Lawrence & Marie Foon, Ben Houng visit the late Lee Park Yuen's Family in Fiji. 6th May 2010
 
Some comments from Lawrence Foon. More photos here.
" Ben, Marie and I went to visit Parks wife and children whilst we were in Fiji in early May.
We wanted to express our condolences personally, as well as hand over a card which some of the MOB's here in Sydney had put together for her and the children.
I think they were a bit nervous at the prospect of meeting us, but within a short time, we were all relaxed and chatting like old friends.
Meeting up with Tokasa after so many yrs, meeting Park's children for the first time, and walking into his home, was a sad and yet uplifting experience.
We couldnt get over how much his son, Jeremy, looked and sounded so much like his father. His mannerisms, the way he spoke, and his overall personality reminded me so much of the young Park we all remember from our school days.
Parks family and their home reflected so much about him: he was a humble, quietly spoken no frills kinda guy, truly a gentleman.
His kids, Jaclyn the eldest, Jeremy and Annie, were lovely, and I am sure he would have been so proud to introduce them to us.
Walking into his home, sitting amongst his family, was a moving experience for us. In a sense, we were there to share their sense of sorrow in a personal, almost physical way.
When I hugged Tokasa and the kids, I couldn't think of what to say, so I said nothing and just held them for a moment. I cant begin to grasp all the pain and sorrow they must have gone through and will continue to for a long time. The sadness in their eyes spoke volumes.
There were some lighthearted moments as Ben and I recounted some of our experiences with Park, and we got his kids giggling when I said that the girls used to really chase after him in school! I am sure the same thing must be happening to his son now!
Jeremy wanted to show us the DVD of the funeral service and burial, and it was sad and yet beautiful at the same time. It was a celebration of his life, with many photos from the past, including the surprise 50th B'day party they threw for him just last November.
Some of the things Tokasa related to us makes me think that he might have had an idea that he wasn't going to be around for much longer. His death is a bit of a mystery, because he wasn't a smoker or heavy drinker, and lived a quiet simple life. It's possible work related stress might have been a likely cause of his heart attack.
One of the things that stayed with me from watching the DVD, was one of the songs in the background, the words of which were "Making music with your friends".
I was so glad we got to meet Tokasa and Park's lovely kids, and I think they were very happy to meet us too.
So long Parker, you were a wonderful friend, and your memory will live on."
Our Lady Help of Christians - 24th May
This Marial feast was instituted by Pius VII in 1815 to celebrate the safe return of the Pope to Rome. Pius VII had been arrested
by order of Napoleon in 1808 and held prisoner until 1814. Following the Congress of Vienna and the battle of Waterloo,
Pius VII returned to Rome in 1815.
Mary under the title, Help of Christians, became the patron of the missions and this is the patronal feast of the Church in Australia.
The Church has used the title ‘help’ to indicate Mary’s role of praying for those in need for many centuries. Mary as the mother
of Jesus, the source of all grace, is a channel of that grace for humanity. Mary intercedes for us with Jesus as she did at Cana.
Marcellin placed all of his projects and struggles into the safekeeping of Mary, confident that she would see them to completion.
Marcellin called Mary his Ordinary Resource, indicating that she was the first he turned to when in need. He was utterly convinced
that Mary had done everything for us. Marcellin had one aim, to follow Christ as Mary did. This feast provides an opportunity for us
to reflect on how we honour Mary and how our Marist schools follow Christ in way of Mary.
We commend the Holy Father and his intentions to Mary under the title Help of Christians.
Prayer
Hail Mary, help of Christians,
Blessed by the Most High!
Virgin of hope, dawn of a new era,
We join in your song of praise,
to celebrate the Lord’s mercy,
to proclaim the coming of God’s Kingdom
and the full liberation of humanity.
Hail Mary, lowly handmaid of the Lord,
holy dwelling-place of the Word.
Teach us to persevere in listening to the Word,
and to be open to the voice of the Spirit,
attentive to his promptings
in the depths of our conscience
and to his manifestations in the events of history.
Hail Mary, woman of faith,
First of the disciples,
Virgin Mother of the Church,
help us to follow Christ as you did.
Help us always to account for the hope that is in us,
with trust in human goodness and the Father’s love.
Teach us to build up the world beginning from within:
in the depths of silence and prayer,
in the joy of fraternal love,
in the unique fruitfulness of the Cross.
Mary, help of Christians,
pray for us.
Amen.
Based on a prayer of John-Paul II.
Lee Park Yuen - R.I.P. Passed away Wednesday 14th April 2010
 The Marist Old Boys in Sydney would like to pass their condolences to the family of Lee Park Yuen who died suddenly on Wednesday 14th April 2010.
Many of our committee members were classmates and close friends of Park who attended MBHS between 1974 and 1977.
