Friends
(This picture of the HK Braves was sent by Frank Correa from Melbourne - see comments below)
We encourage all friends who stumble across this site to comment freely here. You can opt to “subscribe to comments” and you will receive emails when people add to this site. Because of spammers, your comments will not post immediately because they need to be approved before they are posted, but I will check this frequently. Thanks! Eric
(Below are pictures sent by Ted Wu - see comment for a wonderful story about this reunion)
(Please also check the Photos link on the sidebar to the right. I have uploaded a lot of new photos that my sisters scanned at my parents’ home in San Luis Obispo. You have to click on the thumbnail photo itself, not the word “Photo” - a bug in the software)
Comments On This Article
Please feel free to share your thoughts with us here…
Mickey’s passing will be a great personal loss to Dawnna, all his family, and similarly to the FM community. He did so much for the unity of the community in so many ways. He is at last out of pain, pain which, over the years, he bore so bravely. I have nothing but admiration for him, and so proud to be related as a cousin. I spent quality time with him and Dawnna when in June last year they made the trip to Worthing. These memories I will treasure most.
Cynthia Joel, Brighton England.
I only met Mike once - at the Casa de Macau Christmas function in 2005 when he, Dawnna and a fine group of people came out to Australia. I was very struck with Mike’s splendid Lusitano Bulletin, which he had kindly sent me since the 2004 Encontro. He did me the honour
in 2005 of reprinting the article I had written for the National Library of Australia on the Japanese surrender in Hong Kong in 1945.
Meeting Mike was special. He had a fine mind and a
presence and dignity that matched it. The whole community is poorer for his passing, richer for the great contributions he has made to recording its history and sharing the present culture of a unique international community. We knew that his health was not good, and that he had driven himself harder than he should have done to keep editing the Lusitano Bulletin
for so long. Like all fine people, Mike was prepared to spend himself for others’benefit.
I have spent the last week or so reading and working on the JM Braga Papers in the National Library of Australia in Canberra. Uncle Jack’s work in collecting and recording the history of the Portuguese exploration of and presence in the Far East was beyond all praise, and I marvel continually at the vast labour he put in over a very long time. Mike was a man in that same tradition: a champion of his peope’s collective memory and prepared to go to immense trouble to ensure its preservation.
Love and deepest sympathy to Dawnna and all to whom Mike was dear. He will not soon be forgotten.
From: Gerald d’Almada
Sent: Thursday, April 12, 2007 6:36 PM
To: Eric McDougall; Deanna McDougall; Leslie McDougall; Marina McDougall
Cc: Dawnna McDougall; Gerry McDougall
Subject: Michael Edward McDougall
I have not had the pleasure of meeting any of you, yet we have heard so much about you from your parents we feel we’ve known you for almost as long as we have them.
It is with extreme mixed emotions that I find myself trying to put on paper words that can not in any way express the sorrow we feel over the loss of a dear friend we have come to consider an special and loved member of our family. There are times, all too rare, in one’s lifetime to realize a friendship developed over a relatively short period turn into one that is binding and everlasting, when time spent together is always special, filled with a warm appreciation of ‘just being together and thoroughly enjoying each other’s company’ ~ “friendship” in the
truest sense of the word, without frills. The very fact that Dawnna, Nancy, Michael and I get along so well is testament to this friendship.
We met Dawnna and Michael through Gerry and Virgie ~ equally dear and special friends who, with open arms, welcomed us into their immediate family ~ when, purely by chance, I came across Gerry’s e-mail address and re-established communication with my La Salle College class-mate whom I had not seen nor heard from for over 50 years. ( Don’t really know how this happened as I am approaching my 39th ) Arrangements were
made to bridge the gap and we did so at Gerry’s and Virgie’s home in Oakland, with a bonus of meeting Brian and Derek and their dear ones and Toneco and Penny da Silva. A special occasion celebrating the gathering of old friends and establishing a bond of new relationships.
We met with Virgie and Gerry again, this time in San Luis Obispo for a weekend and, more importantly, to meet Dawnna and Michael . . . the beginning of yet another very special friendship that developed into a mutual relationship of people that simply liked each other ( “loved” being the proper word ) were completely ‘at ease’ with other and thoroughly enjoyed being together. We will, of course, continue and strengthen this relationship with your mother.
