels Tragedy
by Simone Hoedel
(written and published October, 1993 in the Voice newspaper)
East Timor has been called Indonesia's killing fields.
International human rights organizations have reported that since Indonesia's invasion of the small island just off Australia's north coast in 1975, more than 200,000 people have been killed in a brutal campaign of oppression and counterinsurgency.
Li-Lien Gibbons of the East Timor Alert Network spoke at Langara last week in a talk sponsored by the Peace and Conflict Studies program.
Li-Lien's step-brother, Kamal, was one of 273 people killed by the Indonesian military in a massacre which followed a peaceful demonstration in Dili, East Timor, almost two years ago. This incident brought the world's attention to the plight of the Timorese people and finally forced western governments, including Canada, to examine their trade and aid based relationships to Indonesia.
"East Timor has largely been an issue that has been covered up not just by Indonesia, but also by the West," said Li-Lien. Western countries, including, Canada, have courted the Indonesian government for access to East Timor's resources, including oil, minerals and labor, and have supported the Suharto dictatorship through weapons sales and the training of the Indonesian military.
But in a complete policy reversal, and following U.S. lead, Canada in March supported a U.N. resolution which condemns human rights violations in East Timor. A spokesperson at the Indonesian Consulate, when asked by the Voice if the U.N. condemnation had affected their aid and trade relationships to other countries, had no comment.
This year the Indonesian regime is Canada's second largest recipient of bilateral (government to government) aid.
"Since 1985, Canada has been giving $45 to $75 million annually to Indonesia," said Li-Lien. Last year, according to CIDA, the aid package was worth $41 million.
Although Canada has recently made attempts to tie aid to human rights, the presence of Canadian investment in Indonesia makes the government reluctant to threaten their economic relationship with that government. More than 300 Canadian companies currently operate in Indonesia, including Lavelin, Gulf Canada, Bata Shoes, and Inco. B.C. alone exported nearly $75 million worth of products to Indonesia in 1992, according to a spokesperson at B.C. Trade and Development Corporation. In the last six years, B.C.'s exports to Indonesia have nearly doubled.
"The tragedy of East Timor is essentially a Western made tragedy," said Li-Lien.
(written and published October, 1993 in the Voice newspaper)
East Timor has been called Indonesia's killing fields.
International human rights organizations have reported that since Indonesia's invasion of the small island just off Australia's north coast in 1975, more than 200,000 people have been killed in a brutal campaign of oppression and counterinsurgency.
Li-Lien Gibbons of the East Timor Alert Network spoke at Langara last week in a talk sponsored by the Peace and Conflict Studies program.
Li-Lien's step-brother, Kamal, was one of 273 people killed by the Indonesian military in a massacre which followed a peaceful demonstration in Dili, East Timor, almost two years ago. This incident brought the world's attention to the plight of the Timorese people and finally forced western governments, including Canada, to examine their trade and aid based relationships to Indonesia.
"East Timor has largely been an issue that has been covered up not just by Indonesia, but also by the West," said Li-Lien. Western countries, including, Canada, have courted the Indonesian government for access to East Timor's resources, including oil, minerals and labor, and have supported the Suharto dictatorship through weapons sales and the training of the Indonesian military.
But in a complete policy reversal, and following U.S. lead, Canada in March supported a U.N. resolution which condemns human rights violations in East Timor. A spokesperson at the Indonesian Consulate, when asked by the Voice if the U.N. condemnation had affected their aid and trade relationships to other countries, had no comment.
This year the Indonesian regime is Canada's second largest recipient of bilateral (government to government) aid.
"Since 1985, Canada has been giving $45 to $75 million annually to Indonesia," said Li-Lien. Last year, according to CIDA, the aid package was worth $41 million.
Although Canada has recently made attempts to tie aid to human rights, the presence of Canadian investment in Indonesia makes the government reluctant to threaten their economic relationship with that government. More than 300 Canadian companies currently operate in Indonesia, including Lavelin, Gulf Canada, Bata Shoes, and Inco. B.C. alone exported nearly $75 million worth of products to Indonesia in 1992, according to a spokesperson at B.C. Trade and Development Corporation. In the last six years, B.C.'s exports to Indonesia have nearly doubled.
"The tragedy of East Timor is essentially a Western made tragedy," said Li-Lien.
Spirit of St. Francis Inspires Atonement Sisters
By SIMONE HOEDEL (published July 1996 in BC Catholic)
People spill out of the packed St. Paul's Church on East Cordova Street and file around the corner into the basement lunchroom of the Franciscan Sisters of the Atonement.
