Calvin G Tenn

Mr. Calvin Gabriel Tenn, 93, of Sunrise, Florida, passed away peacefully on May 5, 2019. Calvin was a resident of Sunrise for 23 years where he retired at the age of 71 after living in Evanston, Illinois and Montreal, Canada for 22 years and 8 years respectively.

Calvin was born on October 17, 1925 in the parish of St. Catherine, Jamaica. His mother was Lillian Richardson (originally from Jamaica) and his father, Aloysius Tenn (originally from China). Calvin, also affectionately known as C.G., spent his childhood as the oldest of ten siblings. As a child he went to school and worked in his father’s shop.

He spent his young adulthood in Jamaica where he lived until the age of 41. There he worked in his uncle’s bakery and at the Worthy Park sugarcane estate where he oversaw the engineering and maintenance of the factory’s equipment—this was the job he loved the most.  It was at Worthy Park where he met and developed a close relationship with his future in-laws, Mr. Oscar Johnson (father-in-law) and Mr. Astley Johnson (brother-in-law).

In the mid 60s, in Crofts Hill, Jamaica, he met his soon to be wife, Velma “Gem” Johnson, when she was visiting her parents during one of her regular trips home from Canada. Calvin and Gem began courting and he eventually joined her in Montreal where they were married in December1966. In 1969 they had their first child together, Michael Christopher and in 1971 their daughter Sharyn was born.

Upon moving to Canada, Calvin became a Canadian citizen and assimilated into the French-Canadian culture quickly. He picked up French and even adjusted to the frigid temperatures and the extreme snow (although he sustained a serious injury to his knee there after a bad fall on the ice). His love of geography enabled him to navigate the remote parts of Canada, often in very treacherous conditions, while working at the National Construction Company.

Calvin and his family moved to the USA (Evanston, Illinois) in the early 70s and soon after became US citizens. While in Evanston, he held several jobs but the position he held the longest at a plastic fabrication company, Tapecoat, where he worked in mechanical maintenance until retirement. There he worked extremely hard, often under difficult and dangerous working conditions, to provide for his family. He also made sure to provide financial support to many other family members and generously gave to numerous charities.

Calvin loved to travel to visit his extended family and friends and took his family on many trips to Canada, New York, New Jersey, Florida and the UK. He had a soft spot for his beloved Jamaica and traveled there often with his wife and children, developing in them a deep love and reverence for his native land.  His other hobbies included: gardening (he was a true green thumb and especially loved his flower and vegetable gardens); reading (he was an avid reader of all topics and lifelong subscriber to National Geographic and Time magazines);  listening to music (he had diverse taste and loved to listen jazz, disco, reggae and calypso); enjoying good food, especially Chinese cuisine, and was very good cook in his own right; enjoying professional sports-his favorites included cricket, boxing and basketball; and keeping up with current events, politics, history, geography and even popular culture. He was a treasure trove of knowledge—a true intellectual with a superb memory throughout his entire life. He enjoyed engaging in discussions and debates on topics far and wide.

Calvin was preceded in death by his parents and his brothers Victor, Eric and Irving. He is survived by Velma Tenn, his wife of 53 years, his children Debbie Tenn Brown (Rudy) of West Palm Beach, Florida; Michael Christopher Tenn (Stella) of Sunrise, Florida and Sharyn Tenn (Raymond) of Bowie, Maryland; his brothers, Roy Tenn, Raymond Tenn and Karl Tenn and his sisters Lim Tai, Patricia Budhai, Pauline Ramsaran and Daphne Patterson; his grandchildren; his many beloved nieces, nephews, cousins and in-laws; and his cherished friends.