I want to thank you for the information you have provided with regard to your plans to hold two memorials for your father and appreciate the
consideration to holding one in San Luis Obispo which Nancy and I will definitely attend. We are in a situation where our eldest daughter is
in-and-out of hospital as the result of a liver transplant and is having difficulty maintaining a steady recovery. Coupled with this, we have to
tend to the needs of Nancy’s ageing and ailing parents who, fortunately, have moved from Burbank to a retirement community five minutes away affording us the opportunity to respond to any emergency, provide transportation for visits to their respective doctors, and sundry
requirements, etc.
Until Nancy and I have the pleasure of meeting all of you personally, please accept our sincere and deepest condolences for your loss. The
memory of your father will never fade ~ he will always have a special place in our hearts.
In the words uttered earlier this week by a certain young lady from San Luis Obispo, the Good Lord has opened his arms to a “Class Act”.
Nancy and Gerald d’Almada
we will not think of him
alone
we see him instead
as one-half
of a unique pairing
forming the foundation
of a special family
* * *
his life was full:
of the love
and the closeness
of family,
of the affection
of friends,
of the respect
and admiration
of colleagues
worldwide
innumerable
* * *
talented, gifted
worldly, dignified
generous, caring
erudite, witty —
the words come
trippingly
fittingly;
we knew him
* * *
strong character,
strong views
strongly held,
clearly expressed
and unafraid
* * *
teacher,
historian,
editor,
author,
painter,
world traveler,
and yes,
gourmet,
and epicurean
* * *
and beside him
always there
always the love
of his life,
the other half,
Dawnna
- Jorge Remedios
From: Frank and Vivienne Correa
Sent: Sunday, April 15, 2007 3:40 PM
To: Eric McDougall
Subject: Photo of Mike in winning Braves softball team 1950
Dear Eric,
May I introduce myself - my name is Frank Correa and I have known your family, particularly your father for 60 years, it is a precious friendship maintained through intermittent loss of contact due to the Pacific war and migration. Mike is more of my vintage whilst his brother Gerry is much younger - the difference in years in those days meant that I did not know him as well as your Dad. In the FM community, as friends, we invariably admired Mike’s integrity, keen intellect, sense of humor, and many talents especially as an artist. He undertook any task with dedication and thoroughness, the many episodes of the Lusitano bulletin an example of the high standards he set for himself.
My wife, Vivi and I were so delighted to meet your mother and father when they visited Melbourne recently - what a great couple they make together, their ‘joie de vivre’ was contagious. We went to a Chinese dinner together with my brother, Bosco and his wife, Marilyn at one of our good local Chinese restaurants, typically food being a vital FM focus.
I had not seen Mike since the 1960s and did not have the pleasure of meeting Dawnna until that night so there was so much catching up to do in our lives.
When we met, it was as if the years had not intervened, the synergy was immediate, what we call ‘mateship’ in Australia could define the bond of the FM community which transcends time and boundaries.
Our animated conversations touched on so many subjects and we learnt about their lives and work, their obvious devotion and pride in their family, Mikes’s continuing interest in art, the community where they lived, their involvement with the FM diaspora and their genuine interest and compassion in humanitarian affairs. They were really looking forward to seeing the rest of Australia and particularly spending time with his sister in Perth and cousin in Brisbane. What a memorable night we spent together so we can imagine how much you will miss your Dad. Our heart goes out to your mother and no doubt you and your family will be of great support to her in the sudden passing of your father and her soul mate.
A righteous man has gone to be in God’s Gentle Hands - we celebrate his life and legacy.
I have attached an old photo of the Homantin Braves which won the Hong Kong Softball Junior League in 1950. The Braves were a close knit bunch who had great fun playing softball at King’s Park in Kowloon. It was a wonderful time of our lives, we were young and carefree, ready to take on the brave new world that was unfolding after the turbulence of a war which had torn our lives apart just a few years earlier. You will recognize your Dad in the back row, from memory not the most talented of players, but typically Mike made up for this with unbridled passionate enthusiasm and practiced diligently for his team. I will be pleased to include the names of the other team members if you wish to include them in the website, unfortunately many of the former players are also no longer with us.
You would be aware that there was a large Macaense (FM) community in Hong Kong in those days before the big push for immigration to the US where most of the FMs finally settled. The diaspora is now spread all over our global village - you can find minchee/rice in the four corners of the world.
Vivi joins me in extending to you and your wonderful family our very deepest condolences.
Frank Correa, Melbourne.
In early 2006 the movement for the “Gordon Brown” reunion was picking up speed and I started to hear from former HKU fellow students whom I had not seen or heard from since 1954 when I left HK for Brazil. It was very exciting. Among all the e-mails from all over the globe I received from Gus da Roza the latest list of former students of Gordon Brown, and in it I found Michael’s name (He was one year ahead of me at HKU Architecture) and discovered that he had been teaching and living in San Luis Obispo, about a four-hour drive north of us, all this time. After I e-mailed him I got the following reply.