There the sisters and Franciscan monks in their brown habits and Knights of Columbus in full regalia chat with families, children, elderly people and the poor of Vancouver's downtown east side as they load their paper plates with fruit, sausages and pastry tarts.
They are celebrating the 70th anniversary of the opening of the Sisters' mission in Vancouver, where some 700 people a day come for soup and sandwiches.
Dayle Moseley, of the Downtown Eastside Residents' Association, claims the area has the poorest median income in Canada. About 60 percent of the population rely on social assistance and live on Skid Row because "they can't afford to live anywhere else," he said.
Sister Carmel Finelli SA, director of the mission at the corner of Cordova and Dunlevy Streets, said that although the sisters and friars also operate a men's clothing room and a day treatment program for sobriety, "basically, we can offer only food." The people need a lot more services, she said.
"The Sister's Place" got its start in 1926 as a Japanese Catholic Mission in Vancouver's Strathcona district, an area which had a high concentration of Japanese immigrants. The sisters evangelized by offering instruction in English. The work was begun by Kathleen O'Melia, a "staunch convert" from Anglicanism, who later became Sister Mary Stella SA.
In October of the same year, four Franciscan Sisters of the Atonement arrived from Graymoor Garrison in New York. The sisters had experience working with Italian immigrants at Saint Clare's Franciscan Mission in New York City.
World War II challenge
By the following year, according to Atonement Society reports, the little mission on Cordova had 266 children registered in Sunday School. The sisters were also visiting homes and hospitals, feeding and clothing the poor, taking care of the sick, preparing children for First Communion and instructing the Japanese in religion as well as English.
Because of the sisters' success, a second Japanese Catholic mission was started in 1931 in Steveston (south of Vancouver in Richmond), where another Japanese immigrant community was growing. Later the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement arrived to help the sisters.
Their greatest challenge came with World War II.
Historical material in archives reveals the tone of that time: During a reception on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, Dec. 8 1941, the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, soldiers rushed into the hall warning of an ensuing blackout, one of many to come.
For the safety of the Japanese, a curfew was put in place by a government security commission working out of the daycare building.
After war was declared on Japan, all Japanese within 160 kilometers of the Pacific coast were ordered to move inland. Nine thousand Japanese Canadians in Vancouver were forced to give up their homes, businesses and possessions and evacuated into ghost towns like Greenwood in the interior of the province.
Some of the sisters went with the Japanese. Those who remained in Vancouver continued to work with the poor, including those who took over the jobs left by the Japanese, including immigrants from the prairies who came to work in the shipyards.
After the internment of the Japanese, the Franciscan Sisters of the Atonement were forced to reevaluate their mandate.
Archbishop William Duke wrote to Mother Monica of the Mission Dec.1 1942: "The war upset the work here and we are waiting to see what will happen before making any adjustments."
Eventually he gave the sisters permission to start a day nursery for white children "on account of your apostolate to the Japanese being interrupted."
During the 1950s, an informal lunch program evolved for the "poor unemployed men," although the Franciscans had been informally feeding the needy since the tough times of the early 1930s.
By 1955, the sisters were feeding 200-300 people a day. Today, they feed up to 700. A few years ago, it was as high as 1,000, but Sister Carmel said other agencies in the area have alleviated the burden somewhat during the last two years.
The sisters' lunch program is run to a large extent by volunteers and donations. lndividuals, companies and parishes donate food, and volunteers help prepare and distribute 1,500-2,000 sandwiches a day.
Wallace and Pauline Eng, who belong to the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu-Chi and own a farm in Surrey, have donated produce to the sisters for the past three years.
"We know this is a good place because they help needy people every day," said Pauline at the celebration May 18.
Clair Hoye, who has volunteered with the sisters for 13 years, makes sandwiches every morning. "The food lines aren't getting any smaller," she said. "The number of people lined up on the street is increasing. More needy people are trying to make ends meet."
Archbishop Adam Exner OMI of Vancouver, who celebrated Mass for the occasion in the diminutive St. Paul's Church on Cordova Street, said the spirit of St. Francis inspires the sisters' work.
"St. Francis recognized that everything he had was a gift from God," the archbishop said in his homily. "He had a very special place in his heart for the poor."
"The sisters have not only experienced the gift of God, but also recognised that it is a gift to be given," he said. "They have shared their gifts with the poor."
