Razeer Khan

It is with a heavy heart we announce the passing of our mom Razeer Catherine Khan. She was born on the island of Trinidad and Tobago on 07th November 1951. She is the first daughter of the late Nazamoodin Khan and Nylun Khan (Ali). She leaves behind her loving daughters Elizabeth Ann Surajdeen and Emelda Surajdeen (Hodiwala). She was a blessed mother in law to Darryl Hodiwala and grandmother to Dimitri Boodoo. She is survived by her sisters Jennifer Khan (Singh), Narda Khan (Sooknanan) and brother Imtiaz Khan. Sister in law and Auntie to the Surajdeen, Sooknanan and Khan families.

The heart and soul of her family, she was an incredible mom, loving daughter, sister, auntie, cousin, grandmother, cook and a loyal friend. She was also known for her tender heart, gracious charm, wisdom, strength, no-nonsense thoughts and opinions. She was always ready and willing to offer advice, cook any dish you requested and help whenever/however you needed.

Razeer and Vernon Surajdeen (Tosh) were from the same village (Curepe) and met when she was a young teen and he was a teacher in a primary school. Then she left Trinidad in 1969 at 17 to live in english speaking Montreal. A few short years later, Razeer and Tosh met at a lime in Toronto and by 1972 Elizabeth was born then in 1973 Emelda was born. Missing home, Tosh moved back to Trinidad and in 1974 Razeer followed the love of her life back to Trinidad.

Razeer then found employment with Dr. Feroze Rafeek and worked as his nursing assistant. Before the kids turned 18, she decided to bring them back to Canada to a now French speaking Montreal. Unfortunately, Montreal was not the place she left in the 60s and due to unforeseen circumstances, they ended up living in shelters for a few years. It was due to the strength and determination of Razeer that she and her kids survived every trial.

They moved to Toronto and she found employment at The Boys’ Home of Toronto, where she worked double and triple back-to-back shifts in order to provide for her family. A few years into working there, she was involved in an accident, a minivan hit her – sending her 15 feet in the air. She survived this accident and was determined to make her way back to being healthy and normal. Nothing could stop her once she made up her mind. This was no surprise to anyone.

Her life was marked by patriotism and unwavering dedication to her family. She embraced her role as a mother with boundless love and care, always putting her children’s well-being above all else. Her spirit and guidance helped shape their lives, and her legacy will forever remain in their hearts.

She was our biggest supporter in whatever we planned to do, even if she didn’t agree she would still support us. She was very proud of Lizz ‘s designs in jewelry, event planning and Caribana and would be hands on to help do whatever Lizz needed. From dying clothes, to stringing beads to sewing. She would go to every band launch and played mas in everyone of her designs. Every time she would see a piece of jewelry her first thing to say ‘when will you be making mine?’ She herself played mas in Trinidad Carnival and here in Toronto for Caribana for many years. She would go to fetes and boat rides with her kids and all their friends and cousins for years.

With Emelda, she was so proud of her graduating with her Bachelor of Social Work. She was the backbone and sounding board that Emelda leaned on throughout all the years before getting to the finish line with her degree. She was also so happy when Emelda met Darryl, there was no doubt in her mind that he was perfect for her and opened her arms immediately to his son – Dimitri who she instantly considered her grandson. She was so happy when she was told that Dimitri would be marrying his fiancée Kayah and in December she found some joy in her illness when she was told she would be a great-grandma.

You couldn’t drop into her home and not have food to eat. If she knew you were coming, she would make a multitude of dishes – anything she knew you loved. Leaving her home meant leaving with leftovers. Her favourite dish was dahl, rice and bhagi. Whenever she cooked, Emelda would have to pass after work to take home as her son in law would love it. She would do grocery shopping every Saturday and would be picking up whatever Emelda and Darryl needed.

Her passion was giving back. She walked 60km every year for 20 years consistently in the Princess Margaret Hospital. She spent every spring and summer for 20 years raising funds outside of the Beer Store just to raise funds to make the qualifying amount for each work. It didn’t matter how cold, hot or rainy it was, she was going out to fund raise. And the same for the walk, she would never let the weather stop her from walking the 60km. She even scheduled her knee surgery in between each knee as she wasn’t going to miss out on walking. Even after finishing walking the 60km, she would then go over to the massage tent and help Lizz who ran the tent. It was ‘their’ thing together. She also would help Lizz with the massage tent for 10 years with the Enbridge Ride to end Cancer in Hamilton.

Another way she gave back was through her blood donations. Having a rare blood type she would try to give blood every month but due to her low iron, she was only able to give 100 pints of blood. In the later years, she also tried to give plasma but her iron was still too low – she was devastated.

She also loved garage sales, there wasn’t a sign that was missed every Saturday as soon as late spring came. It is a surprise that they never met with an accident with the crazy driving once she spotted a sign and excitedly said to Lizz ‘there!’.

She was a giver and anything you want, she was going to give it to you. Even if you didn’t know you wanted it, if she thought you should have it whether it was clothes, food or advice, you were going to get it.

No one could tell her she couldn’t do something. She maintained the home she shared with Lizz from top to bottom. The back and front yard was her pride and joy in the summers. She loved her roses and even won an award for the nicest lawn, she was so proud. She was driven; she wanted to understand the intricacies of everything. She would even be out in the snow with her snowblower every winter and would even help the neighbours by snowblowing their driveways for them.

She also loved her Christmas tree which she would spend a whole month putting up, it was meticulous and everyone loved it. Every ornament had to be in the right place. She also loved cooking for the holidays. Christmas was hard as her mom had died on Christmas day shortly after returning to Trinidad with her girls. But she made sure that Christmas was full of love, fun, memories and presents. Nothing meant more to her than being surrounded by family and friends as often as possible.

As we mourn the loss of her, we find comfort in the countless memories she leaves behind. Her love, kindness, and unwavering devotion to family will forever serve as a guiding light in all that knew her. She will be deeply missed by all who had the privilege of knowing her.

The family appreciates all of your prayers and kind gestures during this difficult time.

In lieu of flowers, contributions to Canadian Blood Services https://www.blood.ca/en can be made in her memory.

For those not able to attend the service you are welcome to view the service through the Livestream link as we celebrate a life well lived.