Petru Dan Turcu

Petru Dan Turcu passed away on November 22, 2012 at Southlake Hospital in Newmarket at the age of 59, after a brief battle with cancer. He leaves behind his devoted wife, Victoria, his beloved son Dan, sisters-in-law Anca and Ileana and their husbands Dimitri and Achim; also his niece Andreea and father-in-law Dumitru. He will be dearly missed by his family, friends, co-workers and all those whose lives he touched.

Eulogy by Dimitri Diakovasiliou

Before I begin I would like to acknowledge:

The pain we are all feeling … what a terrible loss of a real wonderful man.

“Life and death are of a supreme importance time passes swiftly and opportunity is lost … let us be present.”

My dear Dan, friend and beloved brother-in-law:

What I am feeling right now and these words, I hope that they will do You justice. Unfortunately I must say that I am not known for eloquent speeches but the love and respect that I have for you is beyond description and I hope that this will come through in what I have to say today.

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Working with You as an engineer for the past two years; I have seen You set for yourself the highest standard of excellence, commitment and ingenuity. Whatever You did, as always, had to be done right. And I also noticed that any hardship you were going through at the time didn't seem to matter. Whether you were having trouble sleeping the night before or how much pain you were feeling at the time. As I can sadly attest for the past few months!

No matter what was asked of You and no matter by who; whether it be something trivial like taking out the garbage or a big project that nobody else was able to do. Your response was always the same; “sure - I'll do my best".

As most of you who have spent time with Dan know, the list of things that He was good at was endless. Besides being an excellent engineer he was also a dependable mechanic and as Victoria and Danny can attest to, there is nothing inside or outside the home that Dan could not repair, rebuild or replace, with a better design.

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As a devoted husband and a loving father I have never seen Dan falter or found him at a moment where his own needs came before those of his family. It was obvious that Dan's only intention was to please. And it was also very obvious how much they loved him.

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The mysterious thing about Dan is that even though I have known him for more than fourteen years I found that I could never be truly sure about what he was thinking. There was a quiet confidence about him.

I remember a few years ago on vacation, fishing with Dan in the middle of Georgian Bay; we were hoping to catch some salmon. It was a beautiful day and after a few hours everybody was gone and we also wanted to head back. Unfortunately though the old motor on the small boat we were on would not start. I watched helplessly in silence, for what seemed like hours, as Dan worked at the faulty gas line pump, trying everything possible to repair it so we would be back to our cottage, in time to help prepare dinner and all the time knowing that Dan would find a way to save us.

Persistent to the end there was no sign of despair, nor did he say anything to worry me. It was a beautiful and might I say wonderful movement in an otherwise scary situation that I will never forget.

Over the years I found Him to be one of the warmest, kindest, most generous, wittiest persons I have ever met. With a great sense of humor who loved to make people laugh.

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What a pleasure to have known You and a privilege to have spent this time with you!

I will miss our endless, challenging, chess games and good times.

I will miss You, yet you will continue to be by my side;

Whenever I need guidance from a kind soul you will be there.

Whenever I need a friend to share a hot veil sandwich or a shot of vodka, you will be there with me; with that warm pleasant smile.

My Dear Dan - You will continue to be by my side, For as long as I have a heart that can sense, feel and love. I am so grateful to have had you in my life.

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To the immediate family and to all those who He has touched throughout his life ... I would like to express my deepest sympathy on the loss of your beloved husband, father, brother in law, friend or colleague.

To Victoria, Dan Jr. and Anca I know how important he was in your life and your care and support during these last few weeks in the hospital must have brought Him great comfort in an otherwise hopeless situation.

I know how special he was in your life and while this makes the loss so very painful, I do believe that your closeness and warm memories will bring you comfort. Know that I am thinking of you during these trying days and wishing you all the best.

Thank you for allowing me the honour of this eulogy!

~ END ~

Petru Dan Turcu passed away on Thursday November 22, 2012 at the age of 59, after a brief battle with cancer. He leaves behind his devoted wife, Victoria, his beloved son Dan, sisters-in-law Anca and Ileana and their husbands Dimitri and Achim; also his niece Andreea and father-in-law Dumitru. He will be dearly missed by his family, friends, co-workers and all those whose lives he has touched. The meaning of life is suddenly unclear. ; 11/25/2012.