First to Three: the Penturn Family Legacy at TFS
Alumna Rebecca Penturn ’06 is building on her family’s legacy at the school. Her mother, Kathleen Crook, a Class of 1977 grad, and her father, James Penturn, who attended from 1963-73, met at here as students. With the enrolment of Rebecca's son this year, the Penturns become the first three-generation family at TFS.
When it comes to the Penturns, TFS runs in the family. One of three siblings that attended TFS, Kathleen Crook, a Class of ’77 grad, met James ‘Jim’ Penturn when he was a student from 1963 to 1973. Friends for some time, the two started dating when Jim invited Kathleen to his high school graduation. A little while later, the couple tied the proverbial knot and soon had children of their own – Rebecca, Sarah and Jessica. Based on their experience, and in appreciation of the co-ed, bilingual and international education that the school offered through its IB program, Jim and Kathleen decided TFS was the right choice for their girls. While Sarah followed in her father’s footsteps and completed her high school years at UTS, Rebecca and Jessica graduated from TFS in ’06 and ’09 respectively. Flash forward to 2023, and Rebecca and her husband, Steven Weerdenburg, have chosen TFS for the eldest child, establishing the Penturns as the very first three-generation family at the school.
In Kathleen’s words, “Jim didn’t impress me until grade three.” While Jim doesn’t quite recollect the year, he confesses, “I virtually always have a memory of Kathleen.” If when the bond started is up for debate, where it started is not in question: TFS.
“That speaks so much of our year, the Class of 1977,” says Kathleen. “We had all grown up together and we’re still the closest of friends. Next to my family, I’ve known Arlene Hofstader ’77, who I met in Intro Grade 1, longer than anyone in my life. The connection Jim and I share is like that. We grew up together at TFS, we were given a lot of freedom and a lot of opportunities to discover ourselves, and it was extremely bonding.”
“Clearly we had a very positive experience, which is why we sent our three children,” says Jim.
Now, the first of those three children is sending her firstborn as well. “I knew I wanted my children to learn French at a young age,” says Rebecca. “My son was in a fantastic daycare over the last two years, but he was starting to need more challenges, to be pushed a little more, something more rigorous than what was being offered. Steven didn’t grow up in Toronto. He didn’t know TFS like I did. We went to one of the new parent information sessions and he was tremendously impressed with all the extracurricular activities that will be available to our son in later years. I speak French, Steven speaks computers, so seeing the chess, the coding, the Robotics Lab and some of the things our son could be doing in a few years time really solidified the school as the right choice.”
As a student, Rebecca had some of the same teachers as her parents, including Mme. Bouchard who taught her in Senior School. As a parent, she continues to see some familiar faces. Nancy Plourde, La p'tite école librarian today for example, taught Jessica in Junior Kindergarten.
Exceptional TFS students, alumni and parents, the Penturns have also been key contributors to the success of the school. The family has been deeply engaged as leaders and volunteers over many decades. Kathleen first became involved as a ‘Class Mom’ and co-chaired the Reflections Gala with Lili Hofstader Gillespie ’75 in 1995. She was a member of the TFS Board of Directors from 1997 to 2007, and served, with a variety of terms as Chair of the Donor Relations and Stewardship Sub-Committee from 2002 to 2009, the Advancement Committee from 2002 to 2006 and again in 2008, the Annual Fund Sub-Committee from 2002 to 2006, the Volunteer Committee Major Gifts Sub-Committee from 2004-2006, and the Voilà Gala Committee in 2003. Kathleen and James are both former TFS Foundation trustees and James served for a time as Foundation Chair. As Chair of the Building on Excellence Campaign Cabinet, Kathleen also helped guide the school to what was at the time its most successful fundraising campaign in history. Running from 2001 to 2003, Building on Excellence raised over $5.3 million and added 100,000 sq ft of new facilities on the Toronto campus, and four new classrooms and a mini-gym to West Campus.
“The school was still young and didn’t have a tradition of philanthropy – it’s not typically part of the France model,” explains Kathleen. “I was on the Advancement Committee and the Board’s ambitious plan for Giles Hall and to connect the buildings on campus became the catalyst for creating a philanthropic culture at TFS.”
The Penturns have also been generous supporters of TFS, giving to annual appeals, starting the Class Fund tradition – that continues to this day – with Rebecca’s graduation in 2006, and making a lead gift to the Building on Excellence campaign. In recognition of the family’s generous philanthropic support, the Penturn Library was named in their honour.
The generosity of the Penturns and the culture of philanthropy they helped instill has transformed the school to what it is today. And now, with the first third-generation student at TFS, the legacy of the Penturn family promises to live on well into the future. Will the Penturns be the very first fourth generation family as well? Only time will tell.
