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Jeff Misener posted a condolence
Saturday, January 20, 2024
Although I am a little late to post a remembrance on the occasion of Mrs. Zilinsky's passing, I must comment of the impact that she had on my life. As a student in her grade 8 enrichment class (Class 85 of 1976-77) at Ridgeway, I never ceased to be amazed at her ability to teach with caring candour. She knew how to motivate and inspire, correct and counsel. I remember the days of our "little grammar books" and multiplication drills on the blackboard (none of us could match the speed of Bruce Jenkins!). She possessed remarkable cursive skills on the board, and her infectious laugh fuelled hope and joy in all of us.
I had contact with her again when she and Mrs. Bagg, my grade 7 teacher at Ridgeway, accepted an invitation to attend my high school graduation in Peterborough, ON, and one last time when we had a delightful lunch on a cold winter's day in Oshawa.
Often my thoughts would hearken back to her, wondering how she was getting along. I now know.
God's peace to all her family and closest friends.
Jeffrey Misener
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Tom Hodgson posted a condolence
Thursday, October 19, 2023
I was Shirley's principal for one year at Ridgeway on a special assignment during 1975-76. It was an uplifting experience to work with Shirley and the other staff and students. It didn't take long for the grade 7 and 8 students to appreciate Mrs. Zilinsky's professionalism as a teacher. I felt complimented when she asked me to teach her gifted students the interesting book "The Silver Sword". I took it that she approved of my professional approach to my work. From the beginning of my year there, we appreciated each others approach to teaching history and English. She was a gifted teacher.
Julius, Please accept my and Marie's deepest sympathy.
Tom Hodgson
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Jane Alker posted a condolence
Wednesday, October 18, 2023
I was very saddened to hear of Shirley’s passing. She was my grade history teacher at King Street Senior Elementary School as Miss Farndale. She was able to make me a history student for the rest of my life.As a student teacher she was one of my associate teachers at Ridgeway Senior School and what she taught me was invaluable in my career about how to teach and how to interact with students. I was then hired on the Ridgeway staff where I became a colleague for thirteen fantastic years.But I always found it difficult to call her Shirley out of respect I had for her. Love to Julius
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Kathy Galloway posted a condolence
Wednesday, October 18, 2023
I was very sad to hear the news of Shirley's unexpected passing. Take care Julius. You are in our thoughts and prayers. May God give you comfort, peace and strength today and in the days ahead.
Deepest sympathy.
Kathy Galloway and family
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Darryl Sherman posted a condolence
Monday, October 16, 2023
She was one of most influential teachers . Had lunch with her and Kathy Petron a few years ago. She loved to travel and hear about her former students and successes. My deepest condolences to the Zelinsky family.
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Janet Hodder (Fice) posted a condolence
Monday, October 16, 2023
My memory of Mrs. Zilinsky echoes many of the sentiments shared here. A favourite teacher, exemplary teaching, and fond memories of being one of her students. I was fortunate to have her as my homeroom teacher in Grade 8 at Ridgeway Sr. Public School in the late 70s; I still have my little math and grammar books. A particular memory that stands out is having to learn how to spell all of our classmates first, middle and last names to perfection ... to this day I am very careful to spell peoples' names accurately! My grammar and math skills have suffered as I age, but I have her to thank for being an excellent speller!
Sending my deepest condolences to Mr. Zilinsky and their extended family and dear friends. I pray he finds comfort in reading all of these messages of condolence that convey just how special his wife was to hundreds of students.
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John and Mary Hogg posted a condolence
Monday, October 16, 2023
Sending our sincere condolences to you, Julius, at this difficult time. Both John and I taught on the same staff with Shirley over the years. In fact, our own children , Diane and David were fortunate to be taught by Shirley at Ridgeway Senior School. They would say that Shirley made History come to life and that good grammar and spelling were a necessity! The little grammar book will never be forgotten!
God Bless,
John and Mary Hogg
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Robynne Smith posted a condolence
Monday, October 16, 2023
My mom, Nancy Smith (Lowery) was Shirley's maid of honour all those years ago. Last summer, I had the privilege of taking my mom to Shirley and Julius' anniversary dinner. So glad mom and I got to see you both. God bless.
