In Celebration of
Bruno Cosolo
October 13, 1926 -
May 1, 2025
It is with profound sadness and heartbreak that we announce the passing of our father, Bruno Cosolo on Thursday May 1, 2025 at the age of 98. Predeceased by his beloved wife Rosina (Rose) of 60 years. Loving father of Andrew (Michie) and Lucy. Devoted Nonno to Julia and Anastasia.
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Bruno Cosolo was born at home in Rodeano Basso, Udine, Italy in 1926. A town of 1400 people in Friuli. His father was Ugo Cosolo from Rodeano Basso and his mother was Irene Passalenti from Silvella, about 10 km away.
Friuli was very poor since the late 1800s, with massive emigration, large families and very small land holdings. Friuli was the site of WWI battles and was occupied by the Austrians in 1918 causing a famine. No compensation was paid. Every family tried to recover on their own.
When Bruno was 2 his family moved to central France. His family was in Cusset a suburb of Vichy, a small water spring town which became the capital of southern France during the war. Ermida, Bruno’s sister was born in France in 1929. They enjoyed their life in France. Ugo was a bricklayer and Irene worked in a market garden getting fruit and vegetables ready for sale.
In 1940 France was invaded by Germany and Italy invaded in southern France. There was a lot of resentment against Italians. Mussolini also cancelled emigrants passports to force them to return to Italy and Italian colonies. Bruno and his family returned to Italy but he and Ermida spoke only French, not Italian, the language of school, nor Friulian, the language spoken by everyone in the region.
Ugo had kept his earnings in the bank in France as he considered it safer than Italy. But the French franc devalued to ¼ of its previous value against the Italian Lira, so the Cosolo family lost ¾ of their savings.
When they arrived in Italy the house they bought had no kitchen and no beds. They slept on the floor and cooked in the courtyard on rocks. There was no work so Ugo would go around to his relatives each day and collect an egg or cornmeal for the day’s meal. Eventually he found work in Istria which was occupied by Italy.
Bruno was given the ultimatum by his school, learn Italian in 3 months or they would kick him out. He read a lot of novels and improved his Italian, also his Friulian. He had learned to play the accordion in France and would practice in his courtyard. All the young people in town would gather around as it was the most exciting thing in town.
Bruno went to a trade school in San Daniele where he studied drafting and machine shop.
Around 1943 Ugo died, we believe from shrapnel he carried in his body from WWI. The family was devastated. Bruno had to quit school and become the main breadwinner. His family only had 3 acres of land and 1 cow they milked to make cheese.
He found work in Udine and would commute on the S. Daniele to Udine tram. By coincidence his future father-in-law was the station master in Rivotta and his future wife, Rosina, lived next to the station.
Bruno worked on a lathe making cups and pots for the German army. It was boring and repetitive work. Later they sent him away as he was of draft age. At this time Italy had surrendered to the allies and changed sides. Mussolini held control in the north of Italy which was actually occupied by Germany. The Germans used Italian draftees to fight Yugoslavian partisans. Bruno was able to get a job working for the German war works company Todt digging trenches and fortifications on the east side of the Tagliamento river to prevent the allied advance. By law this prevented him from being drafted as he was working for the war effort, but the SS was picking up anyone. He kept a long rope in his second floor bedroom in case he needed to jump out the window if the Germans searched for him. He also slept everywhere except his own house.
The war ended and he returned back to lathe work. He also played accordion as a part time job at weddings. Often he was bicycling on gravel roads with his accordion on his back and his mother on the front of the bicycle.
Between 1945 and 1951 there was no work and most young people were unemployed, worked on the family farm and did not have money for a drink at the bar or a cigarette. Bruno was encouraged to emigrate to Argentina by his mother as his father had spent some time there in the 1920s. Instead he was sponsored by an uncle and aunt in Toronto - Angelo Tomini and his wife Teresa. His two cousins Remo and Renzo also came. They came by a luxurious boat call the Saturnia and arrived in Halifax. They came by train to Toronto and arrived on March 17, 1951 – St. Patrick’s Day. It snowed. He learned English by studying an English textbook in Italy as there were no English teachers in Friuli.
They lived on Delaware St. in the Davenport and Duffernin area. There were many other relatives and Friulani living in the area and Santa Maria Degli Angeli Church became a central meeting place for the community.
In the early 1950s he worked at Massey Ferguson in Liberty Village making tractor axels on a lathe. It was still boring and repetitive and he had to work different shifts which he hated. He did not know English when hired but received directions in French from some coworkers from France and Switzerland. He later learned English well and would translate when relatives went to medical appointments.
He had the opportunity to become a plumber and switched to that trade. Like lathe work it was very precise and used blueprints. Bruno said that those who worked with metal worked with 1/1000 of an inch of tolerance, both those trained with wood could just add or take off wood easily. Metal was precise, wood was more forgiving.
His sister Ermida and her husband Bruno and their daughter Diana came to Toronto and they bought a house together on Wiltshire Ave. Ermida and Bruno welcomed a son, Ugo.
Bruno worked hard, usually 6 days week with no vacation. Everyone got along and there were many social occasions at Christmas, Easter and trips to beaches and conservation areas for picnics. In total there were about 30 adults and children from the Rodeano area. They were constantly helping each other with babysitting, finding rooms or finding jobs.
In the late 1950s Bruno started working for Brady & Seidner Plumbing and Heating. Owned by two Czechoslovakian Jews who had met in a concentration camp. Sadly Mr. Brady’s parents and sister were killed in the camp. Mr. Brady’s aunt was a silent investor in the company. She grew up in Vienna and spoke French, all the well to do spoke French in Vienna. Bruno would play the accordion at Christmas parties and would play Viennese songs for her and they would discuss art and music. Mrs. Seidner was also an opera and art fan and was a friend of Bruno’s. Bruno was one of the few single men in his family everyone else, came from Italy with their spouse in the early 1950s. Mrs. Seidner advised Bruno to go back to his own country to find a wife.
