Andrew Sabhapati Pillay

On Sunday morning, October 25, Andrew went to the 11:15 a.m. Mass at St. Mary's Parish, Vancouver, and received Holy Communion. He came home from church, and with his children beside him, he went peacefully Home. They blessed him with holy water, anointed him with holy oil, and commended him to God. He was 89, just fifty-six days shy of ninety.

Born in Lautoka, Fiji, and raised in Tavua among fifteen brothers and sisters, Andrew became Catholic as a boy, and for more than eighty years, his faith held the reins. He lived in Ba until 1974, when he carried his young family across an ocean to Canada for a better life.

He was a salesman and a storyteller, the keeper of the family history, a man who could turn one simple question into twenty minutes of the good old days. He read the news, watched the news, and waited, always, for the news that mattered most: the latest from his sisters.

Andrew was predeceased by his wife of forty-nine years, Anita, who went home to God on August 16, 2014. He is survived and remembered by his daughter Rose; his son Gabriel and daughter-in-law Roberta; his remaining brother and sisters; his in-laws from Anita's family of ten; and more nieces, nephews and first cousins than anyone could count. So many hearts now carry his stories.

We did not get to celebrate ninety years with him. We will spend the rest of ours grateful for the eighty-nine we were given.

Family and friends are invited to a viewing at St. Mary's Parish, 5251 Joyce St., Vancouver, BC V5R 4G8, on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, beginning at 9:30 a.m., followed by the Funeral Mass at 11:00 a.m. and a reception in the church hall.

The Funeral Mass will also be broadcast live on the St. Mary's Parish YouTube channel: youtube.com/@stmarysvancouver.

Cremation will take place at 3:30 p.m. at Vancouver Memorial Services and Crematorium, 5505 Fraser St., Vancouver, BC V5W 2Z3. Andrew will be laid to rest with Anita at Ocean View mausoleum at a later date.

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him.