Evelyn Pinto (Mumbai, India)

Entered December 16, 2017

We will miss u dear Alice - a gentle and docile lady to the hilt! Never failed to visit u and Jovit on our annual trips to Toronto, thanks to our daughter, Tanya, who was equally fond of you and our Jovit!

Anthony D’Souza (Cousin)

Entered December 16, 2017 from Shelton Ct. USA

Dear Jovit and family
My deepest sympathy on Alice passing and my prayers for you all. I hear Alice went peacefully and that’s what is so important.
She was a wonderful person and will be with mama,in heaven.
Love
Tony Sally and Teresa.

Patricia Carrasco (Goddaughter)

Entered December 17, 2017 from 3 rue Medoc, Kirkland, QC H9H 4Z3

Dearest Uncle Jovit, Kevin, Albert & family my sincerest condelences during this very difficult time. May you find strength in knowing that Aunty Alice is in a better place.

Michelle Figueredo (cousin)

Entered December 18, 2017 from Montreal, Quebec

Aunty Alice, the epitome of kindness and grace. Her legacy will live on in the lives of all those she touched. Deepest condolences to Uncle Jovit, Kevin, Albert and your families.
xx
Michelle, Livio, Danielle and Clara Di Francesco

Hector Valles (Friend)

Entered December 21, 2017 from Calgary AB.

Remember the good times we had in Montreal.
God Bless.

Albert Pinto –Thank You speech to Guests
I would like to thank everyone who came here today to attend my mother’s
Celebration of Life. Additional thanks to those of you that have travelled great distances to be here
today and thanks to all those who have helped us in the preparation of today’s celebration.

Now, I would like to tell you a little bit about my mom from my personal perspectives. It may be a bit
biased because I am her son but I think a lot of what I will say today will resonate with everyone that
knew my mother.

Firstly, my mother was all about family. In fact, her family could do no wrongs. This love of her
Family did not just rest with her immediate family but extended to all her blood relatives and to all
whom they married. She truly loved each and every one of her family members. We have a very large
and diverse family, but that didn’t matter, my mother took the time to get to know each and everyone
of them them as she loved you all so dearly.
In turn, we observed something truly remarkable during this difficult period. The love was reciprocated
back to my mom by her family. We personally witnessed the outpouring of love in the form of well
wishes and words of encouragement through the numerous texts, face timing, e-mails , telephone calls
and hospital visits. Before she left us, almost all of the family members were able to communicate their
personal feelings and love for her. Whatever texts or e-mails we received were read to my mother and
she listened to them carefully and it truly brought her great joy.

Mom was blessed by the fact that each of her surviving brothers Peter, Joe and Norbert, were able to
visit her in the Hospital and reminisce memories of growing up together and providing great comfort to
her. In addition, I am so grateful to my cousins Glenda and Lisa and my brother Kevin for the times they
drove my father to the hospital so that he could be with mom and we didn’t have to worry about him
driving there by himself. I am grateful to my sister in law Lynn for sending meals to dad. The last few
years have been very difficult for my father as my mother required a lot of assistance. I would like to
thank my father for being the primary caregiver for my mother and for being such a devoted husband
and loving partner to her of 58 years of marriage.

My mother had an appreciation for beautiful things such as clothes , jewelry etc. and would always
notice and compliment any person who wore these items. However, she herself lived a very simple life
and did not seem to miss having these items for herself.


My mother had a great sense of humour. She didn’t even try to be funny, it just came natural to her.
She was a great story teller who could really deliver a great punch line. She kept this sense of humour
right up until she left us. In her last week, one of the nurses asked her” if she would like something to
drink”. My mother responded like “‘what dear”? The nurse said “like apple juice or orange juice”. My
mom replied with a huge smile,” how about some whiskey?” She never wanted the whiskey but just
wanted everyone who was in the room to have a nice laugh. She was fully aware and alert up until the
evening that she passed away.

I personally believe, she was not afraid to die, in fact I think she was looking forward to being
Re-united with her loving parents, her brother Anthony whom she cherished, admired and respected, her
best friend and sister Dina whom she missed so much and all those who she knew that passed before
her. Mom was truly an angel on earth to me and I believe she is an angel in heaven. She went on her
own terms and passed away peacefully in her sleep.