People spill out of the packed St. Paul's Church on East Cordova Street and file around the corner into the basement lunchroom of the Franciscan Sisters of the Atonement.
There the sisters and Franciscan monks in their brown habits and Knights of Columbus in full regalia chat with families, children, elderly people and the poor of Vancouver's downtown east side as they load their paper plates with fruit, sausages and pastry tarts.
They are celebrating the 70th anniversary of the opening of the Sisters' mission in Vancouver, where some 700 people a day come for soup and sandwiches.
Dayle Moseley, of the Downtown Eastside Residents' Association, claims the area has the poorest median income in Canada. About 60 percent of the population rely on social assistance and live on Skid Row because "they can't afford to live anywhere else," he said.
Sister Carmel Finelli SA, director of the mission at the corner of Cordova and Dunlevy Streets, said that although the sisters and friars also operate a men's clothing room and a day treatment program for sobriety, "basically, we can offer only food." The people need a lot more services, she said.
"The Sister's Place" got its start in 1926 as a Japanese Catholic Mission in Vancouver's Strathcona district, an area which had a high concentration of Japanese immigrants. The sisters evangelized by offering instruction in English. The work was begun by Kathleen O'Melia, a "staunch convert" from Anglicanism, who later became Sister Mary Stella SA.
In October of the same year, four Franciscan Sisters of the Atonement arrived from Graymoor Garrison in New York. The sisters had experience working with Italian immigrants at Saint Clare's Franciscan Mission in New York City.
World War II challenge
By the following year, according to Atonement Society reports, the little mission on Cordova had 266 children registered in Sunday School. The sisters were also visiting homes and hospitals, feeding and clothing the poor, taking care of the sick, preparing children for First Communion and instructing the Japanese in religion as well as English.
Because of the sisters' success, a second Japanese Catholic mission was started in 1931 in Steveston (south of Vancouver in Richmond), where another Japanese immigrant community was growing. Later the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement arrived to help the sisters.
Their greatest challenge came with World War II.
Historical material in archives reveals the tone of that time: During a reception on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, Dec. 8 1941, the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, soldiers rushed into the hall warning of an ensuing blackout, one of many to come.
For the safety of the Japanese, a curfew was put in place by a government security commission working out of the daycare building.
After war was declared on Japan, all Japanese within 160 kilometers of the Pacific coast were ordered to move inland. Nine thousand Japanese Canadians in Vancouver were forced to give up their homes, businesses and possessions and evacuated into ghost towns like Greenwood in the interior of the province.
Some of the sisters went with the Japanese. Those who remained in Vancouver continued to work with the poor, including those who took over the jobs left by the Japanese, including immigrants from the prairies who came to work in the shipyards.
After the internment of the Japanese, the Franciscan Sisters of the Atonement were forced to reevaluate their mandate.
Archbishop William Duke wrote to Mother Monica of the Mission Dec.1 1942: "The war upset the work here and we are waiting to see what will happen before making any adjustments."
Eventually he gave the sisters permission to start a day nursery for white children "on account of your apostolate to the Japanese being interrupted."
During the 1950s, an informal lunch program evolved for the "poor unemployed men," although the Franciscans had been informally feeding the needy since the tough times of the early 1930s.
By 1955, the sisters were feeding 200-300 people a day. Today, they feed up to 700. A few years ago, it was as high as 1,000, but Sister Carmel said other agencies in the area have alleviated the burden somewhat during the last two years.
The sisters' lunch program is run to a large extent by volunteers and donations. lndividuals, companies and parishes donate food, and volunteers help prepare and distribute 1,500-2,000 sandwiches a day.
Wallace and Pauline Eng, who belong to the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu-Chi and own a farm in Surrey, have donated produce to the sisters for the past three years.
"We know this is a good place because they help needy people every day," said Pauline at the celebration May 18.
Clair Hoye, who has volunteered with the sisters for 13 years, makes sandwiches every morning. "The food lines aren't getting any smaller," she said. "The number of people lined up on the street is increasing. More needy people are trying to make ends meet."
Archbishop Adam Exner OMI of Vancouver, who celebrated Mass for the occasion in the diminutive St. Paul's Church on Cordova Street, said the spirit of St. Francis inspires the sisters' work.
"St. Francis recognized that everything he had was a gift from God," the archbishop said in his homily. "He had a very special place in his heart for the poor."
"The sisters have not only experienced the gift of God, but also recognised that it is a gift to be given," he said. "They have shared their gifts with the poor."
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