*************************************************
Dear Ted:
What a wonderful surprise to hear from you after all these years! Thanks for the pictures. Who could have predicted, 50 years ago, that both of us would settle in California? So much has gone on in our lives that can’t be easily summarized in a letter; we’d have to get together. Come up and see us. We have a house with three empty bedrooms, a huge collection of classical and jazz recordings. My wife Dawnna is a good cook. We can visit the wineries or the beaches, listen to music, talk about old times, and catch up with one another’s lives.
You mention that you used to drive up to San Luis Obispo from L.A. to attend our Mozart Festival in the late 70s; Dawnna used to work as staff member for the Festival from 1990-95. Although we’ve attended the festival regularly for many years, we haven’t gone lately. Part of the reason is that the Festival has dropped the opera and the choral music, the latter usually played in our old mission; the other part is that we have often been out of town at the time of the Festival — we have three children and two grandchildren in San Francisco. You may know that Cal Poly, the City of San Luis Obispo and a private foundation joined forces and built a new performing arts center on the Cal Poly campus. Mozart Festival has had a new home.
Two of our four children—the eldest girl, Leslie, and our youngest, Deanna, are graphic designers who got their degrees at Cal Poly. Our eldest and only son, Eric, received a four-year degree architecture at UC Berkeley but did not practice, but has done well as an events planning consultant for Fortune 500 hi-tech companies including Apple, H-P, Microsoft, Cisco, and others. Our middle daughter Marina has a degree in English from UC Berkeley. and a master’s in documentary film from Stanford. Marina spent her third year studying film at the Sorbonne, Paris. She is a part-time mother and part-time professor/curator at the California College of Arts & Crafts.
After I graduated from HKU, I worked for a year and a half for Eric Cumine, studied at the A.A. London on a British Council scholarship, came to the States on another scholarship, this one from Cornell where I got a degree in city and regional planning, then I went to San Francisco to work for John Carl Warnecke to get some American experience with the intention of returning to HK. But I met my wife, and was offered the once -in-a-lifetime opportunity of planning a brand new community, Foster City, (now 95% complete,) from the ground up. So I stayed. Worked with various planning, architecture, and engineering firms for about 13 years including 5 years on my own, before going into teaching here at Cal Poly where I taught for 20 years. I retired in 1992. Though I’ve designed buildings, my expertise is in urban design. I also designed the entire graphic sign and street furniture system for a city.
I had some serious health problems which included prostate cancer, arterial sclerosis, and failed kidneys. But a radical prostatectomy, a double cardiac by-pass, five years of dialysis, and finally a kidney transplant have allowed me to live on borrowed time like a bionic man. Apart from the pains and aches of growing old, I feel pretty good to be alive.
We recently visited Australia on a most enjoyable four city tour — my first long trip abroad in 13 years. In Sydney we had tea with some HKU architecture alumni. In June we will be going to Positano near Naples to attend our son’s wedding. He and his fiance know too many people in the Bay Area so they are “escaping†to Italy, yet they will have some 100 attendees. After a week in Italy, we will be going on to England to visit our 96-year old aunt who lives in Worthing, and have already contacted Eddy Khoe who live about an hour away. He and his wife Laurie have previously visited us in California.
So given these long trips, I’m not sure we’ll be going to HK for the Gordon Brown reunion.
But, in the meanwhile please come and visit us. Soon.
Regards,
Mike
*************************************************
After exchanging several more e-mails working out the details, on that picture perfect spring morning of the Memorial Day weekend Mia and I took off northbound with the car loaded with everything we needed to cook a couple of Chinese dishes that I promised. Around eleven we pulled into the McDougall driveway and there were Michael whom I had not seen for 52 years and lovely Dawnna whom I was meeting for the first time. Dawnna started our visit with the comment that although we were meeting for the first time she felt as if we had known each other our whole lives. For the next three days we reminisced, cooked, ate and reminisced some more in the beautiful big house Michael designed for themselves. One of the highlights was the chicken curry Dawnna made.
Now that Michael is gone, I felt that the whole Gordon Brown Reunion thing was almost designed just for me to see Michael again. That Memorial Day weekend was really memorable. Thank you Michael. Thank you Dawnna.
Ted and Mia Wu, Los Angeles
(scroll up to see pictures from this wonderful reunion - ed.)
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