Domenica Angela Bianchi

Domenica Angela (Grande) Bianchi, mom, was born on Monday, July 23, 1934 in the small Italian village of Villavallelonga, Abruzzo, Italy and arrived in Canada Sunday, October 4, 1953. She passed away on Monday December 18, 2023 in Toronto, of kidney failure. She was 89 years of age. Mom was predeceased by her father Domenico Leucio Grande (1991), mother Maria Soccorsa (Ferrari) Grande (1976), and beloved mother-in-law Giulia (Palozzi) Bianchi (2010).

She is survived by her spouse of 64 years, Croce Bianchi as well as her three children. They include her daughter Giulia Cazzin (Carlo), and grandchildren Laura Cazzin (Zion Markreiter) and Luca Cazzin (Amanda); daughter Agnese Bianchi; and son Nicola Bianchi (Jeanette) as well as grandchildren Isabella and Gianluca Bianchi.

Domenica was the youngest daughter of seven children. She is survived by her big-sister Maria Antonia Ferrari (Pietro) and predeceased by her beloved brothers Ernesto (Lucia), Giovanni (Antonia), Ascenzo (Nicolina) and Francesco (Franca) Grande, as well as her sister Emilia Cocuzzi (Pasquale), several nieces, nephews, cousins and friends both in Canada and Italy.

Domenica was known for never being afraid of hard work, her beautiful singing voice, the love she showed in caring for her garden and extended family, as well as her natural modesty, curious inventiveness and grassroots sustainability when using an Absolute Vodka bottle to keep milk colder when stored in the fridge. She prided herself on being able to grow vegetable seedlings from eggshells in recycled egg cartons so she could fill in the vast design of her new edible garden every year.

And like her bon vivant father Domenico before her, boy could she tell a good tale. She was a woman whose storytelling talents were so incredible that she convinced us kids that her six siblings were Superheroes. But nothing compared to the slyness she showed when slowly and carefully watering down her elderly father’s beloved bottle of Crown Royal whisky. Masterful!

Throughout her life, she was a reluctant disciplinarian who gave her children and grandchildren a healthy head start when running after them, and a passionate defender of rights who always spoke up in defense of those at home or at work who were treated unfairly. Domenica was a woman of measured balance who favoured calm and peace over chaos and agitation, the pastoral nature of storytelling, and her pride and defense of her family in the face of any enemies—whether it was the Nazis or gossipy paesani.

Mom was a whiz in the kitchen and loved any new time-saving kitchen appliance that came along. She took great pride in whipping up new-world food classics such as macaroni and cheese, potatoes au gratin (like Julia Child made), colorful Jello molds, and her signature chilled lime cheesecake, which after some prodding, her nephew Berardo happily devoured in one sitting as mom sat by, smiling with satisfaction.

Domenica’s homemaking skills also extended to experimenting with Simplicity sewing patterns as she cut and sewed most of her young kids’ clothing. She also took great pride in designing and sewing her daughter Giulia’s prom outfits, fitting the task in most evenings after working a full day at her beloved retail job at Woolco and later, Walmart.

Mom also showed her fierce DIY spirit when insisting on cutting her children’s hair to their vocal and tearful protests. And later, agreeing to try to perm her son Nicola’s hair much to her husband Croce’s chagrin. Domenica was a woman whose heart extended far beyond the length of her arms. She was the untrained historian who taught her kids and grandkids more than any text book about the trials and tragedies of WWII. She was a woman who treated every stranger as a neighbour and every neighbour as one of her own. Above all, she loved having family in the house, and we always looked forward to her sister Maria Antonia’s weekly Wednesday visits, and Aunt Agnese’s Christmas visits from Rochester, NY. For mom, it was a chance to catch up on their lives and learn from their stories. Always a pleasure.

Domenica was a spiritual person, but for her, religion wasn’t about following rigid rules. No, she believed in religion the right way. It was about the power of small acts of kindness and the importance of doing the morally right thing. Her greatest gift was picking the spots where she knew her wise words could make a difference, and letting the rest go.

Her biggest dream—to see Canada by rail—was something her husband Croce, who had circumnavigated the world by age 28, had little interest in doing once they’d settled down in their small bungalow in Downsview to raise their growing family. But mom always saw the silver lining and satisfied her wanderlust with TVO travel and history documentaries. It all still seemed possible to her. One day. That’s the one thing our mom Domenica never lost—her belief that all dreams were attainable. You just needed to have a little patience, and never-ending faith.

But mostly mom taught us the importance of kindness and thanking others who help you through life’s journey. So, we would like to thank friends and family for their support and the nurses, PSWs, doctors and all the staff of the Harold and Grace Baker Centre for the care they gave and kindness they showed mom over the last few years.

We love you mom, and dad and all of us kids will always miss you. Ciao ma.