The record
Their Story
John was born in a small village outside Naples in 1948, the youngest of six. He left for Canada at nineteen with one suitcase, a letter of introduction to a cousin in Toronto, and no English.
He learned the language on construction sites and, within seven years, had started his own contracting company. He met Maria at a church dance in 1971 and married her the following spring. They built a house in Woodbridge with their own hands — literally; there are photos of Maria hanging drywall while pregnant with Paul.
He never stopped fixing things. Neighbours' furnaces, the parish hall roof, a grandchild's bicycle at 10pm the night before a race. He believed a job was done when it was done properly, and that every guest should leave with a full stomach and a jar of his tomato sauce.
He is remembered by Maria, his children Paul and Anna, four grandchildren, and a street full of people whose things still work because of him.