Mattia Bellicoso

Born in Calatafimi, Sicily on October 27, 1927, to Salvatore and Pietra Vivona, she was the eldest child in a family of 4. She met her husband Luigi (Gino) in the years after WWII, and they soon married and started their family. While Mattia was expecting their first child, Gino left for Canada in the hopes of building a better life for their family, and Mattia remained in Italy. In 1952, with her then almost one year old son, she crossed the Atlantic to meet Gino in Toronto. Together they raised seven kind, hardworking sons Vito (Anna), Sal (Marilyn), Jack (Mary), Anthony (predeceased, 2022) (Michelina), Frank (Marie), Nick (Edna), and Peter (Lilly). Eventually she became “Nonna”, a role she carried out exceptionally and with so much love and warmth for each of her 12 grandchildren Gino (Jaclyn), Elena, Daniela (Matthew), Michael (Ariella), Natalie (Roy), Robert (Cassandra), Elisa, Emily (Sulayman), Matthew, Mark, Steven, and Corin (George). She would say she could have never imagined it and counted herself so fortunate to become a “Big Nonna”, and eventually got to love and hold 10 great grandchildren (Gio, Dante, Amelia, Luca, Anthony, Joelle, Michaela, Alexandra, Tyler and Lindsay).

She took pleasure in cooking for her family and sharing a meal together, and was a great baker. She was glad to know she was able to pass on her recipes to her children and grandchildren. Even in her final days, one of her concerns remained seeing that her family was fed; perhaps this is because when she put food on the table, everyone came, which fostered the sense of love and togetherness that she most valued.

In her final months, she said she could have never imagined the big beautiful family she would go on to have as a young woman coming to Canada. Likewise, we all count ourselves lucky to have had her as our Bellicoso Family Matriarch.

Family and friends will be received at the Kane-Jerrett Funeral Home, 6191 Yonge Street in North York, on Wednesday November 29, 2023 from 2-4 pm and 6-9 pm. Funeral Mass will be the following day, on Thursday November 30, 2023 at 9:30 am at St. David’s Catholic Church, 2601 Major Mackenzie Drive in Maple. Entombment will follow at Westminster Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Canadian Cancer Society.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.kanejerrettnorthyork.ca for the Bellicoso family.