It's with a heavy heart that we are announcing the sad news of the departure of our beloved Fellow Rotarian Dennis Kuysten. Our deepest condolences to his wife Lu Ann Lafrenz, his son Kristopher, family and friends.
Dennis Kuysten of Bobcaygeon, formerly of Willowdale, Ontario passed away at home October 28, 2021 at the age of 68. Beloved husband of Lu Ann Lafrenz and dear father of Kristopher. Dennis is survived by his wife, son, mother Anne Gauthier (Brockville), sister Wilma Kuysten (Brockville), nephew Harris Lemon (Kingston) and brother Laurence (estranged), and numerous in-law family members in Iowa and Illinois. Dennis is predeceased by father Adriann Stephanus. Dennis was born and raised in Brockville, Ontario. Dennis worked in the Fleet Management industry for over 40 years and was part of the founding team at Transportaction Lease Systems Inc. (TLS) His work legacy was creating and implementing innovative ways to procure the funding needed to grow TLS into one of the largest fleet management companies in Canada. He is credited with being the first to develop and implement funding by way of “securitization”, which is used by all corporations in the industry today. After retiring from TLS, he continued in the industry by starting Tax Plan Leasing.
For almost a quarter of a century many wonderful memories were created at the family cottage on beautiful Stoney Lake. Involvement in Boy Scouts started for Dennis as a youth and grew into an adult leadership role in the 6th Willowdale Scouts. After retirement Dennis became active in the Willowdale Rotary Club and he was a former president and Paul Harris Fellow. Recently he was involved in both the Fenelon Falls and Bobcaygeon Probus clubs. Amazing friendships were born from his curling at Avon Lea (Toronto), Bayview Golf & Country Club (Thornhill), Bobaygeon Curling Club and the Canada to Scotland 2014 Rotary Curling Tour Team. Additional activities he enjoyed include travelling across Canada and internationally, water sports, winter sports, winter and RV camping, golfing, cooking, playing cards, listening to 60s music and using up eight of his nine lives on motorcycles. Anyone that knew Dennis would say “he has a sense of humor, with a joke for every subject” and “stay away from talking politics unless you’re up for a hardy debate".
Thank you Dennis for all your great years of service. You will be missed.
Rotary Club of Willowdale would like to extent it's utmost gratitude for all the great contributions we received in 2020-2021. We are at the end of another Rotary year, and It was an honour to serve you as President. I am handing over the GAVEL to our President Elect Chungsen Leung.
Thank you everybody for a beautiful Virtual Turn Over meeting on June 26th, 2021. This was our second one, and I sincerely hope we will have the next one in person with all our Fellow Rotarians.
It's an understatement to mention that it was a very tough year for many! The Pandemic was a big lesson for all of us. The Rotary Club of Willowdale suffered the loss of great members and partners. Jan, Deborah and Carol, we will miss you forever!
Despite it all, people contributed to our projects, and for that we are grateful. Because of your kind donations, our projects were successful and made a significant difference in the life of many in Canada and abroad.
Thank you for contributing to: our Ham & Cheese project benefiting North York Salvation Army, our first Rotary Foundation Virtual Walk, our Food Bank benefiting North York Harvest Food Bank, The Phillips House project at the North York General Hospital, The Arusha School project in Tanzania Africa, The Kerala Schools Project in India -- offering computers to 15 schools in 4 districts, our Gratitude Garden project honouring our front line workers, SMILES benefiting locals and people in the Dominican Republic, and many more projects we are proud of.
I have no doubt that our projects will continue to be successful in the very capable hands of our magnificent team and new board members. Thank you for giving me this wonderful opportunity to serve you, and a big thank to my family for all the great support during this past unprecedented year. Service Above All!
Working Committees:
Fund Raising | Heather Graeme (Chair/Coordinator) Jobson Easow Margaret Adat John Simpson (Ham & Cheese) |
Speakers | Al Warren (Chair/Coordinator) Bill King Peter Vanek |
International/Community Projects
| Jobson Easow (Chair/Coordinator) Margaret Adat Heather Graeme |
Environmental Initiatives | Stephen Philips (Chair/Coordinator) Chungsen Leung |
Technical Support (Virtual Meetings) | Al Warren |
Legacy Projects:
Arusha, Tanzania - Margaret Adat
Kerela, India - Jobson Easow
Salvation Army (Literacy & Christmas Luncheon) - Dae-Gun Kim
Gratitude Garden - Heather Graeme
Scouts Peace Award (new) - Heather Graeme
Tree Planting (environmental) - Stephen Philips
Water Projects - Peter Vanek
70th Anniversary Celebration - Bill King (Coordinator) Stephen Philips
