It’s a challenge to interview a man who has lost his power of speech. That’s what happened to 72-year-old Leo Beecher when he suffered a stroke four years ago. Since then, he’s had to rely upon others to speak for him.
A retired bachelor, Leo was one of the early, faithful picketers at Morgentaler’s abortuary. Every morning for four years he and fellow picketer, Mike Lynch, would recite the Rosary behind the abortuary. In 1989 a stroke felled Leo and since then he’s been confined to a wheelchair, his speech and right side paralyzed. He now lives at Providence Centre, a chronic care residence in Toronto.
Still, Leo is a happy man. In spite of his disabilities, he smiles brightly and nods approvingly when asked if his life is good. His mind is alert and by listening to the radio and watching TV, he keeps abreast of the news, including the recent Sue Rodriguez court case in British Columbia.
When asked if he agrees with her request to end her life because of her disabilities and suffering, he disagrees by furrowing his brow and shaking his head. His own pleasant demeanor and outward signs of faith suggest the spiritual meaning he attributes to his own suffering which he bears with dignity and grace.
A visit with Leo
Leo enjoys reading the Interim and collects copies at his bedside. His birthday was January 11 and it was then that his friends, Tom and Barbara Brown, both veteran Morgentaler picketers, suggested that his story be told. They brought me along to visit him.
It’s a challenge to communicate with Leo, but Tom has found ways to do it. Barbara says he’s always had a natural ability to relate to the elderly or disabled, and that’s probably why he’s chosen to visit Leo every second week for the last four years.
Tom has his own plan of action for these visits. In warm weather, he wheels Leo around the lovely gardens or takes him to the facility’s garden centre where Leo grows flowers in his own small plot. In colder weather, Tom wheels him into the visitors’ sunroom and shares the sports section of the newspaper with him.
After they have traded sections, Tom does a one-man commentary. Leo will agree or disagree by smiling, grimacing or gesticulating with his left arm.
Early picketers
They’re so comfortable with each other now that Leo doesn’t bother disguising irritation with Tom, such as when Leo points to his dresser and Tom keeps opening the wrong drawer. That’s what happened when Leo was looking for his tidy bundle of photos of the picketers and their children. He enjoys reminiscing about them and they too remember him fondly and respectfully.
Mike Lynch, who prayed daily for four years with Leo at Morgentaler’s, remembers: “Leo saw praying as his job and that’s what he came to do.” They seldom chatted socially. Still, after Leo had his stroke, Mike began to visit him “to continue their job.”
Mike says one decade of the Rosary and Leo responds, sometimes quite clearly. Often they’ll pray in the chapel and Mike has been here with Leo for Midnight Mass. “It’s a beautiful occasion,” says Mike.
Joanne Dieleman, former director of The Way Inn, next to Morgentaler’s, remembers that Leo used to carry his own handmade sign, showing a baby and the words “The gift of Life – God’s special gift.” Once, she recalls, he prevailed upon pro-lifers to join the newly-formed Christian Heritage Party, which opposes abortion. He signed up sixty people at five dollars each.
Carl Scharfe, a graphic designer, remembers how helpful Leo was in the early days before The Way Inn, which housed picketers and their signs, existed. Leo would borrow a van to pick up and deliver them both. “He was always available to help,” says Carl. Helen Burnie, also a faithful Morgentaler picketer, remembers Leo and Mike for their daily prayers. “They were so quiet that although I knew them forever, I knew them little except for their faithfulness.”
Fernanda Lino, who lived in the neighbourhood of the abortuary, picketed daily with her grandson Jimmy. She remembers how Leo loved the children. After his stroke, she and her husband, Amandio, brought Jimmy to see Leo in hospital. Although he couldn’t speak, he hugged Jimmy ever so tightly and was delighted by the visit.
Dan McCash, another early picketer, remembers Leo as a man of few words. They met at the Knights of Columbus, where Leo was the pro-life chairman and wrote pro-life news in the K of C newsletter. “Although he is very shy, he always spoke up at meetings for the pro-life cause,” recalls McCash.
Anne Dobson, also a veteran picketer, recalls that Leo would march before the abortuary, “like a soldier on duty, walking back and forth, praying the Rosary.” She also remembers his bravery during an Operation Rescue when police roughly pitched him into a paddy wagon. “He was never really well after that,” she recalls.
Joe Cassar, a Campaign Life Coalition volunteer, met Leo when they helped out the St. Vincent de Paul Society, Leo would drive the van and Joe would deliver food vouchers to the needy or used furniture to Vietnamese boat people.
Jim, Hughes, president of Campaign Life Coalition, will not soon forget the time when Leo wrote Joe Borowski, in Winnipeg, complaining that “the guy in Toronto won’t listen to me.” Borowski bellowed at Hughes and, “after that,” he recalls, “I listened very carefully to what Leo had to say.”
A few years ago, while I was writing a story for the Interim on the picketers, Leo had told me he had been born and raised in northern Ontario and had worked as a law clerk for several decades in Toronto. When I asked why he picketed, he told me his mother had died when he was only eleven days old. With eyes glistening, he said softly, “I feel so sorry for the babies and their mothers. I come here to give back humanity to the unborn.”
Father Ted Colleton knows Leo well. Father reflects, “When I go to visit Leo at Providence Centre, I always come away inspired. Although Leo cannot speak, he is perfectly conscious and at peace.” Then he adds, “Here is something interesting. When Leo tries to speak he is incoherent, but when I say a decade of the Rosary with him, the words ‘Holy Mary, Mother of God’ come out distinctly. I am certain that he offers his sufferings to God though our Lady for unborn babies, their mothers and the pro-life movement.”
Leo’s pro-life friends know that although he can’t speak, he’s still a dedicated activist – with a prayer in his heart.
