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Gerry Crowe - 2006 Toronto Irish Person of the Year

If Gerry Crowe's life were ever made into a movie, it would have to be directed by the likes of Sir David Lean, or Peter Jackson, or even George Lucas. Because his life, quite simply, has been nothing short of epic.

In recognition of his amazing contribution to the Toronto Irish community and to the world's poor especially, Crowe, 72, has been elected as this year's Irish Person of the Year.

"I'm so excited about it," he said during an interview in late January at his condominium downtown. "I couldn't believe it. It had been suggested to me about five years ago. It would be a beautiful plum to me in the evening of my life. It is a great little treasure for me. But God will think less of me because it'll be publicly known and that's a bit of a bother."

He was only given the heads up about his latest role in the community at five minutes to 11 a.m. on the Saturday morning before the announcement was made on Eamonn O'Loghlin's Ceol agus Craic radio show. He received a telephone call asking if he would like to be the Irish Person of the Year. "Would I? Would I?" he recalls saying. "Would I ever!"

On the day the Toronto Irish News caught up with him, our own photographer William Smith was busy posing Crowe this way and that for a photo call in his kitchen. It was clearly a new experience for Crowe, who prefers humility.

His condominium is very much like himself; in the middle of everything, overflowing with information and appropriately adorned with the sacred. His study boasts eight ledges of books, taking up two whole walls of the room. There are plenty of Irish books, naturally, but also quite a few histories, biographies and studies of revolutionaries from Russia and Cuba. Holy pictures adorn the fridge, and a St. Bridget's Cross hangs over the door. Painted onto one of the walls is an ornate Celtic-designed piece of Maeve, Queen of Connacht.

Outside, his window boasts a magnificent view of Lake Ontario and the coastline as it rises towards the Scarborough Bluffs in the east. Out the south window, one can gaze at the downtown Toronto skyline. And as if to underscore the proximity to downtown, he is located on the approach route for the medivac helicopters that service the University Avenue hospitals. The chopper's roar reminds one of travel, which Crowe has taken to with great relish and obvious delight.

"You name it, I was there," he says of his world travels. He reckons that he has been around the world at least three times, having visited at least 154 countries.

But it all began in Limerick City, where he was born in 1934. He lived near St. Joseph's Church on O'Connell Avenue, "Three blocks away from where Richard Harris was born and three blocks away from that Angela's Ashes lane...I went in that lane every morning on my way to church and it was terrible poverty. It had the wealthiest and the poorest," he recalls. In the area immediately surrounding the lane was a Presbyterian Church, and well-to-do homes for professional people like doctors, lawyers and priests. "Limerick is a very sophisticated city now," he says. "I hadn't forgotten Limerick. I always think of it." His family roots run deep in the Treaty County, in some surprising ways. "My father is supposed to have been the first man to drive a car in Limerick," he says proudly, and he claims his uncle Mick Crowe refereed two All-Ireland finals. Going even further back, he states that his family were serfs to the Earl of Desmond.

He entered the seminary at the age of 18, and for the next few years, his journey towards the priesthood took him far and wide. He left Limerick in 1953 and served his postulancy in Wales, and in 1954 went to South Africa and entered the St. Jean Vianney Papal College in Pretoria, where he studied philosophy for three years. He spent his novitiate in Scotland, followed by four years of theological studies at St. Peter's Seminary in London, Ontario. Later he studied for his B.A. degree in History at Assumption University in Windsor. He later received his Masters Degree from the University of Toronto. While his intellectual and travel experiences continued apace, his religious life was about to take an unexpected turn. After ten years of intense study and devotion for the priesthood, Crowe's order "threw me out, a couple of weeks from my ordination." While he was understandably very disappointed, he told himself that he would "have to pull yourself together." But Crowe's life was still headed in the direction of instruction, though this time of a more secular nature. In 1963, he accepted a post as Vice Principal with the Catholic School Board in Brampton. He later moved to the Neil McNeill Holy Ghost (Spiritans) School in Scarborough as the Head of History. Afterwards, he moved on to the Winston Churchill Collegiate high school, also in Scarborough, where he served as a history and contemporary religions teacher, where he taught for his last 24 years until retirement. During his long, 34-year teaching career, he also taught hockey and soccer, and helped run the school United Nations Club. His more famous students included the likes of the late, great comedy legend John Candy, NHL star Brad Park, and Liberal M.P. Maria Minna.