Robynne Smith
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Dennis Radovic posted a condolence
Saturday, October 14, 2023
I had the honour of being a grade 8 student in Mrs. Zilinsky’s class at Ridgeway Senior P.S. She had a kind, caring and wonderful personality that enabled her to endear herself to each student in the class. She connected with each student on a personal level and encouraged them to strive for their potential. She had a sense of humour that made learning fun! I genuinely looked forward to going to her class every day.
A great teacher not only instructs a student when they are in class but they empower the students to go forward and make a positive impact on others. Mrs. Zilinsky was that teacher! It was because of her that I became a teacher.
I would like to express my sincere condolences to Mr. Zilinsky and to the extended family and friends.
Dennis Radovic
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Marion Mills posted a condolence
Saturday, October 14, 2023
Shirley Zilinsky: gracious, intelligent, loyal, caring. She and Julius were great theatre-going companions, and we always had the best conversations during dinner, after the theatre. She will be missed by so many!
Julius: To me, you and Shirley were kindred spirits and such a fine example of spouses who enjoyed each other’s company, the world, and the people in it. Your obvious care for each other was always heart-warming. ❤️
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Caroline Rendall (Mossey) posted a condolence
Friday, October 13, 2023
Mrs. Zilinsky holds a special place in my memory. I hope she had at least some inkling of the positive impact she had on her students. I can still envision the twinkle in her eyes when she was teasing someone, and coaxing them to do better. She made school fun, and although it was decades ago, I have so many clear memories of my time in her class.
My sincere condolences to her family.
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Monica Clarke posted a condolence
Friday, October 13, 2023
I'm sad to hear of the passing of Mrs. Zilinsky. Sincere condolences to her husband Julius and her many friends. She was a wonderful teacher! I loved hearing her travel stories and the story of how she got her driver's license. She was tough but fair and fun and she helped me realize I really could do well in school!
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James Ridge posted a condolence
Friday, October 13, 2023
My sympathies to Julius and family.
Mrs. Zilinsky was a wonderful, and much respected, teacher. I certainly remember her as one of my very favourites. Perhaps what I remember most is that she treated us like adults, not kids, which was a first for me. She also expected us to think and act like adults, which was also a first, and probably an important step into actual adulthood. In doing so she changed my understanding of what a great teacher was. She was more than a superb history teacher, she was clearly passionate about the subject, its importance, and the criticality of her students actually knowing our history. A lot of other teachers seemed like they were just going through the motions, but Mrs. Zilinsky was different: She genuinely cared about what she taught, and cared about those of us lucky enough to have her as a teacher.
James Ridge
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Karyne Whalen posted a condolence
Friday, October 13, 2023
I was so sad to hear of Mrs. Zilinsky 's passing. I was a student in her grade 8 enrichment class at Ridgeway back in 1980. She was an amazing teacher- strict but great. I loved hearing all about her travels. She went to countries people weren't travelling to at the time and it mesmerized me. I loved her telling of the Louis Riel uprising! I still have the little math and grammar book we made in her class. I remember she would tap us on the head with that wee grammar paper book if we spelled anything wrong or said bad grammar! It worked! She was a quality teacher. I now work in Education and tell stories of being in her class and what we learned that year. I had the privilege of running into her last year at a restaurant and got to thank her for being such a great teacher. She looked the same with the same grin and humour. She remembered me. I was impressed! Sending my sympathy to Mr. Zilinsky (who was my principal at Woodcrest) and family and friends. I wonder if she really did have triplet nephews called Tom Dick and Harry like she told us! Sending prayers. Love, Karyne Whalen
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Monica Dyment posted a condolence
Thursday, October 12, 2023
I was sad to learn of the passing of Mrs. Zilinsky, my most favourite teacher. I was a student of hers in my Grade 8 year at Ridgeway Public School. Mrs. Zilinsky was a very passionate person and her enthusiasm for teaching translated into her daily lessons. I mean, who else could have possibly created so much excitement around learning English grammar? But, in addition to always engaging her students, Mrs. Zilinsky managed her classes with the perfect balance of structure and humour. I went on to become an elementary teacher and Mrs. Zilinsky served as my role model on many occasions. I spent most of my career working with Intermediate students, as she did, and I found teaching that age group to be fun and rewarding. Thanks Mrs. Zilinsky for your amazing mentorship and your memorable life lessons!
