Author: Michael Marrapese

1931-2021

~ A life of love and caring, so well and beautifully lived ~

Kazuko Takahashi was the Heart and Hearth of Community Alternatives co-op where she lived for 45 years, and the last of the original founding members.  Very much the keeper of the stories of the intention and founding of CAC/FCFC, she was able to be a bridge between the generations that lived in the community over the decades.

Kaz was a registered nurse who spent time with the Royal Canadian Air Force Reserves before enjoying a successful career as a public health nurse. Her life was not defined by her career but it enabled her to make independent choices for herself such as taking early retirement so she could travel more and enjoy life in the community. Travel was an adventure and a door to understanding how others lived in the world. It was also a way to connect with her own heritage when over a number of years, she travelled to gatherings in countries where there was a Japanese diaspora. She developed many lifelong relationships through the community, and through her travels around the world.

Not one ounce a materialist, Kaz enjoyed a life of living simply. Anyone wandering past the garden in front of the co-op might find her in the garden where an easy conversation would inevitably take place. Rather than spend money on herself, Kaz was quietly a philanthropist, offering support to the Fraser Common farm, and the myriad other regional, national and international charities and social justice groups such as Eco-Justice, Inter Pares the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, and the Vancouver Foundation.

Kaz’s way of living simply also embraced the expression of grace and beauty through her Ikebana arrangements and daily practice of Qi gong or Tai chi.

Her life was one in which she shared joy and love with all those she encountered. Her vitality, wisdom, peacefulness, humility, generosity, and warm heart attracted everyone to come close.

– from Ken McCormick

In your mind
There is a life
Of thoughtfulness and
Good judgement.

In your voice
There is a song
Of kindness
And respect.

In your heart
There is beating
The rhythm of us all
Dancing together.

In your feet
The ground rises up
To meet the roots
Of your wisdom.

With you
We are not just
You and I.

We become
Us.

 

Video: by Peco Takedo

– a short documentary based on the video footage recorded in 2019 (in preparation for the CAC’s 40th anniversary). In the video, Kaz is sharing inspiring stories about the origin of Community Alternatives, her wisdom on living together, her philosophy of gardening.

The video can be accessed here:

The Circles: Kaz Takahashi and the Community Alternatives (approx. 20 mins)

1953 – 2015

We are all born with our giveaway, what we have brought to share with the world, our reason for being. Jain was one of the lucky ones who had found hers – those places where she was most passionate and joyful and found a way to make a difference in the world.

Jain represented what was best in community.  She was always there to welcome those who needed welcoming, a shoulder to cry on for those in grief or emotional turmoil, and a helping hand whenever there was a job to be done.  She filled many spaces in the life of the CAS co-op… as a natural mediator where conflicts arose; a host gathering people around food; a deep listener– with curiosity, never judgement.

Remembered for her flowing long red hair, she was a wild woman and injected drama and beauty into her surroundings and relationships, beauty that came in a myriad of forms. One couldn’t miss the colourful skeins of wool she hung in the hallway outside her unit, or the colourful Ukrainian dresses seemingly dancing on her living room wall.  She was a knitter and sewer, a pie-maker, sushi maker, celebration creator, creative writer and fashionista with flair.

Jain had a curious and creative mind. She was always eager to learn, discuss, challenge and debate to make a situation better. She never gave up questioning, whether something happening in the world, or between individuals.

Traveller. Nature lover. Any chance she could, Jain would venture into the mountains, or wander a shoreline. She answered the call when it came to protecting the natural world around her whether it was cleaning up beaches or showing up as a video activist to capture the logging protests taking place in Clayoquot Sound. After leaving UBC, Jain went north to Smithers where she found meaningful work, love and a community amidst the stunning mountains.

It must be paradise where you are,

because everywhere you have been—paradise followed.
(From Ken McCormick)

 

1934 – 2021

Adapted from profile by Medwyn McConachy (in 2021 Organic BC)

Throughout his adult life Dave was determined to eliminate fossil fuels. Anyone who knew him appreciated that Dave walked his talk. He was an early hybrid Prius carowner. His partner Susan recalls the time she was driving a car full of recyclables to the end of the driveway and when she rolled down the window, she saw a sticky note on the mirror that said, “is this trip really necessary?”

Dave was committed to cooperative living and working. He was an early member of Community Alternatives Society, living initially in the Kitsilano co-op and later on Fraser Common Farm in Aldergrove. Early on he began a career in urban landscaping where he discovered his love of fruit tree propagation and pruning.  He carried this passion with him when he moved to the Fraser Common Farm in the 1980’s. It was there, with his partners in the Glorious Garnish and Seasonal Salad Company he co-created a workers’ cooperative now known as Glorious Organics.

The BC organic community was tremendously influenced and inspired by Dave and Susan. Dave’s focus was always on creating positive solutions for farmers working towards organic standards. At Fraser Common Farm Dave restored an almost-invisible trickle of water running through the small forest beside the driveway into a viable salmon habitat, and was rewarded with the salmon returning to spawn in the stream. His determination to improve organic soils led him to experiment with Biochar—learning to make and use it on crops for Glorious Organics. Recognizing the importance of crop planning and land management, Dave took the initiative to create land use maps for both Fraser Common and Glen Valley farms. Resulting in an accurate record of built and natural features on both farms.

Committed to the planet from the smallest worm on his fishing hook, to the mysteries of the night sky, it seemed no accident that the day of Dave’s birth, April 22, was declared Earth Day and is celebrated by more than 1 billion people in 193 countries every year.

1928 – 2005

Rev. Dr Tom Bulman, a United Church minister, poet and strong family man, was born in Vernon, Nov. 11, 1928.  One of the founders of Community Alternative Society with his wife Jan, they had tried living in a multiplex with other families, but soon found most of the original families had left.  He and Jan, started attending conferences about creating “intentional communities” and liked what they heard. Along with about a dozen others, they determined to live in a new urban village where they shared with others of all ages and family arrangements.  The farm in Aldergrove was already happening.

Family was paramount to Tom.  He and his life partner Jan were founders of Community Alternatives Society where they lived with son David. Their three daughters had moved out by this time. His strong belief in family was extended to the chosen family he sought and supported in Community Alternatives.

He could often be found in the large communal garden that lined the front of the co-op on West 2^nd Ave which was a veritable jungle of herbs, grapes, edible flowers, tomatoes and even potatoes.  He was committed to the full cycle of growing food, returning what wasn’t used back to the soil. By being part of developing and managing a large-scale rotary composter, “Beulah” which thanks to their perseverance and modifications over time, is still operating today.

As a committed man of the cloth, he held fast to certain principles that dictated his path in life, and his choice to live in community. “I think the sickness of our world is individuality” he said.  Tom lived with a belief in an essential goodness in people, stood up for the underdog, and tried to see both sides in any conflict. Tom was an idealist in a world that sorely needed them.