From the Desk of Dr. Quiñonez

January 2023

As We Begin a New Year, We Must Also Say Goodbye

“So it goes.”

This expression appears often in Kurt Vonnegut’s novel Slaughterhouse-Five. Vonnegut uses it to express the profoundness of a life in the sometimes-overwhelming universe that we call home.

As we begin 2023, we have an opportunity to live anew, but this also implies we must say goodbye. And for us at Schulich Dentistry, we are saying goodbye to Dr. Roch St-Aubin who passed away from cancer on December 29, 2022.

Many of you will recognize his name and are probably already processing this loss on your own. Dr. St-Aubin was a Western DDS ’86 graduate. After graduation, he joined his father’s practice in Sudbury – a practice that Dr. St-Aubin would build into Groupe Dentaire Sudbury Dental Group.

I am remembering Dr. St-Aubin not only as a stellar graduate of our program, but as someone who represents the best of us, specifically what it means “to be of service.” I met Dr. St-Aubin when he served on the Ontario Dental Association Board of Directors. He was a strong and thoughtful advocate for the profession and, most importantly, for meeting the needs of vulnerable populations.

Dr. St-Aubin was active in local and provincial affairs throughout his career because he cared deeply about others. He knew that being a dentist meant that he could help others – not because he had the means, but because it was his duty.

As you read this, I ask you to consider how you can do good for others. Just like Dr. St-Aubin, think about how you can be of service. His was a life well lived, and we are lucky to call him one of ours. So it goes.