On top of his school community activities, he still found time for the Toronto Irish community in various forms and capacities. Crowe even has a long history with this publication, serving as our longest serving contributor with his always witty and insightful "Night Owl," column, which has appeared regularly since 1980. "I think I've grown a bit as a writer," he says with a laugh. He remembers the early days of the News when it appeared in newspaper format, and assembling the paper with the likes of Lou Manning and John Donovan. "I remember we were gluing together the ads and we made it up there with bits of paper," he recalls of those pre-computer days.

He also helped found another community institution, the Toronto Irish Players, enjoying roles in more than 25 productions. His most "notable" part was when he took up the role of Jimmy Jack in Brian Friel's Translations. He even won the Eastern Canadian Amateur Theatre Award for his thespian skills. For a time he also served as the Secretary of the Irish Canadian Aid and Cultural Society, as well as being the Mayor of the Shannon Caravan Pavilion some eight times. Those extra-curricular activities would be enough to keep one hopping. But his charity work also fills out a fair bit of his day planner, and it is of these endeavors that he is perhaps most proud.

One of the more prominent of Crowe's activities was his work with the Matthew 25 Society, where he helped build an orphanage at Ranaghat, in Calcutta, India, for the children of the city's red light district.
"I was always a supporter of the poor," he says. "I met the children and it blew me away. I wanted to work for the poor and I wanted to get my place in Heaven. To work with the poor, you have to become one of them, really. Otherwise, they won't come near you.
"While the poor need a hand up, those offering the hand-up also need help too, which Crowe did, trying not to forget the older members of the faith. "When I was abroad in Africa and India, I'd always visit the old Irish nuns in the country and bring them chocolates. Everywhere I went, it was all Irish nuns!" However, his efforts were not always appreciated by the ladies. Once, he stopped to visit a 90-year-old Irish nun in Calcutta.
"Are you from Ireland?" she asked.
"Yes," replied Crowe.
"Are you important?" she asked.
"No," said Crowe.
"Then I don't want to talk to you!" she said indignantly.

While in India, he got to experience one of the many great moments of his life, even though it came at a sad time for the church. At about 5 a.m. local time one morning in September 1997, in a small town some 60 km north of Calcutta, a nun approached Crowe and informed him that Mother Teresa has died. In the following days, he secured a coveted VIP invitation to Mother Teresa's funeral and was seated in the same area of the stadium as Crown Princess Masako of Japan. Even the Communist Prime Minister of the State stopped to pay his respects. Even though he was late, "he was very nice to her." "The whole of Calcutta stood still for her funeral," he recalls of the day she was laid to rest. "It was wrenching but it was a magnificent funeral."

When she was alive, Crowe was sometimes invited to gatherings where Mother Teresa would be in attendance, but he chose to keep his distance and never got to meet her face-to-face, "because everyone was always around her. I was afraid to go over to her."

Closer to home, his charity work continues. He is currently involved with Dr. Andrew Simone's Food for Children charity in Mississauga as a supervisor for high school volunteer groups, as well as being a volunteer mentor to the elderly and frail in local hospitals. It is a schedule that could weaken a younger man of less resolve. But Crowe sees it as a necessary ingredient in his life.

"You've got to participate in the game, that's what the old Greek said," he says. "Wisdom is experience and knowledge and sensitivity. There's the victory, I think."

Editor's Note:(Toronto Irish News) On behalf of the Irish community I would like to publicly thank Gerry Crowe for a lifetime of dedication to our community and to humanity as a whole. Our Night Owl continues to bring joy and laughter to all around him and especially to our next generation that are always at the receiving end of his magnanimous heart and generosity. Yes, we'll" Remember Limerick" and the man with the fur coat.

© Kieran Glynn 2008