Evan Williams Christiani

Our beloved husband, father and grandfather passed away peacefully on Sunday, August 9th at Bay Ridges Long Term Care Centre in Pickering, Ontario. Evan Williams Christiani was born in London, Ontario on October 26, 1921and married Alice Rea-belle Clifford January 25, 1947. The son of Arnold Louis and Susan Evelyn (Williams), Evan was predeceased by his brother David, his sisters Lenore Wilson, Marion Orr and brother, Jack. He leaves behind older sisters, Evelyn Lockwood and Eugenie Fletcher and his younger brother, Robert and will be sorely missed by his children, David (Betty-Jo), Judith, Warren (Sandy) and Mark (Jayne) and by his grandchildren, Elizabeth McCue (Brendan), Alex and Eric, Sarah and Evan. Memorial Service to be held 1:30 pm, Saturday, September 5, 2015 Melville Presbyterian Church 70 Old Kingston Road, West Hill. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Alzheimer’s Society of Canada and/or random acts of kindness would be appreciated. Evan was a precocious school student, entering high school in London at the age of 11. His education was interrupted when he enrolled for army service during the Battle of Britain. In the mid-forties, he became active in the Scouting movement, and met his bride-to-be at Blue Springs Leadership Training Camp during the summer of 1945. After marriage Evan and Rea-belle settled in Toronto, where he continued to work for Ontario Hydro until his retirement in 1982, with a brief stint as a United Church minister in Kirkland Lake, Ontario. Our father was a devoted family man for his entire life, taking an active interest in our diverse careers of his children, finding adventure for us in camping and family car trips across Canada, and then, around the world with Rea-belle. While he made the sacrifices necessary to provide for a family of four, he was able in retirement to satisfy his considerable curiosity and teaching skills. He taught English as a second language and served as a Parole Officer and guided the public to see his beloved great apes and elephants at the Metro Toronto Zoo. We all admired the dignity and grace with which he accepted the ravages of dementia in his later life, ably and lovingly aided by Judith and by his Personal Care Worker, Jen Ronayne.

“The souls of the righteous are in the hands of God, and there shall no torment touch them…” Evan was “the wind beneath our wings” for us children and showed us how to follow the Way, the Truth and the Life. We rejoice that he can now find rest in Paradise