He travelled back to Italy in 1963 and took a year off. He also stopped in London and Paris. On the way he befriended a US army WWII veteran and 2 Frenchmen returning to Paris. They toured Paris with Bruno as translator and had a former French waiter in the group getting them discounts where his waiter friends worked.
In Friuli he courted Rosina Doreto, born 1933, and met her family. He knew her older sister Antonietta (aka Nine) as they were closer in age. He was also great friend with Nine’s husband Severino. They were married in Rodeano Basso in 1963 and moved to Canada.
Son Andrew was born in 1964. Daughter Lucia (Lucy) was born in 1966. The family moved to central Etobicoke in 1967.
Over the years Bruno and Rose made many friends. Sundays after church they would often go to family owned farms west of Toronto to help out and hang out.
We had a family tradition where the families of Bruno, Ermida, Remo and Renzo would alternate having Christmas and New Years parties every year. Bruno’s family did New Years.
Bruno loved improving his home. He renovated the basement, increase the attic storage space and set up drainage to prevent flooding from the backyard into the house. He was interested in plumbing, heating and drainage. If we travelled to Italy or France he always liked to visit construction sites and chat with the workers about techniques they were using.
Unlike many plumbers he had all his own tools and made new tools as needed as they could be reused. He loved technical challenges. He built a rail based boat lifting system at Mr. Seidner’s cottage that raise the boat in a cradle and brought it 30m inland onto a concrete pad.
Once he and his godson, Nino, had finished a plumbing job. After inspection the inspector complemented them and said he had never seen work this good and that he would tell their bosses. Bruno said “please don’t otherwise they will make us work faster and not do quality work”. Everything Bruno built was solid and built to last. If a plywood sheet needed 4 screws he would put 10.
Every year Bruno would take courses to increase his technical knowledge and certifications. He had licenses in plumbing, gas and sprinklers. Plumbing and electrical are the 2 most intellectual trades as a lot of math is necessary. Also there is an element of danger for the tradesman and the customer. They are also the best paid trades. Bruno would do complex volume and area calculations in his head in French.
Bruno was never unemployed even during recessions. His hours might go down to 25 or 30 per week but they always kept him because he had many licenses and they could send him to a service call instead of multiple people. He usually knew more about the pump wiring than the electrician who was sent to install it. In the 1950s if plumbing work was unavailable he would switch to lathe operator work temporarily.
In the 1970s and 80s he was able to travel back to Italy with his family every 4 years to see his mother and other relatives. Rose had her parents, 2 brothers and a sister in Italy so she loved socializing with them and her many aunts, uncles and cousins. Family and friends were a great joy to both of them. They made it a point visit seniors who enjoyed the visits. A tradition that Andrew and Lucy have taken on.
Bruno loved reading and book collecting. Especially history, philosophy, religion and Friulian culture.
In his 50s he started going to Italy for 3 months at a time to take care of his mother. Rose would go for a different 3 month shift.
Bruno retired in the late 1980s when his mother’s heath declined. She passed away in 1990. He did 4 renovations, each lasting 5-10 years: his house in Rodeano, Andrew’s basement, Lucy’s house and his own house which had a basement flood.
When working on Lucy’s house he treated it like a club house. He would work 3-4 hours a day but would stay for 8 and read the newspaper, drink wine and chat with the retired Irishman next door and basically stay out of Rose’s hair. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder.
When his own basement flooded around 2011 he was 85 years old. He declined flood insurance because as a plumber and thought he could handle it. The flood destroyed his prized accordion and many books on the lowest shelves. I thought “isn’t this terrible, a man sets up his house exactly how he wants it and it is destroyed in his old age”. But he rebuilt. We bought hardwood flooring, subfloor components and cement. The agreement was that me and our friend Pedja would do the hard work and he would do planning and wood cutting. Next Monday morning he started working without us. He took his time but did all the hardwood and cemented the basement floor which had a massive crack and raised a few inches. He also did the lower 3 feet of drywall. It gave him a purpose, he would go to the Famee Furlane Club and ask his friends for advice. Some were a bit envious because he was still strong and active and they were not. He was a true survivor and optimist.
Rose’s health became worse and she moved from walking, to using a cane, then a walker and finally in a wheelchair. Bruno stepped up and became her caregiver including cooking, feeding her and keeping her company. He would often sit next to her bed to talk, hold her hand and give her chocolate and other treats. This was love in its truest sense.
Kim was hired as a caregiver in 2020. She took care of Rose and in the past few years Bruno. We thank her for her patience, love and commitment.
When Rose passed away in 2023, Bruno did not take it well. When she stopped eating at the table, he lost interest in eating as well and lost his fat, then later his muscle.
One of his joys was meeting with George, Lucy’s boyfriend, and they had conversations on many topics. He also went to Lucy’s audiology office and talked to seniors who came in. We brought our friends to chat with him as his own friends were 5-10 years older than himself and had passed away. Our friends were amazed at his knowledge, intelligence, vitality and curiousity.
Whenever possible we took him to visit relatives and to his favorite food stores. As a child of the depression, it brought him comfort to always have extra food on hand.
All of us have learned so much from him. We send him and Rose our prayers. They are now in heaven together. Young and healthy and surrounded by the family and friends they love. We ask them to pray for us.
To know more about Bruno's life check the Life Stories in the next few days. Bruno's life is not just interesting but provides life lessons for the young, middle aged and seniors.
