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Old 04-10-2011, 10:57 PM   #11
charlene
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Join Date: May 2000
Posts: 15,877
Default Re: Terry Clements Memorial Service -update

I'm just back from the memorial (it was 7 p.m. when I started this) and reception and Jenney is heading south to Connecticut. She left CT on Friday and finished the journey yesterday arriving at 1 p.m. in Toronto at the same time I did. It was a beautiful sunny and warm day so after unpacking we heading down Yonge St. to window shop and then have dinner.

We awoke this morning to rain and thunder but by the time we arrived at Hart House for 1 p.m. the rain had stopped and the sun was trying to break through the clouds. As we parked the car Richard Harison pulled in to park in front of us so we spent a few moments speaking with him and headed into the beautiful old University of Toronto building.

The Music Room was the perfect venue for the ceremony. At the front of the room was atable set up with a picture of Terry onstage, a wooden urn and beside the table was one of his guitars. Chairs were set up and shortly before 1 it was apparent that the 100 seats were full and another 30 or so would be needed for the overflow of attendees. Rick, Barry, Michael and Gordon, Liona Boyd, Pee Wee (Ed Ringwald), Russell DeCarle (Prairie Oyster) Warren (part time Lightfoot tour manager), Kenyon, TG,(corfid members), Bruce and Larry Good (The Good Brothers) joined many family members and friends who had congregated to celebrate the life of a beloved husband, father, friend, bandmate, and musician.

Terry's brother-in-law spoke of Terry's love of cooking and the travails of going grocery shopping with him. It certainly sounds like Terry was a terrific chef of gourmet meals and had many friends at the grocery store, making new ones in every aisle chatting up people about food and cooking and at times inspecting the grocery carts of other shoppers! Many family meals for all occasions were seen in a slide show of wonderful family pictures.

Rick Haynes talked about Terry and their almost 40 years together as friends and bandmates having met as young men when Terry was hired to replace Red Shea who wanted to stop touring. He confirmed the story of Terry in the grocery store as he too had spent time with him shopping while out on tour. He said they both shared a love of R&B music. Rick said that everyone Terry met was given his full attention, showing his kindness and a special affinity for young children who were interested in music.

Terry had one son, Steffan from his first marriage (3 grand-daughters), he married again, to Rosalynne and became a father to his new wife's daughter, Elicia and 5 years later they had another daughter named Shaleena. Terry always spoke so proudly of his children and and today his beautiful daughters shared their pride and love of their father. Elicia told us that Terry loved one particular piece of music by a Canadian classical guitarist, Jesse Cook and thru her laptop and the speakers in the room we listened to a beautiful song that Elicia will always remember her father by. There were tears of course but also some funny moments during the afternoon. Terry's sister-in-law also spoke and told us of her love for Terry and how much she adored him.

When Shaleena spoke she warned us that like her father laughed at his own jokes she would be the first to laugh at her own jokes too. She had a beautiful slide show of photographs that showed us Terry’s life almost from the day he was born. Those twinkly eyes and impish grin were clearly evident even in pictures of him as a toddler. His time as a young boy growing up in California, surfing and playing guitar at the beach coloured everything that came afterwards in his life. Nothing was as good as it was in California! Lol

There were many pictures of family and friends sitting around the table with plenty of food fixed by the very capable hands of Terry. At one birthday occasion the 'cake' was actually a turkey with numerical candles of 3 and 1. The picture showed Terry grinning like crazy getting ready to carve the bird. There were old pictures of Terry with members of the Lightfoot musical family over the years, all so young and exuberant looking, the world at their feet.

Elicia had an imaginary friend as a child. That friend was named Shaleena so it made sense to name the new baby sister the same name. I thought that was so adorable. Shaleena said her father knew that she and Elicia and their cousin all had great singing voices at very young ages. There was a picture of the three of them as young girls singing Amazing Grace. Since Terry's death the three of them had recorded an a cappella version 'because their minstrel was gone" and they regretted never having recorded it with their father any time they had sang it. She played the recording and it was the sweetest, most stirring rendition I have ever heard. When it finished there was a moments silence and then a huge spontaneous burst of applause from the crowd. It was a lovely, lovely moment that the girls appreciated.
Terry's wife Rosalynne spoke and gave special thanks to Gordon, to Rick and Marilyn Haynes for their unwavering support and to all the others who have offered support and comfort and special thanks to her two daughters.

Gordon also had a few words to say..actually to read. He had a sheaf of papers in his hand and said he had some e-mails to read that he had received. He was reading from the printout I had sent him of the condolences here at corfid. I had planned on sending them to only Terry's family but at the last moment I copied another set and sent a note with them to Gordon thinking he might like to read them as well, not thinking they would be what he’d read at the memorial! He had some noted with a red dot and read messages from Jenney, Sir John, Melissa, Gord H., T.G., Richard Miller, LadyA, Kelly Davis, teherie, Kelly Davis to name a few.

After that portion of the afternoon we were invited to stay and have something to eat and drink. Tables were laid with platters of fruits and vegetables, sandwiches, buns cheeses.. all kinds of yummy things. Terry would have loved it. Many of the chairs were folded up so the guests could move around and mingle and watch the photos that were playing on the screen and some music that Terry loved played softly in the background, including some of his own and Pee Wee Charles version of Amazing Grace that he had done especially for the memorial.

Mingling around I spoke with Rosalynne (Roz) who expressed her thanks for the messages I sent from people here at corfid. I also spoke with Liona Boyd and then Bruce Good whom I met back in January at Hugh’s Room. When I spoke with Gordon he thanked me for the condolence messages and introduced me to (the former) Mrs. Lightfoot, Liz, saying Char is the main internet person who keeps the fans informed. I then told Liz not to be afraid..lol I told him it was very nice of him to acknowledge the fans who loved Terry. I also spoke with Michael and Rick and Shaleena. I told her she did a wonderful job and Terry would have been pleased. It was great to talk with Ed again too and meet his wife. He’s been busy with George Canyon and on the road and overseas with him and having a grand time. Of course seeing Kenyon is always a delight and we caught up on the wedding preparations he and Johanna are making for their their August nuptials. We left around 4:30 after saying our goodbyes and headed out on our respective journeys after Jenney dropped me off at Union Station. I’m always happy to spend time with Sparky, share some laffs, chats, eat and shop. The time went far too quickly but we had a grand time.

I’m sure more details will come to me over the next few days and that Jenney will have some to add. For now I am just thankful to have attended such a loving memorial that was a testament to a man who was deeply loved and adored by so many. He will always be missed and remembered.
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