On the morning of July 2, 2017, Mom was eating breakfast by the front window of the house with one of Mama’s Angels when she quietly passed away. She was 85.

Born in Haney, British Columbia, Mom is the second-youngest daughter of Kanezo and Moyo Nagao. She lived on a farm with her parents, sisters (Chizuko Ishibashi, Aiko Hakoda, Fujimi Matsuo, Eiko Stearne) and brother (Tadashi Nagao). She met Dad in Kamloops while working at the Skelly Cannery in the late 1940s. In 1949 she moved to Toronto with her sisters and worked downtown in an office. In 1950, Dad followed Mom to Toronto and on September 1, 1956, they were married by Reverend Tsuji at the former Toronto Buddhist Church on Bathurst Street. They lived on Rosseau Road and in 1968 they moved to a new house in Mississauga after my brother, Arn, and I were born.

As Dad worked on building up his accounting firm, Mom helped him. I remember helping Mom roll mountains of change from the Ports of Call. Beginning in the 1970s, Dad hosted New Year’s Day parties at the house for Japanese expatriates from Japanese companies operating in Canada. He would order special Japanese food for the celebration while Mom, my grandmother, aunts and cousins would prepare other food for over 100 attendees. I think that’s why Dad bought Mom a dishwasher. When Dad retired, he took Mom out for dinner several times a week. The dishwasher was rarely used.

Mom suffered a stroke in August 2015 thirteen months after Dad passed away. It left her paralyzed on her left side and she spent 3 ½ months at Credit Valley Hospital (CVH). She returned home on December 4, 2015. In January 2016, a special Personal Support Worker (PSW) was assigned to Mom. In the months to come, more special Personal Support Workers were either assigned to, or hired by, Mom. They call themselves Mama’s Angels. Over the next 17 months, Mama’s Angels provided her with the care, support, and love to make her life more enjoyable. All the major holidays were celebrated, and we enjoyed cake on Mom’s birthday. There were many funny moments that we shared with Mom.

Mom leaves sons Martin (Elizabeth Fontillas) and Arn, Arn’s wife Sharon and their children Isaac, Nathaniel and Trinh, sister Eiko, many more family members, Oskrrr the cat, friends and neighbours to be with Dad and Sandy.

Special thanks to Mom’s incredible Personal Support Workers, “Mama’s Angels” (Elizabeth Fontillas, Maribel Cresencio, Elena Agustin, Rosalie Naag, Christina de la Flor, Hazell Sayson, Yolanda Ringor, Jennette Biliran, Josefine Nariz, and Rose May Calaycay), for their extraordinary compassion, care, and love. Mom knew that she was extremely fortunate to have you caring for her and adopted you in her heart as her daughters.

Thank you to the staff at the Credit Valley Hospital (CVH) Renal Care Centre (CVH and Watline) where she underwent dialysis three times a week for many years, and the CVH nurses in 2B and 1D for their exceptional care while Mom was recovering from the stroke.
To Dr. Michael Wong, Mom’s family physician, thank you for your advice and care, coming to the house to check on Mom, and enduring all my phone calls and notes.

To respect Mom’s wishes, we gratefully decline koden and flowers. Instead, donations may be made to the Toronto Buddhist Church, Trillium Health Centre Foundation – CVH Renal Centre, or The Kidney Foundation of Canada.

A special Homyo Presentation Ceremony will take place at 3:00 pm on Saturday, July 22, 2017 at the Toronto Buddhist Church, 1011 Sheppard Avenue West, North York, Ontario.

We love and miss you, Mom