Rodney Michael Hosein

Rodney was born in Tunapuna, Trinidad to Yusuf and Sybil Hosein, on November 19, 1947. He was always the life of the party. During his early years, he quickly discovered his love of music, specifically calypso and soca, and it remained a large part of his life until the end. He began djing at house parties as a teenager, with nothing more than one record player and a small collection of records. He continued this practice after moving to the Greater Toronto Area, djing for weddings, family events and West Indian fetes throughout the 80s and 90s. That passion for partying was a constant throughout his life, well into his retirement years. If there was anything you could say about Rodney, even if you did not know him well, was that he always loved a good party.

Rodney originally immigrated to Canada in the mid-60s, and first lived in Montreal. Like so many other immigrants, this was his opportunity to make a better life for himself. He migrated with the intention of attending school and to make a successful life here. Unfortunately, he had sustained an eye injury a few weeks before his immigration and it caused him to postpone his educational goals. Instead, he started working as a data entry clerk on punch card machines. In 1976, he moved to Toronto with his family and took a new job at a company called Monsanto, where he volunteered to learn about their new IBM mainframe computer system. This set him on a path into the IT world before the term ”IT” became mainstream. Towards the end of his career, he was proud to say that he was able to excel at his job and to work alongside people who had Master’s degrees, with no more than his high school education.

Perhaps his immigration experience caused him to be bitten by the travel bug, because Rodney loved to travel with friends, family and on his own throughout his adult life. He was lucky enough to visit many countries such as Switzerland, Cuba, The United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Greece, Thailand and China, among others.

After retirement, Rodney’s main focus was to spend time with family and loved ones, constantly checking in to make sure everyone was okay. He particularly cherished the time he was able to spend with his grandchildren, making a point to keep them close to his heart no matter where he travelled.

Rodney is survived by his two sons, Michael and Simon, his two daughters-in-law, Tina and Serena, his grandsons, Sebastian and Xander, his brothers and sisters Shah, Juliette, Rolph, Enid, and Emanuel, numerous nieces and nephews and many, many friends and family whom he cherished greatly.

In lieu of flowers please make a donation in his name to the CNIB(Canadian National Institute of the Blind).