My heartfelt condolences to her husband, Julius, other family members and her close friends. I know that you will be missed.
Monica Dyment (Moores)
Grade 8 Class of 1975
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Richard Veenstra posted a condolence
Thursday, October 12, 2023
Not often, but sometimes, we meet and get to know people who have a lasting positive impact on our lives. And as impressionable children or adolescents, it might be a teacher. Mrs. Zilinsky was one of those rare people for me. She was my Grade 8 teacher about 45 years ago. I truly believe that I came to enjoy studying languages as much as I do because of her. Her approach was very rule-based, very much focussed on practicing the application of those rules to the point that it just sunk in. It sunk in to the extent that I often quote her "Little Grammar Book" when people don't understand why I've corrected part of their text.
But her style of teaching history was quite different. She told stories of Canadian history as if she had observed the events from the front lines. I remember her mesmerizing a class of 30 or so teenagers, which seems an impossible feat to me now. A specific recollection I have is one of her asking to meet me after class to give me feedback on a speech I had written. "It's not very good", she had said, or something like that. I often think of it and laugh when I review my own work these days because public speaking has become something I now enjoy quite a bit.
Just a few years ago I had lunch with her and two other friends from the day. She shared observations from her many travels and her life as a youngster in Oshawa, and expressed her regret at having taught what she had come to consider a biased version of Canadian history concerning indigenous Canadians. It just made me appreciate her even more. Her willingness to question what she had once taken as fact is probably most exemplary of the spirit of openness and curiosity that she had and that she inspired in so many of us over the decades of a career that she had every right to be proud of.
I'm just one of several hundreds of people she touched and who will remember the way she altered their path for the better.
My sincere condolences to her husband, Julius and other family members and close friends.
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Stuart Hyderman posted a condolence
Thursday, October 12, 2023
My condolences to her family and friends. Mrs Zilinsky was my grade 9 teacher in 1965-6.
She was the epitome of the passionate professional, gifted with exceptional grace.
This is someone who made a huge difference for so many.
I was saddened to learn of her passing on a Ridgeway Public school social media group.
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Annette Cunningham uploaded photo(s)
Thursday, October 12, 2023
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Mrs. Zilinski was hands down, my favourite teacher. To this day, when asked to provide security questions for a password, I still use "Zilinski" as "last name of my favourite teacher". She had a lasting impact on me and I'm sure so many more students who had the privilege of having her at the front of their classroom would say the same. Mr. Zilinski, my deepest condolences to you, your friends and extended family as you deal with the loss of a very special woman. And just for fun, I have attached a couple of photos to make former students smile. I'm forever grateful to Mrs. Zilinski for hammering grammar rules into my head in Grade 8 at Ridgeway. Apparently, my handwriting was also much neater back in '75!
Sincerely,
Annette Cunningham (Weber)
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Julie Allen posted a condolence
Thursday, October 12, 2023
My deepest condolences to her husband and family. Mrs. Zilinski was my favourite all time teacher. She could teach history in such a way that you were engaged and enthralled by her storytelling, and at the same time you learned. I had her as a teacher for grade 7 and 8, and she has made a lasting impact on my life.
As a young girl, her presence and confidence inspired me. Rest in peace, Mrs. Zilinski, I am certain you will be missed.
Julie Allen (Helps)
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Dorothy DeGray posted a condolence
Thursday, October 12, 2023
Mrs. Zilinski was my history teacher at Ridgeway Public school and what an educator she was. Her ability to engage her students was exceptional. I also remember she was always impeccably put together and her presence garnered respect.
Mr. Zilinski my heartfelt condolences go out to you and your family. You and your wife had such a positive impact on me and others.
Sincerely,
Dorothy DeGray (Cziranka)
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Loreen Gambell posted a condolence
Thursday, October 12, 2023
my sincere sympathy to Julius. I knew Shirley from the Durnam District School Board. I also knew her grandparents in Brooklin and met her there when we were children.
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The family of Shirley Zilinsky uploaded a photo
Wednesday, October 11, 2023
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