Anton Josef Petrasch

Linda Milani (nee Petrasch) announces with a very heavy heart that her beloved dad, Anton (Tony) Josef Petrasch, passed away peacefully in the Burnaby Hospital Palliative area on November 16, 2021, at the age of 90 years.

He is predeceased by his wife of 57 years, Annemarie Petrasch, his parents, Leopold and Theresia Petrasch and his mother and father-in-law Georg and Elizabeth Grubinger.

Tony was a son, husband, father, father-in-law, brother, brother-in-law, uncle and great uncle. He leaves behind his daughter and partner, and relatives in Europe including Maria, Roswitha, Brigitte with Gerhard and Alexander, Albert with Brigitte, Sabine, Angelika and Harald with Claudia, Johanna and Samuel, along with his wonderful neighbors of many years.

Tony was born in 1931 in Verona, Italy, his family lived there for a while but he was mainly raised in Villach, Austria. Tony was the oldest of 5 children. He braved the world to adventure to Canada on the Saturnia ship in 1957, first living in Princeton, BC for 6 months, then in Vancouver, BC until 1973, and finally settling in Burnaby, BC, for the past 48 years.

When Tony arrived in Princeton, he was working for the Canadian Bank of Commerce (now CIBC), and explained to them that he knew 3 languages, English, German and Italian, so would they please station him in a bigger city. Within 6 months, he was transferred to Vancouver, where he had positions of Loans & Mortgage Officer and Branch Manager at several locations in the lower mainland, for a long banking career with CIBC, until he retired in 1992.

He met Annemarie when he was working in Salzburg, Austria before he immigrated. She later joined him in Canada in 1963 and they were married the same year. I admire their courage to leave their families and home country, and I’m thankful for the opportunities and amazing life we lived here.

Tony assimilated himself into a very European tradition – football (soccer) – by joining the Alemania Soccer Club as a player and as a volunteer Treasurer. After local games, the guys would meet at the “Alpen Club” on Victoria Drive, and it became a Thursday night Tradition. He met so many great teammates, who became lifelong friends, and their Oldtimers trips to Hawaii and California weren’t short of funny stories or pictures.

I would like to thank the amazing staff at the Chartwell Carlton Gardens Care Home (especially their efforts through the pandemic) who took great care of him the past 1.5 years where he flourished with all the attention and people to talk to.

Dad, you always told me you loved me. I am forever grateful for the comfort that gave me and the confidence that instilled in me. I won’t forget the lessons you taught me and I am so blessed to call you my dad. I don’t want to say goodbye so I will say I love you and I miss you.

If you would like to honor Tony’s life by a donation, the Heart and Stroke Foundation or the Burnaby Hospital Foundation were 2 charities that he contributed to regularly.