Our thoughts and prayers are with his loved ones. He will be sadly missed.
Tributes to Lee Park Yuen
From Lawrence Foon in Sydney:
"It was with great sadness and shock that I got a call yesterday from my wife to let me know that she had heard from Fiji of the passing of Lee Park Yuen, or "Parker" to his close friends.
For those of you who didn't know, Parker, Ben and myself were inseperable in high school and called ourselves the 3 musketeers. Alas, 1 of those 3 has now bitten the dust.
We went places together, and got up to all kinds of mischief together as only boys will do! Parker was a true friend in every sense of the word. He called me "Ikemefuna" after a character in a book we studied for english period with Mr Bob Miles.
One of our daily rituals each day after school was to go to Woolworths milk bar opposite the market and order a 20c millkshake each, and perv at all the schoolgirls that walked into the place, commenting on each one as they came in! If only they knew what we were saying about them!
Ben was also fond of jamming the milkshake cups inside one another, and they were the old fashioned ones made of aluminium in those days, so the staff must have been cursing after we left as they tried to seperate the cups!!
We used to go to Parker's shop in Lami most weekends to walk across to Mosquito Island and spend the day there, then walk back before the tide came in. Sometimes our timing was off and we had to swim back!
I never expected Parker to be the 1st one of us to go, as he always seemed to be fit and slim, just as he was in high school, but apparently he died of a massive heart attack behind the wheel as he was going to pick up his wife Tokasa after work. Just goes to show guys, it can happen to the fittest of us.
I last saw him in Fiji about 3 yrs ago, at the Chinese cemetery where he had come to the funeral of my brother Peter. He told me he had seen the notice in the paper, and took time off work to come as he knew I would be there. I spoke to him for only a few minutes as there were so many people around, but now I wish I had taken the time to spend a lot more time with him, as I know now that was
the last time I would see him.
He pointed out the graves of his family to me, little knowing that he had only 3 more yrs himself to live on this earth.
Its always a poignant thing when we look back and remember the last time we spoke to someone, little knowing that it would be the last time.
Parker didn't have a bad bone in his body. He was kind and generous, and nobody could have said anything bad about him. He was one of those really decent people you meet now and again, who would never do anything wrong by anyone. It fills me with sadness to know I will never speak to him again, and as I sit here typing this, I can still here his voice as clearly as the days when we were in school together.
Ben and I got together last night to reflect on some of the times the 3 of us had spent together, and looking back now, it all seemed so short. Before you know it, the time has flown past, forever to be lost.
Friends, I urge each one of us to treasure our friendships and the time we spend in each others company, as you never know when it is that you will see and speak to each person for the last time. Then you will say, " Gee, I wish we could have just one more session, or meet one more time, but alas, too late now".
Joe Rokosuli - R.I.P. Passed away Tuesday 24th November 2009
A tribute
Today I received sad news of the passing of my good friend Joe Rokosuli. To me he was more than a friend. He was my brother. I have the greatest respect, admiration and love for this kind, happy, loyal brother who I have known since my high school days at MBHS. He was a true gentleman, devoted husband and caring father.
Joe lived the Marist tradition throughout his life. He followed in the footsteps of our founder St Marcellin Champagnat, being actively involved in the life of the school, assisting the old boys and teachers over the last 35 years in improving the learning environment for students. He was generous with his time - nothing was too much for him. He was a genuine person , there was nothing pretentious about Joe. His smile and good humour was like a magnet – it attracted people to him.
When people speak of St Marcellin Champagnat; they describe the essence of his generosity and love as “a heart that knows no bounds”. My brother Joe’s heart certainly knew no bounds. He loved God, his family, friends and even strangers without any reservation. He was always caring about the welfare of others. I recall an incident that happened in 1976 when I was in 5th Form at MBHS. We had a social in Lambert Hall on a Saturday evening. I lived in Raiwaqa at the time and a whole group of us were going to the dance that evening. We got ourselves primed up on some wicked pineapple homebrew during the afternoon and when we came to the hall that night l, I got sick as a dog, throwing up on the playing field. I recalled laying sick next to the goal post that night. Joe came along and helped me up, took me to the boarder’s quarters, cleaned me up and watched over me when I slept. I never forgot that day.
In the years that followed, I moved overseas. But I always made a point of meeting up with Joe every time I returned to Fiji. Some things stay the same. Joe never changed. Since those schooldays. A couple of years ago during one of my visits to Fiji, we went on a pub crawl throughout Suva with some MOBs, I drank like a fish that evening but Joe being like my big brother, drank only juice, watching out for me during the night, as we moved from one drinking hole to another. It was a fantastic night for both of us, catching up on old times. The next day I invited Joe and his family over for dinner at the place where I was staying. He came along with his wife and all his children. He was so proud of their achievements. What a lovely family I thought to myself. But that was not all – he had taken the day off work and together with his sons had made a special lovo for me as I was leaving the next day. I was truly humbled by this gesture. Thee gifts that I had given him seemed insignificant compared to the attention and love I was shown by his whole family.