My mother had incredible strength mostly because she was a woman with deep faith and love for
Jesus. She practiced her faith on a daily basis and was always kind and respectful to whomever she
met. My wife Sareeta would always share with me that she never felt judged that she had a different
faith. Sareeta often told me that she observed that, mom rarely ever got angry and had inner strength
and, tremendous patience of being around 3 strong men with bold personalities. Mom often expressed
words of wisdom and advice to Sareeta. Sareeta said she was a good women who exemplified
grace and integrity and never heard her use any profanity. She also would mention that mom had a
beautiful smile, and was a lady with great skin and hair who looked great without make-up.
Mika said mom was always nice and polite to her saying she liked her clothes even if they were ripped
jeans.
Nikita said mom was great at cooking and making her “potato chops” and loved hearing her story of
how mama had her first date with papa on his Harley Davidson.


I know her qualities and values, will be passed on to her grandchildren, Matthew, Michael, Nikita and
Mika.
My mother’s true legacy is her love for other’s… especially her FAMILY. She will be missed dearly by all
Who had the pleasure of knowing her!

Mama’s Eulogy

Thank you all for coming. My family appreciates your support. Over the last few days, so many of you have come forward expressing your sympathies for my grandmother, Alice. I’ve also heard many accounts of how she warmed hearts and made people smile. However, I want to speak to a group of people that Alice loved the most: the children. Anyone who grew up knowing Alice knows her fondly and differently than someone who only knew her as an adult. It’s because she had so many child-like qualities that resonated with us.

She had a sweet tooth. Alice loved chocolate and ice cream and made me and Michael chocolate pudding. She loved to sing nursery rhymes and Christmas carols. Except, when she did it, she truly enjoyed it. She wasn’t just entertaining me and Michael, she was entertaining herself. She would also play along with whatever we wanted to do, no matter how unsavory. I liked to terrorize ants as a kid, and she was a willing accomplice, pointing out ant hills for me to shoot down with my water pistol. Now this is all good and fine, but what did we learn from her? What good came out of the unique relationship we had with her?

Mama had tremendous faith throughout her life. With all the information and distractions in our society, it is easy to forget about our faith. But she did not. She spoke to God all through the day. God was not just a part of her life, God filled her life. He gave her security. She never complained about what was wrong in her life. And even though we could see that lots was wrong, she never gave it power in her words. Instead, she talked about how she prayed to God for herself, and her family. And even towards the end of her life she was secure and did not worry. My dad told me about how he fed her in the hospital, and she started to cough. My dad, being concerned, apologized. She said “Don’t worry, it is not your fault. None of this is anyone’s fault.” She was never bitter, she was never regretful. She had decided long ago that God was in control of her life and there was no reason for any of us to feel responsible for the challenges were facing.

The kindness that she expressed towards my dad was typical of mama. One thing about Alice is that she never pointed out a fault. You always left a conversation with her feeling better about yourself. She always celebrated her grandchildren as we were in the moment, and never made us feel like we needed to do more than we were already doing. She taught us to celebrate our friends and family. To spend more time telling them what they are doing right, and not to put pressure on them if it’s not necessary, because they most likely put enough pressure on themselves.

Lastly, I learned to always be joyful. Now Joy is not the same thing as happiness. Happiness is a positive reaction to something external. But Joy, Joy is knowing that you are unconditionally loved, and that nothing, not sickness, not distress, or even death will take that love away. Alice had joy because she had the love and support of God, and all of us. That is why her faith was always strong, that is why she was always secure, that is why she didn’t try to change people, and that is why she didn’t assign blame to anything or anyone. It is so poetic that she went to be with the Lord in the third week of advent… the Week of Joy. While Advent deals with waiting for Christ, the third Sunday of Advent deals with thanking him for what you have. Alice was thankful for her family and friends, and she will come into Christmas as she was waited patiently and waited joyfully.

I want to end this with reading from Thesalonians, one of the core readings for the Third Sunday of Advent: " May the God of Peace make you holy and bring you to perfection. Hold fast to what is good. May you be completely blameless, in spirit, soul and body, till the coming of Christ Jesus, our lord. He who called you is faithful and He will do it."

Matthew Pinto December 20, 2020