Desiderio Cencig

Just before midnight on November 27, Desiderio Cencig passed peacefully in his sleep from this world to the next, under the incredible care of the staff at Mount Saint Joseph Hospital. He leaves behind his devoted wife of 58 years, Francesca, children Pia (Rob) and Angelo (Tamara), grandchildren Julianna, Matthew and Calista, and many nieces, nephews and cousins.

Desi was born in the small village of Pegliano, Pulfero, Udine, Italy, on the border of what is now Slovenia, in 1929 to parents Pia (née Sittaro) and Angelo. Having endured a childhood under Fascist Italian and then Nazi German occupation, he knew loss and suffering from a young age. He is predeceased by his mother, who died at age 29 after the birth of her fourth child; this youngest brother, Valentino, who subsequently died in infancy; his oldest brother, Natale, who was killed at age 17 as a partisan in the war and remains MIA; his father, who died in 1965 after Desi’s first visit home with his new bride; and his other older brother, Angelo, who died in 1973 after Desi’s first family visit to Italy. We take comfort in knowing he is once again surrounded with the love of the family he didn’t get much time with on this earth.

In 1953, Desi immigrated to Canada, arriving by ship at Pier 21 in Halifax, to work as a labourer on a railway expansion in northern Manitoba. When the job was finished, he was put on a train to Vancouver, ending up on the corner of Main and Hastings on Christmas Eve. He would spend the rest of his Canadian life in this province, finding jobs as a cook and logger in camps in BC’s north, joining the crews of fishing trawlers off the coast as the main cook, doing a stint as the front desk clerk at the Brandiz Hotel, and eventually becoming a member of Local 170 as a metal trade journeyman for BC Rail since 1975.

Despite only reaching a 1st grade education, Desi fluently spoke four languages (Italian, Friulian, Slovene, English), had an expansive knowledge of and passion for gardening, winemaking, and butchery, and developed a resourcefulness that allowed him to work through any problem. Desi did everything by the stage of the moon, as he was taught by his father and uncles at a young age. He learned many things growing up in the mountains, including farming, logging and how to make charcoal.

He loved his family, polka music, the various dogs, cats, rabbits and birds he kept as pets (and that sometimes became dinner), playing scopa, cribbage or briscola, cooking traditional Friulian meals, and his friends at both the Associazione Alpini and Famee Furlane clubs of Vancouver.

Desi will be remembered as a proud husband, father, nonno and zio. His wisdom lives on in his friends and grandkids, and his hugs and incredible stories will be greatly missed. Ti amiamo e ci mancherai per sempre.

A visitation will take place at Bell & Burnaby Funeral Chapel 4276 Hastings St. Burnaby on Wednesday December 6, 2023 from 2:00pm until 4:00pm. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Thursday December 7, 2023, at 11:00am at Our Lady of Sorrows Parish 525 Slocan St. Vancouver. Burial will follow at Ocean View Burial Park 4000 Imperial St. Burnaby.

The Funeral Mass can be viewed by livestream at the link below:

www.legacystreaming.com/bellburnaby

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to HeartLife Foundation or BC Children's Hospital in Desiderio's name.