Myrle Vokey dead at 85 [Video]

ST. JOHN’S, N.L –

Myrle Vokey, an educator who created Newfoundland’s famed Screech-in ceremony as a way to give people a sense of belonging, died on Saturday at the age of 85, after a road trip and a night out for his 58th wedding anniversary.

Vokey’s lively Screech-in performances began in 1974 as he was travelling the province for the Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers’ Association. The ceremony has since become a well-entrenched tradition, now mainly aimed at visitors to the island who hope to kiss a cod, dance a jig and become honorary Newfoundlanders.

“He viewed Newfoundlanders as a family, and it was his strong desire to have us all feel like we had a seat at that table, and that we were all part of the same magical cultural development that seemed to be going on at that time,” his daughter, Krista Vokey, said in an interview.

“Dad tried, and I think succeeded, …