A Database of the Dead

My great grandmother is my hero. When her husband left her in Slovakia with the kids for a new life in Canada with promises to send for them, she didn't wait passively. She took odd jobs and scrimped and saved money for the passage for her and her 3 surviving kids. When he never sent for them, she boarded a ship, came to Canada not speaking a word of English and tracked him down in Montreal and said 'we are your responsibility - deal with it'. He had no choice to comply. Her strength, resilience, and warm heart were never lost in translation.

Vince's dream was to own an optician store. It would be staffed by his children and his nephews. Once I married into the family, I was invited to work there as well. Vince would sit on a stool in the middle of the store and tell us all what to do. At the end of the day, we would all have dinner together. This is the Vince I knew and loved. Will always remember the power of music in his life, especially in the late stages of dementia. It allowed me to see glimpses of the man I would never know but who had left a legacy.

Mary was my Baba and such an important woman in my life. She made it tough to love her at times but once you knew the way she expressed love, you could see how deeply it went with her.

A beautiful, humble and very creative spirit who was taken from her family and this earth too soon.
She was born and died in Toronto.
Her ashes is with her great grand mother’s, grandmother’s and aunts’ in Trinidad, W.I. Peaceful rest, my daughter ??

Reynold (Pappie), lived most of his life in Princes Town, Trinidad W.I. He was born in the late 1800s and died in the early 1960s. Among other credits, He was a strict educator. Rest In Peace. Pappie.

He played the bagpipes on the streets of Toronto, in a kilt and a punk studded jacket. He made people smile.
Such a beautiful soul who would help anyone who needed it.
He helped me, he made me smile, I miss him so much. Janet and George, thank you for making someone who enriched my life. I know he loved you both so deeply.
We miss you, everyone who knew you, misses you.

The warmth that flowed through you in life is still here, still part of all that we are, even as we who mourn continue the heat of our own lives.

He was an amazing father, son and husband. Died at the age of 49 way to soon. He loved to dance and help others. But most of all he made sure his family was happy.

An Iraqi protest who got killed by the terrorist militias for participating in the protests movement in Iraq against corruption that took place at 25 october 2019

A beautiful, spiritual, loving soul gone too soon. Born in Trinidad W.I. and died in Canada. We all miss you dearly, my sister. Sleep in heavenly peace??.

Born in Trinidad W.I. on November 22, 1914. Loving mother, grandmother, aunt to many. She was everyone’s‘Aunt Ena’. A very spiritual soul. She died in her 84th year. Continue to Rest In Peace , my mother ??

Distinguished assemblage and collage artist, as well as noise musician and projectionist fir installations and performance art. Disappeared and was found in the forest. We are All stardust.

Kit Hood, my father died of a catastrophic brain bleed (a Subarachnoid Hemorrhage) on January the 20th, 2020.
My father was not sick. His death was very sudden and unexpected.
Christopher, (Kit) Hood was a film maker and the co-creator of Degrassi.
Kit was born in London, England, but moved to Canada in 1966 with his new wife and baby girl.
Kit spent much of his career in Toronto but, he lived the last 20 odd years of his life in rural Nova Scotia.
He is deeply missed.

Rudi was a beloved, eccentric Italian man with an unforgettable laugh and a fantastic moustache. A cherished member of our family, husband to my Aunt Julie for 30 years and father to my best friend, Kathryn Louise. He was a friend to so many. Everywhere Rudi went, he would run into someone he knew. Even while on holiday in another country, we would hear someone shouting out his name gleefully from down the street. He took me on my first trip to Italy. I will always cherish those memories, especially visiting the small, beautiful mountain village where he was born, Lana. He loved music, of all kinds. Some of my earliest memories were in the car with him and Kathryn, speeding along the Braids Hills Road, blasting our favourite “Swinging 60s” cassette tape. Or Pavarotti in the house. Or Nirvana. Or Black Sabbath. He loved riding his motorcycle. He was an amazing chef and ran a successful Italian restaurant, Pinocchio’s, for many years before finally opening Rudi, his namesake, the famous delicatessen on Forrest Road that consistently has a lineup out the door. One comfort we have is that his shop now stands as a bright green and yellow monument to him in the heart of Edinburgh (a heart over the “i” captures his spirit). He taught us all so much about cooking and made every family gathering an event, full of good food, wine, laughter, and silliness. The pandemic forced us to watch his funeral through a screen, over 3000 miles away from our loved ones, who we could see were in pain as they sat six feet apart in the chapel, unable to hug each other and properly say goodbye. We all feel robbed. He deserved so much more. Ciao Rudi. Rest peacefully. Ti voglio bene.

Jack was my Grandpa, but I called him Grump. He was not a grump, but a sweet, quiet, generous man, kind to all who knew him. He was fantastic at crosswords and trivia. He had a great sense of humour. My nana Rita was his best friend and love of his life for 66 years. He loved his grandchildren, the Glasgow Rangers to a fault, and a nip of Famous Grouse at the end of the day. We miss him so much.