Beaconsfield dentists celebrate reunion

James Hasegawa and Hershel Bernstein graduated in 1958 from the Faculty of Dentistry, and went on to carve out successful careers in their chosen field, as well as to teach at the university.

The McGill homecoming coincided with the class’s reunion.

“It was a joyful occasion. I met people I hadn’t seen in decades,” said Hasegawa, who retired in 1996 and counted late Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau among his high-profile patients.

The McGill jubilee dinner last Friday was followed by a private dinner Saturday for the faculty’s alumni, and brunch the following day.

“My wife and I were married one week after graduation, and on Saturday they also helped us celebrate our golden anniversary,” he said.

Also in attendance was the class’s official mascot, Mickey Mouse.

“We sing the theme song at every reunion,” said Hasegawa, who has been a city councillor in Beaconsfield for 20 years.

Theirs was a close-knit group.

“We always helped one another,” said Bernstein, who retired from his Kirkland practice a few months ago, and who was prominent on the lecture circuit for many years.

“There was a bit of an age spread among us. Several were mature students who had come to Canada through the GI Bill of Rights and had been in the war,” recalled Bernstein, who is from a long line of medical practitioners and is an avid jazz musician.

He reflected on the winds of change.

“When we graduated, there was only one female. Today, the majority in the faculty are women, like in law and medicine. There has been a shift to the extent that more women are getting a higher education.”

The reunion was not without its bittersweet moments.

“There were 34 of us in the beginning. But our class has been decimated; we’ve lost half our members,” Bernstein said, adding there were about 15 people in attendance on the weekend.

Both Bernstein and Hasegawa say they’re looking forward to the reunion of 2013.