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On
Sunday morning, May 9, In Memory of Dushka, a Mass was
celebrated at St. Vartan's Cathedral. Later, a Requiem Service
began around noon. As it was Mother's Day,
Jessmin Howarth's name was included. That evening an
intimate service was held @ 4:40 in the Chapel where
Dushka's remains were transferred from a lovely urn
made by Sylvia March to the permanent church urn. A Vespers Service was
then held at 5:00pm May
9, which included Dushka's inurnment.
Summary
of Events May 21, 2010 at St. Peter's for
Dushka’s Memorial Service:
Port o' Monkeys Band ~ Dushka
singing ~ An appreciation of Dushka -- Patty de Llosa
(text below) ~ Dick Hyman at the
piano ~ Speaking of Dushka -- Lillian Firestone &
others ~ Poem – Robert Schneck ~ Lord’s Prayer in
Russian -The Foundation Choir ~ Georgian "Kartuli" -
Victor Sirelson and Partner ~ Gurdjieff music: Duduki
and Easter Hymn and Procession in the Holy Night - Meg
Sinclair ~ Greek Dance - Livia Vanaver and attendees.
(Patty de Llosa): "As Dushka’s
oldest friend here, we grew up together, it falls on
me to welcome everyone to this celebration of her
life. So welcome to the many who’ve come from the
Gurdjieff Foundation, and those from Warwick and
Claymont and Philadelphia and the West Coast. Welcome
all! Dushka's ashes are right over there...
What’s that? Excuse me? Dushka? You’d like to welcome
them yourself with a song? Ok.
(DUSHKA SINGS)
When I think of Dushka, three words come to mind:
Talent, Fidelity and Courage. She and I had
extraordinary parents*, hard to live up to, so I know
she had a struggle to become her own person. You will
read about her in the small biography in your program,
but let me say that at 25 she spent time with her
father, G. I. Gurdjieff in the last year of his life
and recorded much of the music he played on the
harmonium, which has recently become available to the
public.
She started off as a publicist for up and coming young
stars of stage and screen, including Dick Hyman, who
has come here tonight to help us celebrate. Her talent
showed up as she learned the guitar and began to sing
and play in performance, finally becoming a cruise
entertainment leader on the Greek Line.
When her mother became elderly she left that job and
came home to be with her. That’s where the loyalty
comes in. And the courage? After her Mother died she
taught herself computer techniques and in spite of
heart attacks, fractures and illnesses which left her
bedridden in the last few years, she put together a
book which she published early this year, “It’s up to
ourselves:” A Mother, A Daughter and Gurdjieff. So
perseverance is another word we can apply to her.
Excuse me, Folks. Dushka’s talking to me again. Enough
talking? You want a dance? Is Livia anywhere around?
And you want to know where’s Dick Hyman? He’s right
over there and he’s going to play for us after the
dance".
RIBBON DANCE
DICK HYMAN PLAYS
"Have I mentioned Dushka’s adopted son? I bet you
didn’t know she had one! But it’s Robert Schneck, who
will read a
poem he wrote for Dushka".
One of the people who has most cared for and taken
care of Dushka in the last few years when she was
bedridden is Lillian Firestone. Lillian will be the MC
for the rest of the evening".
Patty de Llosa
*(Patty is daughter of Dr. William and Louise Welsh)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ARCHIVE MATERIALS OF DUSHKA AND JESSMIN HOWARTH -
Work is in progress, to continue the
process started earlier by Dushka Howarth and the
Gurdjieff Heritage Society to transfer her archive
materials to the Research Department of the New York
Public Library.
Anyone interested in being informed when Dushka's
archive of Work materials has been situated for
appropriate access for study purposes, please send an
email to
buy-book@gurdjieff-heritage-society.org ,
preferably with "notification about Dushka's archive"
in the subject line. Provide YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS and
other contact information, and a brief statement about
your connection. To assure staying informed, also
please return to this website for updates, and realize
that the process will take significant time and
effort. Your informing us of your interest in and/or
possible contributions to this important Work
resource is vital support to the overall archival
project.
PLEASE SEND US YOUR EVENTS FOR THE
COMING YEAR
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