Iolanda Antonietta Leone

It is with profound sadness that we announce Iolanda’s sudden passing at Ottawa’s General Hospital, on February 15, 2024, with her sister Clotilde and brother-in-law Arto at her side. Iolanda’s passing was a result of heart failure several months after Glioblastoma surgery and following chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

Born in Sant’Apollinare, Frosinone, Italy on September 3rd, 1944, to her late parents Giuseppe and Maria Concetta (Rossi) Leone, Iolanda lived most of her life in Montreal, Quebec. She attended Holy Family School and worked for Kaba Lico Inc. (previously Unican Security Systems Ltd.) before retiring in 2009. She had recently moved to Ottawa, Ontario, to the Chartwell Lord Lansdowne Retirement Residence. Iolanda loved classical music (especially Pavarotti), enjoyed dancing, walking, and cooking. She was a woman of faith and a devout Catholic.

Life was not always easy for her, but Iolanda would continuously persevere with quiet fortitude, dignity, and strength. She will forever be remembered for her beautiful smile, gentle spirit, gracious ways, and for the kindness she exhibited towards everyone she had met.

Iolanda leaves behind her children Ernesto (Mercedes) and Sandra Iannuccilli, her grandchildren Andrew and Stephen Iannuccilli, her sisters Mary Leone DiVincenzo (Luigi), Clotilde Leone Keklikian (Arto), brother Franco Leone (Patricia di Biase), brother-in-law Bruno Iannuccilli (Pina), and numerous nieces and nephews as well as great nieces and nephews. Iolanda was, and will always be, cherished by her friends - especially Emilia and Lea Sulpizio, and Estrelle Sousa. She is predeceased by her foster sister Angelina Timiti (October 2018).

Family and friends may pay their respects in person at Holy Family Church, located at 7355 Lajeunesse St., Montreal, QC, on March 7th, 2024, at approximately 10:15 a.m. A Mass in Memory will be celebrated by Father John Baxter at 11:00 a.m.

Interment is scheduled for 1:00 p.m., at the Cote-des-Neiges Cemetery’s Mausoleum Eulalie Durocher, 4601, Côte-des-Neiges Road, Crypt 805E.

Heartfelt gratitude to those men and women in the Healthcare community at St. Mary’s Hospital, the Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital, the Glen site of the McGill University Health Centre, and the Fondation québécoise du cancer in Montreal, QC, and more recently, the caring medical team at the Ottawa General Hospital. Special thank you to the Chartwell Lord Lansdowne Retirement Residence where she found health support from staff and solace and encouragement among members of their eclectic community. The phantasmagorical sunsets that she was able to witness from the westward facing windows helped her greatly further along her healing journey.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to the Canadian Cancer Society or the Heart and Stroke Foundation in Iolanda’s honour.

You can view the ceremony live or on replay at https://funeraweb.tv/en/diffusions/c660e886-c9a3-4e7d-83ac-d3d8409ea110.