Charles (Chuck) Kastner
The Man, The Myth, The Legend has had his final dance on this earth. He went peacefully, in his ninety-sixth year, on Wednesday, September 4, 2019, listening to Frank Sinatra croon “I did it my way”. Chuck was born on August 4, 1924 to Etta Herscovitch and Abraham Kastner. Dear brother and brother-in-law of Mel and Carole Kastner, Enid and the late Ed (Babe) Kastner, the late Vera and the late Morris Klein. He joined the RCAF in 1943 and got his wings in 1945 as a fighter pilot. Luckily for us, he had a couple of hernias, which required surgery and recuperation, and during that time, the war ended. As a 20-year-old, who had finished his training and had high hopes of doing his part, he was very disappointed that he didn’t get to show off his flying skills during the war. So, he decided to fly low over his house on Durocher. You can still see his mother waving her arms and yelling “go back Shia”. He continued to fly the Chipmunk for five years to keep his flying skills sharp, in case the war started up again. It was a program developed by the RCAF to train new instructors.
Once he hung up his wings, he had all sorts of jobs and all kinds of fun with his friends, Phil Rosen, Flynn Freedin, Jack Dell, Saul Berman, Lou Krane, Hillel Liebling, Harold Yankovitch, Joe Sklar, Ashy Ellen, Kenny Zakuta and Robert Landau. Those poker games will go down in history! At that time, Chuck married Gayle Savard and had a son Jeffrey Kastner, who had Dad’s first grandchildren Jasmine and Joshua and first great-grandchild Kai.
After all that fun and tomfoolery, Chuck finally settled down with his wife for life Kathryn (Bonnie) Watt and started his career in the furniture industry. They lived in the Rockhill apartments, where they met their life-long friends, Sharon and Dale Dauphinee. Chuck and Bonnie had three children, John who has a daughter, Summer with Nicole Deboer and a son, Blues with his wife Jessica Pare; Debbie, who has children, Elle, Kurt, and Bryanna, with husband Bryan Tremblay; and Jason, who has a son Zachary with Genevieve Tardif, and kids Mia and Zane with his wife Tracy Horvath Kastner. Chuck also had an adopted son, Greg (Monk) McClements, who became his best friend. Bonnie and Chuck’s children have spent their entire lives being inspired by the way their dad has lived his life. He always brought a smile to everyone who spent time with him. He was a singer, a poet, a card player, a joker, a dancer, and a thinker. Chuck was accepting of everyone that came through their door and treated everyone as family. He will be dearly missed, and his children will carry him in their hearts, for the rest of their lives.
The family would like to thank first and foremost “the sister wives”, Susie Sackston, Nathalie Bedard, Uli Kluge and Anne Sophie Murphy for caring for our family in this difficult time; Edith Clarke for tirelessly sitting with dad for the past week; The Duchess of Derbyshire, Elizabeth, for taking such great care of Dad since December. Sincere gratitude to the doctors who had a hand in keeping Dad going for so long, Drs. Crelinsten, Chehade and Eiley, and to Carol and Sarah, our NOVA and CLSC nurses.
Funeral service from Paperman & Sons, 3888 Jean Talon St. W., on Friday, September 6 at 11:00 a.m. Burial at the Field of Honour Cemetery, Pointe-Claire. Shiva at Debbie and Bryan’s home, 20826 ch. Lakeshore, Baie-d’Urfé, Friday following burial until 5:00 p.m. and Sunday after 1:00 p.m. Contributions in his memory may be made to the Jewish General Hospital Foundation, (514) 340-8251.
Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Charles Chuck Kastner..
Death notice for the town of: Montreal, Province: Quebec