Anne Tataj died peacefully on Thursday, November 23, at shortly after nine in the morning at Sunnybrook Hospital surrounded by her family and with her loving husband holding her hand.

She was eighty-one and had led a full and active life up until she was admitted to the hospital for heart treatment a week before her passing. Unfortunately, while in hospital Anne’s health took an unexpected turn for the worse. She was rushed to the intensive care unit but sadly passed away within hours.

Her death leaves behind a painful void in the lives of the many people who loved her and now miss her immensely, including her devoted husband of sixty years, Dragan “Charlie” Tataj; her son, Matthew (Paola Tataj) and her daughter Nicole (Kenneth Bonert).

Anne is survived by her sister Olga (Bill Ryan). She was predeceased by two other sisters and their spouses: Lena (John Zamecnik), and Mary (Michael Holubek). She was also predeceased by one brother: Frank Mrakava, survived by Carolyn.

Anne is also remembered with love and great affection by her nephews and nieces and their children as well as her cousins in Slovakia.

Anne’s parents immigrated to Canada from Slovakia in 1938. In 1946 the family moved to a one hundred acre farm in Newark near Norwich, Ontario.

Growing up on the farm, Anne’s chores included feeding the chickens before she walked the two miles to school, and washing the eggs for sale (thirty-five cents a dozen) as well as milking a herd of eighteen cows and unfreezing frozen water pipes by toting buckets of hot water from the house through the deep snow. She helped sow and harvest strawberries, hay, cucumbers, beans and tomatoes.

In an autobiographical note, Anne recorded how demanding that farm work had been. “To this day, when I come home, I still have this feeling of quickly running upstairs to change my clothes and hurrying into the barn to do the chores,” she wrote. During harvest season the family “worked every day in the fields even Sunday, if necessary, and some days I remember it being unbearably hot, not a breeze blowing. On Saturday afternoon we cleaned the house and cut the grass. We didn’t consider this work.”

As soon as Anne graduated from high school in Norwich she moved to Toronto in the summer of 1960 where she found secretarial work for an insurance company.

She could recall the exact date that she met Charlie—April 29, 1962—at a dance at the Slovak Hall in Toronto. They got married the next year in October. Charlie soon went into business for himself, first renovating houses and then installing windows.

In later years Charlie and Anne settled in Etobicoke where Anne was still living when she passed away. They loved to go travelling on their vacations, often with a group of close friends. One of their favorite destinations was Acapulco, Mexico. They also visited Australia, Europe, China, the US and the Caribbean.

Anne’s life was centered around her family, her friends, and her church. She was sweet-natured, modest, and soft spoken. She always had a gentle smile and she dressed stylishly. She never complained about her own difficulties. She was very thoughtful in remembering special occasions.

Anne was an organized person who kept meticulous diaries and notebooks. She wrote down her family tree so that she could maintain contact with everyone on it and track birthdays, anniversaries, and accomplishments. She maintained an immaculate household and was quietly determined to learn new technologies even though it was a challenge for her, insisting that her children give her repeat lessons in how to use her computer and smartphone. If her teachers sometimes grew frustrated with her she would only smile and patiently ask them to repeat the lesson until she got it right.

Anne loved big family get-togethers. She was saddened when the pandemic prevented them for a while. Fortunately this past summer she got to experience one last family get-together hosted by her nephew Brad Mrakava and niece Melissa Davy and their spouses in Kitchener. Many hugs and good times were shared.

Anne was extremely proud of Charlie and his achievements and gave him invaluable support throughout their marriage, including working in the family business.

She was a member of the St. Gregory’s Catholic Women’s League (CWL) for over three decades and served on the executive committee. She was the telephone committee chair in charge of calling members about church events. She also helped minister to homebound congregants by bringing communion to them when they could no longer attend church. In addition, she regularly volunteered to serve meals to the homeless at the Good Shepherd Refuge in downtown Toronto.

“She was a beautiful person who was always concerned about others,” wrote Jane O’Brien, a past president of the CWL. “I’m glad I knew her."

So are we all.

Friends and family may call at the Turner & Porter chapel, 2357 Bloor St. W., at Windermere, east of the Jane Subway Station, on Friday December 8 from 1-3 and 6-8 p.m. A Memorial Mass will be held at St. Gregory’s Roman Catholic Church, 122 Rathburn Road, Etobicoke on December 9, 2023 at 11 a.m. For those who wish, donations may be made to the Sunnybrook Schulich Heart Centre.