Funeral for a friend

For staff and clients at the Samaritan Centre, the funeral for fire victim Frank Berszinn will be their opportunity to remember a man who was a “valued part of our community."

Kevin Serviss, the centre's executive director, said Saturday's funeral will allow those who knew Berszinn best to celebrate his life. While Greater Sudbury Police Service have yet to release the identities of the bodies found in the burnt-out Elizabeth Street rooming house, Serviss said he knows one of the two victims was Berszinn.

“Police have released, at least privately, that they've made a positive identification,” Serviss said.

Const. Meghan O'Malley, Greater Sudbury Police Service media relations officer, said they're reluctant to release the identity of either of the victims to the media before they notify next of kin, but are having difficulty locating Berszinn's family.

While Berszinn, 59, lived in the rooming house, he didn’t really call it his home, nor did he particularly enjoy the company of some of the other tenants who resided there, according to the obituary supplied by the Samaritan Centre. His real home was just down the street, at the Samaritan Centre, where many are like Berszinn, estranged from their biological family for a variety of reasons.

Serviss said he doesn't know much about Berszinn outside of his association with the Samaritan Centre, or what led him to take up residency at the rooming house, but he said it's his understanding that he had no family in the area.

Serviss said as far as he knows, Berszinn came to Sudbury from southern Ontario.

He also said Berszinn was a client of the Samaritan Centre since it opened in 2005.

“Frank was a pretty regular attender, someone who I would consider a part of the family here at the Samaritan Centre,” Serviss said.

"Many who come in here are estranged or have broken relationships with their families, so basically they are in a relationship with the other people who come to be a part of the different programs here at the Samaritan Centre and its staff.”

Berszinn was an “interesting character,” said Serviss.

“For the most part, he was a gentle guy, understanding of course that many of the people who come here are emotionally or mentally bruised. At times, their moods can swing from one way to another, but for the most part, Frank was gentle. He was inquisitive, and had lots of questions about life and God.

“He was helpful, and I would often see him out on the loading dock area where he was making sure the cardboard was always broken down and put into the right place for recycling. He was trying to be productive as he could be, and we valued him as part of the greater family here.”

Serviss said it was common knowledge Berszinn suffered mentally and emotionally. Such issues often prevent people from holding down jobs, he said, and speculated that may be how Berszinn ended up in the rooming house.

Because police haven't been able to locate Berszinn's next of kin, a staff member of the Samaritan Centre — someone Serviss said has helped Berszinn over the years and has visited him at the rooming house — has taken on the duties of next of kin and made funeral arrangements.

Berszinn was a regular at the Corner Clinic and the Elgin Mission, Serviss said, attending mostly on a daily basis.

“When he didn't show up, many of us were holding our breath,” Serviss said. “It was a feeling of apprehension, of unknowing. We knew he lived in that building, and the steady progression goes from questioningwho it is, to it could be him, but we're not sure right now, and finally the resignation that it is him, and the sadness that goes with losing somebody who was a regular part of our program here.”

The funeral service will be held April 6 at 11:30 a.m. at Jackson and Barnard chapel. Serviss will officiate.

Meanwhile, Tina Isaac and Dave Boyd are busily preparing for their stag and doe slated for Saturday night at O'Malley's Irish Pub in Garson. It's not your ordinary pre-wedding party, though: the couple has decided to turn their stag and doe into a fundraiser for the residents of the rooming house who lost everything in the fire.

The response had been overwhelming, said Boyd. Plans have gone from a simple stag and doe to “craziness.”

The couple has no idea how many people will be attending, but they printed 280 tickets.

“Some people just buy tickets just to support it,” Boyd said, adding that there will be tickets available at the door.

It isn't just people looking to attend the event that have thrown their support behind the couple's endeavours. The business community has answered the call, too. Isaac and Boyd have been flooded with numerous donations, and now have many prizes available for those in attendance.

“We now have a raffle table, about 15 door prizes and five or six standard stag and doe games with prizes donated by local businesses,” Isaac said. “I'm stunned. I have only lived in Sudbury for a year and a half, so i haven't really experienced that small community feeling until this happened.

“We get emails constantly from people wanting to donate or help with the event, and it's all really great. Things are quite busy right now, but we're pretty much almost ready.”

Isaac and Boyd will get married June 1. Knowing that they'll have helped these people get back on their feet will be a big part of the wedding.

“We get a lot of messages from people telling us how wonderful we are, but really, we don't feel wonderful. We just feel really good about this.

“One of the displaced tenants called me last night. He was looking for a ride to the stag and doe. He told me he has found a place to stay, but there is nothing in there and he's sleeping on the floor. Just knowing that we're going to be able to help people in that situation just feels really right.”

Not many couple's would give up a chance to raise money for their own wedding in order to support people they may never have met, but for Isaac and Boyd, it isn't a sacrifice at all.

“We have a nice comfortable home, and we sleep in a bed every night,” Isaac said. “We have what we need, and these people don't, so it doesn't feel like we're giving up anything in this.”

For more information about the stag and doe, search Elizabeth Street boarding house on Facebook.