Fanshawe donors play a critical role in ensuring every student has access to an exceptional education. Their generosity strengthens programs, transforms lives, and builds a community that gives back for generations.
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School of Building Technology named in honor of London Construction icon
The home of Fanshawe’s building technology programs has a new name: the Donald J. Smith School of Building Technology. The announcement was made April 27, 2015 during a celebration commemorating a generous $1 million pledge by the family of the late founding partner of London-based construction giant, EllisDon, in support of Fanshawe’s $100 million “Remarkable” campaign.
Speaking on behalf of the family, Donald R. Smith said his father was always committed to assisting young students to pursue their educational goals, whether by hiring graduates from the building technology programs or encouraging volunteer involvement with the College.
“EllisDon also benefited as many Fanshawe graduates joined our company and quickly moved into management positions,” said Smith. “They were very much part of the team who have elevated EllisDon into a world-class construction company. It is our hope that this gift recognizes our dad’s vision in a tangible way.”
The Smith family’s ties with Fanshawe run deep. Don was the chair of Fanshawe’s first capital campaign and was the first recipient of a Fanshawe College honorary diploma in 1992. Both Don, and his wife Joan, served as honorary co-chairs for Fanshawe’s second capital campaign, successfully completing a $15-million drive in 2008. Fanshawe presented Joan Smith with an honorary diploma of her own in 2008.
Fanshawe President Peter Devlin said the family’s reputation as one of Canada’s most prominent names in the building technology and construction sector raises the profile of Fanshawe’s programs on a local and national level. “We are extremely proud that this school will bear the name Donald J. Smith School of Building Technology,” he said. “We pledge our continued support of excellence in teaching and learning in the fields that support the construction trades.”
Catherine Finlayson, former executive director of the Fanshawe College Foundation, said the Smith family’s donation will go a long way in supporting the campaign’s priority projects, including Fanshawe’s ongoing bold expansion into downtown London with the completion of the Centre for Digital and Performance Arts and through the redevelopment of the Kingsmill building. “This is another shining example of the remarkable generosity we’ve seen from both individual and corporate donors,” she said. “It’s clear that the culture of philanthropy at Fanshawe has taken root and is growing rapidly.”
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Janine Dalecki - A story of perseverance
Janine Dalecki was born in Poland on March 6, 1934. It was a time of war, poverty, and hardship. She described that during this austere time, the one thing that sustained her spirit was her passion for caring for others. When she was about 10 years of age, she said that she would often go to the house of the village healer, where she would help bandage wounds and tend to the sick. Janine said that her destiny was to be a nurse and she "could not imagine doing anything else". During WWII, she lost both of her parents and eldest brother.
Janine and her younger step-brother were raised by their loving maternal grandmother. They lived on a farm but life was hard and food was scarce. Janine had to look after her younger brother while their grandmother walked to the local village to barter for food and items that they needed to survive. When Janine was about 17 years of age, she was able to attend the School of Agriculture in Baltow, Poland, where she completed her high school education. She never gave up on her dream of nursing and was able to complete a Poland Department of Health Interim Certificate in 1956. After marrying her husband, John Dalecki in the late 1950s, they both immigrated to Canada.
Janine Dalecki described the first few years in Canada as being "challenging" as she did not speak English and had no support system. She attended English language courses, slowly built a community of friends, and in 1961, she became a mother to her only child, a daughter. Unfortunately, her nursing certificate from Poland did not allow her to practice in Canada. In January 1975, she mustered the courage to go back to school at Fanshawe College in London and enrolled in the Nursing Assistant Course.
Although the drive between London and St. Thomas (where they lived), was not always favorable in the winter, she never missed a day of school. At one time, she reminisced that the written assignments were "tough" because English was not her first language, but she loved the practical, hands-on parts of the nursing course. With pride, her family saw her graduate in March 1975 when she was 41 years of age. She spent the majority of her nursing career at the Wilson Nursing Home in St. Thomas until it closed in 1984. After that, she worked for a brief period of time at the Southwest Centre for Forensic Mental Health Care retiring around 1996.
Janine's passion and commitment were in caring for people. She was a devoted wife, caring for her husband until he passed away at the age of 92. She was a loving mother, enabling her daughter, Lori, to pursue her own passion and dreams, even if that meant her moving to the west coast of Canada, over 4,000 km away from her. She was a nurturing grandmother to her two grandchildren and never failed to encourage them to pursue their passions and dreams. She was a caring aunt to her brother's three children and their children, forever supportive of their endeavors.
Janine Dalecki passed away peacefully on September 20, 2016, in her 83rd year. Her daughter Lori Nobes created this bursary in memory of her mother in 2017 to celebrate her love for nursing. Lori provided a quote that she believes summarizes her mother’s life:
"Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough; Give the world the best you've got anyway."
- Mother Teresa
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Atchison Plumbing owner supports students in memory of fellow Alumnus
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By all accounts, Stuart Bannister was the kind of worker any organization would be happy to employ.
A student of Fanshawe’s Plumbing Apprenticeship Program, Bannister showed integrity in his work, demonstrated an ability to listen, had an eagerness to learn, and could be trusted to do his job to the best of his ability.
As Scott Atchison, owner of Atchison Plumbing & Heating Ltd. and Bannister’s employer for six years puts it, “He held his own.” That’s why, when Bannister tragically passed away in a car accident in 2008, Atchison’s company opted to create an award in his honour. The Stuart J. Bannister Memorial Award for Excellence in Plumbing, Level 3, is a $400 award presented each year to a student who has demonstrated a combination of academic merit, excellent effort, and attendance. It isn’t necessarily for the student with the highest grades, but rather a student who displays a commitment to a career in their chosen field of study.
A Fanshawe graduate himself, Atchison (Advanced Plumbing (Apprenticeship) ’86) is a licensed Master Plumber, Gas Fitter, and a certified Geo-thermal designer and installer. He employed Bannister from his entrance into the apprenticeship system, through obtaining his journeyman license and working his way up to a supervisory position just before he passed away.
Since founding his company in 1994, Atchison has always emphasized the value of employees continually updating their skills and qualifications with ongoing training and so the award his company founded in Bannister’s honour is very much in keeping with his philosophy.
“It’s a team effort around here,” Atchison says, “but we encourage people to do their own thing and to take a leap when they see something they want to try. The worst that can happen is they might fail, but you learn from that, too.”
Atchison says that he and his wife, Brenda, created the award to recognize a student who demonstrates the same traits that Stuart did. “His loss was quite a blow to us, so we wanted to do something for students with the same kind of integrity,” Atchison says. “Stuart was just the kind of guy you wanted to have working with you.”
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