I am reminded of a line in a Neil Diamond song that speaks of the paradox of life and love, Joe was always generous with his love for others – it was his gift that he always gave away, but he never lost
“… this life is here
And it’s made for living
And loves a gift that’s made for giving
Give it all away and have it still..”
Neil Diamond - “Hell Yeah”
To Joe’s family I wish to convey my deepest sorrow for their loss. I pray that time will heal the pain and that life goes on. I would like them to know that they should be very proud to have shared in Joe’s life – he was special, a wonderful gentleman, a truly decent human being. I will dearly miss my brother, but I am thankful that our paths crossed at critical periods in our journey through life. Our lives have been enriched.
Goodbye Joe.
Lunik Liu
Sydney, Australia
Br Clarent Glynn - R.I.P. 1914 - 2009
It is with deep regret that we inform you that our Brother Clarent passed away peacefully on Sunday 15 November. Brother Colin, in an email this morning, wrote ...
It's just before 9p.m. Sunday evening and Clarent breathed his last oh so gently and peacefully. He Had had reasonable days up until Saturday but did become a little confused and agitated. He had a nurse with him these past two days and was moved to a unit with a great view of Mt Eden.The nurses rang at 6 p.m. tonight to say that after an intake of food his breathing became short. Richard and I went up immediately and Fr Joe Parkinson (Chaplain) was on hand for the last rites.
Looking ahead, expect some details of Clarent's funeral for Wednesday or Thursday.
Prayerfully Colin
 BROTHER CLARENT GLYNN
Leo Glynn was born in Frankton in the Waikato, in 1914. His was a late vocation, coming at the age of 26, after a successful academic
career in physics, culminating in a Master's degree in Science. Clarent would have been one of the first New Zealanders to make a study
of X-ray physics, and he never lost his interest in this area of his favourite subject.
His peer group from Claremont told of many incidents where Clarent used his scientific knowledge to circumvent the rules, or to amuse
his friends. Only Brother Justin was not amused (as Novicemaster, he could not afford to be!).
Clarent's teaching career led him though a number of Marist secondary schools, Tuakau, Sacred Heart College, Greymouth, Gisborne and Palmerston North, before he arrived in Suva in 1956. The story of his appointment to Suva is worth telling. It was a time of great expansion and there were just enough men to fill the spaces (no lay teachers in those days). It seems that Brother Adrian (Provincial) read out the appointments at retreat in 1955, as usual, but then rescinded the list an hour later. Then, when the list was posted, certain Brothers were asked to wait at Tuakau or Sacred Heart until their appointments were finalized. When Adrian called Tuakau to ask for Clarent he was not to be found, nor was he at Sacred Heart, since his name had been omitted completely. Clarent had in fact taken a break at his nearby home, since it seemed he was not wanted in the immediate future.
Clarent inaugurated the Physics department at Marist Brothers High School in 1959. He stocked the physics laboratory with a number of valuable items, including a van de Graaf electrostatic generator capable of storing charge at around 100,000 volts – not a task for the faint-hearted. Clarent's interest never waned: fifty years later he could be found in St Paul's community repairing the school's van de Graaf.
He was not averse to applying his knowledge and skills to constructing a lethal high voltage dog trap to put an end to nocturnal disturbances outside his bedroom.
During his first spell in Suva he sent many high achieving students on to university, and some of these reached the top of their profession in the United States and elsewhere. Years afterwards he received a copy of the 50 page CV of Brahmanand Singh who was in charge of the cardiac pharmacology department in the University of California, and had attended conferences all over the world. Brahmanand was the only straight 'A' student in the senior Cambridge examination, sitting 8 subjects of the 12 available.
Clarent remained on the staff of MBHS in Suva for ten years before returning to New Zealand for another spell at Gisborne, Lower Hutt and St Paul's College.
When he returned to Suva in 1976 he settled down to a long stay, and remained there well into his eighties, a familiar sight to many ex-students of the fifties and sixties, as well as a multitude of more recent graduates of the High School whom he had introduced to the mysteries of physics.
A wonderful man in community, full of challenging humour, never lacking in words for a quick riposte. He was a great devotee of Mary. He followed her progress from Lourdes to Fatima to Garabandal and back.
In the footsteps of Champagnat - a tribute to Br Paul Lavelle - RIP
The following is a tribute to Br Paul Lavelle who passed away suddenly on his return to Fiji after visiting Sydney.
read more....
This photo was the last taken with Br Paul. He is seen here with the Sydney Marist Old Boys and their families.
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