Eulogy - Memorial Service, November 22, 2019

Mom/Nonna, I write for all of us in bittersweet happiness tinged with sorrow. We are happy you have gone to your heavenly home where you will rest in peace, free of pain and enjoy the company of all those who have gone before you.
Mom/Nonna, you are a much loved, precious and rare strong woman who left the beautiful mountains of Calabria to come to the towering mountains of Canada and rebuild your family nest seven decades ago. The courage this took is beyond words, especially when you left the safety net of your own family behind, fell prey to sea sickness, and had three young children to worry about – during an exhausting sea voyage and train ride across Canada’s beautiful topography.  You came here to join your one and only love, our dad and your husband Nazareno, whose life ended nearly two decades before yours.  During your life together here, you had three more beautiful children and you both worked hard to build a place you could call home.  After a few years of adventures throughout the province of BC, you finally settled in the greater Vancouver area.
In your adopted land, you became a bastion of strength, keeping the family together, passing your knowledge, wisdom and traditions on to all those whose lives you touched. We are better people for that sharing and nurturing of us.
You have now become an icon marking the end of an era, for you were part of a generation like no other – an unsung heroine, a pioneer who improved this country and contributed to making it what it is today. Your story lives on in us – your children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nephews, nieces, and extended family members scattered across the globe.
Hardship, discrimination, deprivation and pain were no strangers to you, our beautiful precious Mother/Nonna. Your bravery and courage endured to the end and set us a role model of dealing with whatever life threw your way.
And so you endured, and bore adversity stoically for a better tomorrow and for our futures.
Your education through the lessons of life and experiences exceeded by far any that could have been given you in the classroom. Life’s teachings made you wiser, stronger and braver than most, and this stoicism, knowledge and skills you passed on to us.  You devoted your life to others, offering boundless wisdom, support and love.  We could not have asked for greater unconditional love and acceptance of diversity and difference as you adapted to the many challenges you faced daily with fortitude and grace – qualities which are treasured and much needed in today’s world.
Your inner strength shone through like the blazing sun as you prayed to God every day that he would bless each and every one of us and bring joy into all our lives.
Your faith in His Goodness overcame the distaste you felt for those politicians who failed to care for the poor, those in need or seeking solace and safety in other lands including this one.
Mom/Nonna, you were always there when you were needed. No one can fill the void you leave around us, you were our strength and our Rock.
Your children, grandchildren and great grandchildren benefitted from your existence as the mother of us all, caring for us, looking after us when we were ill, worrying about us when we were away, but always the magnet that drew us back home.
You passed on your love of being a homemaker and fantastic cook to everyone –children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and friends.  Had you wanted to, you could make shoe leather taste good!
We appreciated slow organic food long before it became a fashion and you dried, pickled, brined and canned the fruits of summer during harvest time so that we could savour its goodness in winter as we gathered around a groaning table laden with food – ‘mangia, mangia’.
Your love of nature and all creatures great and small lives in all of us. And we share your wonder of the beauty of the world that God created for us and are determined to protect it for future generations so that they, too, can enjoy the Earth’s bounty and magnificence.
For these and thousands of other fond memories, Mom/Nonna, you will remain in our hearts forever and we will treasure these thoughts of you as your light shines down on us and warms us in our moments of despair.  We will feel you near when the birds sing, the breeze caresses our cheeks, or a child laughs.
Our much loved Mom/Nonna, enjoy your place in heaven, free from pain forever, where you will join your beloved husband, Nazareno.  Please ask Mother Mary to pray for us as we traverse through this vale of tears.  It is not good-bye, but ‘adieu’.  May you rest in the joyful serenity of Heaven, your eternal Home.


Eulogy - Prayer Night.  November 21, 2019 

She was a wife, our mother, sister, nonna, great grandma, and a friend. Born on May 13th 1926 in Serra San Bruno Italy. One of 13 children, during a hard time in history - 1st world war had just ended, then the depression came. She grew up on a farm, many depended on it…very self-sufficient, everything made by hand. They all learned the hard work ethic, and made them strong. She later married on January 21st 1945 to a handsome man, my father, Nazareno Dominelli. 
Three of us were born in La Serra…Raffaela, Concetta and myself Salvatore. Italy was very poor at that time, so my father set sail in 1951 with his brother Bruno for better opportunities to Canada.  BC became their home. Our mother was left behind with the task of looking after us in Italy. Our dad had saved enough money, working hard for us to join us him.  With an unknown future, she left her siblings behind, her mother and father . She would never see her mother again. Coming to this foreign land in the fall of 1952… imagine not speaking or reading a language in a country very young?  We lived in communities with less than 100 people …no running water, no electricity…mother would pull up water in a bucket on a line from a kettle river...we lived in worker’s shacks with no insulation, just bare walls …out-houses for toilet…oh what fun this new land was.
Three more children were born in BC…Maria in Penticton, Nicola in Oliver and later Rita in New West.  Mother endured all these hardships with no complaint…her faith, her guide… hoping for the best, we moved from Osoyoos in 1959 to Maillardville. Father worked endlessly in saw mills and other jobs. Raised in catholic faith, we went to Fatima every Sunday.  Some of us were baptized here, got 1st communion, confirmed and were married here. Our dad passed away in September 2003.
Mother was a very dedicated person; her family always came first…strong and enduring…she never backed down. We became her life …all the hardship of life gave her a humble perseverance…with courage and hope she lived a faithful life, committed in every way to motherhood, proudest of all professions…she never stopped being mother. With wisdom, she guided us, nurtured us, and loved us all beyond measure. Most of you knew her as Zia Giuseppina…  well acquainted with her great cooking and hospitality. You would leave with a full stomach and a content smile….she taught us to love one another and be forbearing regardless of our character flaws…a forgiving mother who we put through many trials during her life, never giving up hope in us..always in her prayers.  She loved her grandchildren and her great grandchildren with a kind tenderness, tearful when they would leave…always giving me heck for moving to Powell River after living in Chilliwack …I would phone her often and asked her “ how you doing” she would say “ I am here, where are you” she always thought I was on  the way to her home in  Coquitlam.
She managed chronic pain for many years with dignity and little complaints. She would plug right along. She became a little frail in her last years …. she got bossed around by us all and quietly put up with it. Luckily most of us got to spend a special thanksgiving dinner with her…her last week of life was difficult for us all. She had a hard time of letting go…she wanted to teach us her final lesson: patience…something we all lack…quietly she slipped further away and passed on November 4th 2019 at the age of 93. She survived by 4 of her siblings, who live in the Toronto area. She will be greatly missed by us all…at peace now with the angels …she awaits the promise of Christ for eternal life and a new heaven. Ciao bella


First Memorial - Burkeview Chapel

Maria Dominelli (Tassone)

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OBITUARIO

Maria Giuseppa Dominelli (Tassone)

13 mayo, 1926 – 4 noviembre, 2019

Burkeview Memorial Services

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