Blessing Counting

Last updated: Saturday, December 27, 2003 3:51:33 PM

The purpose of this part of the site is to celebrate Fred's life. Please e-mail me your stories about how he was able to make you laugh and/or why you are a better person for having known him.

"Dear  Shirley, Gillian, David, Karen, Donna and Jeffrey,

As you come close to the funeral day , I offer my deep felt sympathies and condolences  to you all . These have been sad days for you. And the harsh winter weather and the long nights must be adding to the sense of gloom. I will be present with you in spirit and offer my Mass for his soul.

Over here as they hear the news many have come to express their condolences. One of the first was Sr Marie Cecile and Sr Marion – but several others,  also in the office  -  all recalled that Fred was the “jovial guy”  who was full of good humour and witty remarks and liked to practise his Urdu.

On  a personal note, I would like to write a few lines of sympathy and of hope as you and the family pass through this time of grieving at the loss of one so close to you for so many years.

It is time of remembering. The house where you shared so many happy moments over the past twenty five years must feel strangely empty and full of memories.  It is a standing monument to his life’s work for his family.

I came to know Fred quite well on my many visits - he was mostly alone and we would chat about many things , especially about the situation in Pakistan. I also accompanied him on his Christopher missions and the Heart and Stroke presentations. Well, a lot could be written about those. He was a heart patient himself and he lived with this ailment to a ripe old age in this uncertain condition. 

He had a great love for Pakistan . So it was fortunate that he traveled there at the time of my Episcopal ordination and stayed on for one month more in Karachi and enjoyed the tastes and sounds of the “home country”, besides meeting all his relations and old buddies. It was his last trip to his native land and he got a great thrill out of it.

Fred lived life to the full and he was engaged in many church and social activities . Finally, he left this life for a better life - his heavenly home. Death is not the end of the road – it is a transformation, a continuance rather than a cessation. In God , all are alive. And our loved ones go beyond all sorrow and tears into a state of total goodness and eternal bliss.  Death is no barrier to communication. We can still communicate with them in our heart and mind.

In the end  I would say: We had Fred for a number of good years and he made us happy with his jolly jokes and hearty laughter. We are sorry to see him go but now that God has called him back home, let us let go and rejoice with him . And let us not be selfish in wanting it to be any other way.

May Fred may make his own  the beautiful words of Psalm 22 –

                          My Shepherd is the Lord…

                          There is nothing I shall want..

                          Near restful waters he leads me…

                          In the Lord’s own house shall I dwell for ever and ever.

        Prayer:

            God of light, to live in your house is the desire of all your children,

            Grant eternal light to your servant Fred and

            a reward for all his kind deeds on earth.

We pray for his family and all those who mourn his passing that the power of Christ’s love may lift them up, renew their hope and help them in all their needs. Amen.           

           Farewell, Fred, and may the saints go marching with you into the pearly gates of paradise!  Amen, brother!"

His Grace, Larry Saldanha, Archbishop of Lahore


"Hi Dave, 

I was saddened and indeed shocked to hear of Freds (your Dads) untimely death. For me it was extra sorrowful as he had only telephoned me about a fortnight ago.
It was the first time I had spoken to him since we met in Karachi in 1967, when Gill and I were on the way to settle in New Zealand. In fact both Shirley and Fred were very good and hospitable to us. We had dinner at your place and Fred took us to Mangophir in his mini to see the crocodiles and a general tour which Gill (a Kiwi) and I remember well to this day. Its hard to believe that Fred has gone and it will be a hard void to fill for Shirley, you and the rest of the family.
Tell Shirtey that Gill and I are thinking of her and you all at this very sad time and we hope and pray that God will give you all the strength  and courage to bear your great loss  
 
Ironically, I was hoping to visit Canada, maybe next year
and was thinking of asking Alec to arrange a visit so that we could catch up with Fred and have a chat or swap yarns about the old days in Karachi.
 
Gill and I send our love to you, your Mum Shirley and all of the family. Take care for now and hope to hear from you sometime.
 
Tony Mendonca"

"Frederico!
I used to sometimes call him that David and then burst into Urdu asking him how he was.  Fred was always so warm hearted, and funny, we always had a good laugh together!.  It was so heart breaking to see him slipping away from us, and I will miss him so much especially when we have our family get togethers. My sincere sympathies and prayers go out to you and your Mum and your brother and sisters and family.  You have done a superb job of the memorial to Fred!  He will be in our hearts forever!
 
love
 
Sandy Maxwell"

"Hi Dave,
 
it is 4am Sunday morning, I understand that Uncle Fred's funeral mass would be right about now and so I have offered a few prayers in his name.  Admittedly, I only met Uncle Fred when I was six years old.  He came to Karachi on a holiday and I will always remember how he kept me entertained. He actually sat on my lap one evening when we all went to have ice cream, everyone was most amused by this as you can imagine he was alot bigger than me.  In the following years I spoke to him a few times on the phone and he always had something funny to say. 
 
Congratulations on a fantastic job with the web site.  I really admire the courage it must have
taken for you to set up the memorial page but as my dad says the Zuzartes can get through anything.
 
 I look forward to visiting Canada one day and meeting all of you'll
 
love and God Bless,

Susan Zuzarte"

"In memory of Fred,

Fred was passionate about his beliefs, none stronger than the defense of his cultural origins. I had several interesting discussions with him and agreed with him on many issues, though not always on the ways and means of expression.

His discussions with Dad were sessions of mutual enjoyment, Fred’s booming voice was one of the few in the family that Dad could follow with his hearing impairment. As Jeffrey said in his moving eulogy, Dad must have been waiting to resume his arguments with Fred!

In 1988, as part of a documentary on immigrants, Radio- Canada came to our house to film a get-together between the Saldanha and Gauthier clans. I have a delicious memory of this occasion, seeing my Québecois nationalist brother-in-law, Paul, standing arm-in-arm with my Pakistani nationalist brother-in-law, Fred, arguing for the expression of cultural differences; and, on the opposite side, Dad, forcefully defending the Canadian identity à la Pierre Trudeau, of whom Dad was a great admirer. Unfortunately the film crew had left by then, but I thought they missed the best part that never found its way into the final production.

Audrey Saldanha"

"HI David,

Like I promised you, I found the story I wrote after talking to your dad in 2001. I read over it again, to remind myself of what the story was, and decided that it wasn't so much about "Mr. Zuzarte", but rather how he saw "home" - Pakistan, and tried to interpret it to me through his eyes.

The purpose of the story was originally an assignment for my third-year "Feature Writing" journalism class. It was to learn how to include colour - that is, description in my news stories, and how to make a place or a person me or my readers have never seen, REAL. Looking back, it was incredibly easy to make Pakistan seem REAL, because of how your dad described it to me, over the phone, half a country away. I believe I received a very good mark on the story, but that is neither here nor there. I know I gave a copy of the story to your dad, so I'm sure both he and your mom read it. I hope they enjoyed it, and that having you post it on the website, will bring joy and a little piece of your dad's love for his country to all of the family and friends that visit.

I have also included the rough notes that I made from that conversation, just for you to browse through and maybe learn a little bit more about your dad that you didn't know. Please don't post these as they are, because they ARE very rough (I only understand them because I know what my shorthand is).

Again, my love and condolences to you and your family. Enjoy the story.

Jen
Jennifer McCauley"

Jen is the daughter of Mom and Dad's neighbours. You can download Jen's story by clicking here.

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