Marko and Francka Por 

Entered March 28, 2019

Svetloba cez okno bled
in spomini v nasih srcih se odvijajo
Sijoca toplina svetlobe in sence
ko se naucimo ljubiti ljubezen, ki jo imamo

Maria Lippa 

Entered March 29, 2019

Dear Veronika and family,

Deepest condolences on the death of your dear father. You are in my thoughts and prayers.

Stric Francelj was born on August 7, 1937 in Zgornje Blato, Slovenia. He married Jozefa (Pepca) Tomazin, and they had five children: Veronika, Josie, Frank, Joe and Barbara.

He loved his youth in Slovenia and had fond memories of growing up with his best friend, Janez Nered. He loved to talk about life in Slovenia to anyone that would listen. He worked hard and was proud of the fact that he had to work an entire month to save up for a bicycle. He enjoyed telling this story to many nephews and nieces. He worked very hard in his youth and contributed a lot of his monthly earnings to his mother, helping support the family in his father's fourteen year absence.

Eventually, he created his own little "Blato" on the farm where he enjoyed watching his vegetables grow and the company of his cat. He built himself a small little house on the farm and used a wood burning stove... just like in Slovenia. Stric Francelj was a simple man and didn't need much. He always kept himself busy with his garden and always had too many vegetables come harvest time. He tried to pawn off as many zucchinis and vegetables as he could to anyone who came to the farm.

The move from Slovenia to Canada was very difficult for him. He left behind his best friend and a culture that he was accustomed to. He had a good paying job and had no idea what was waiting for him in Canada.

He found it very difficult and frustrating to understand and communicate with people who spoke a different language. At that time Canadians weren't too tolerant of foreigners and weren't eager to help them. There weren't any translators available to help him communicate. Trying to get a job was very difficult. His Slovenian friends would tell him where there was a job available, but when he got the location he couldn't explain what he wanted. Eventually, he visited the employment center on a daily basis. He believed that the people at the center got tired of looking at him and finally found him a placement. This must have been very humiliating for him .

Adjusting to Canadian life was difficult... he had to get a job, he was homesick, he had to rebuild a relationship with his father (whom he hadn't seen for fourteen years) and he had to wait quite a while to be reunited with his wife and daughter (as they emigrated at different times).

Stric Francelj never expected to live as long as he did. He had many health issues all of his life. He was fun to be around, loved to tell jokes and was always happy with visitors. He wasn't perfect, but he was the best man he knew how to be.

He will be greatly missed ... especially on the farm. Somehow, with his death... a little bit of the farm died as well. .
Rest in peace Stric Francelj