Mr. Thomas Chalissery

Thomas Chalissery passed away peacefully with family at his side at Burnaby Hospital on October 19th, 2018 after battling ALS for 11 years. He was born in Thrissur, India on November 12, 1950.

From very humble beginnings in Thrissur he was able to earn scholarships to complete his Masters at the University of Toronto. Starting with only $15 to his name when he immigrated to Canada he successfully built his own construction development company and was an award winning realtor. He not only climbed to top, he did it the right way. Always staying true to himself and being completely truthful, honest, caring and fair.

Dad was a very family orientated man. He did everything with the intention of helping and stabilizing the family. He sponsored and brought over two of his brothers (Vilson & Jaison) and his parents (Paulose & Thresia) to Canada. He always tried to ensure that the whole family was doing well helping in anyway possible both here in Canada and in India.

Thomas married the love of his life, Mercy, in 1986. They continued to show their utmost love and affection towards one an other till the very end. Thomas was extremely close to his only son, Jeff, who was born in 1989. Thomas would bring his son to work at a very young age and used every moment with him as a teachable moment.

In 2007, Thomas was diagnosed with ALS and given a life expectancy of 2-5 years. He overcame all odds and fought to more than double that time (11 years). Even after diagnosis, his primary goal was to make sure Mercy & Jeff were taken care of. Dad was purely selfless, never thinking about his own ongoing and upcoming issues with the disease, instead planning how to take care of the family. He always said that being diagnosed with ALS was a blessing not a curse. It allowed him the time to pass on all his teachings to Jeff to ensure he would be ready to take care of the family.

Not only was Thomas close with his family he was well connected with his friends, co-workers/clients and the Malayali community. All his friends and the people he worked with constantly said that Thomas was a great man rehashing all the qualities he had loyal, brave, kind, caring, truthful, fair. He also served as the Kerala Cultural Association of BC president for a few terms in the early years. He frequently made donations to the community, the ALS society, the convents back in India and provided help to those that were needing aid.

Thomas was an avid traveller, an intellectual and a spiritual man. He travelled the world with Mercy visiting every locale they planned to. He was a deep thinker and you could often find him debating heavy topics with others.

Thomas was truly a great and respected man who lived a full life. He will be sorely missed by the community, friends, colleagues and most of all by his family: His wife Mercy, mother Thresia, son Jeff, brothers Vilson(Tessy), Jaison (Binal), Anthony (Elsy), sisters Mary, Rosily and nephews/nieces Joe, Jinu, Jissy, Justin, Jaime, Jessica and Jeremy.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.forestlawn-burnaby.com for the Chalissery family.

In lieu of flowers, a donation can be made in Thomas Chalissery's memory to the ALS Society of BC.