Lino Brizi, age 90, passed away peacefully at St. Joseph’s Hospital on May 10, 2016, with family by his side.
Lino was born on May 21, 1925 in Belvedere di Fabriano, a small village in the Apennine Mountains of Italy.
The youngest of 5 children, Lino was not afraid of hard work and adventure. In search of a brighter economic future, he travelled to France to work, and later immigrated to Canada in 1951.
Lino found employment as a lumberjack with Kimberley Clark Forest Products in Geraldton, Ontario, and settled there.
He returned to Italy briefly in 1955 to marry his childhood love, Iole, and to put the plans in place to have her join him in Canada. Together they spent 15 years in Geraldton, raising their family, and making lifelong friends before moving to Thunder Bay in 1974.
In Thunder Bay, Lino owned and operated a successful convenience store, and later worked as part of the Da Vinci Centre management team until his retirement. Lino was an active member the of the St. Dominic Church Italian choir and seniors club throughout most of his retirement.
He was a lifetime member of the Knights of Columbus and the Principe di Piemonte Societa Italiana. Lino’s greatest passions were gardening, hunting, fishing, and family. He spent countless hours tending to his amazing vegetable gardens and was happy to share his bounty with friends, neighbours, and those in need.
Lino loved the outdoors and cherished his time fishing and hunting, especially with his good friend Bruno. He was a wonderful father, and would go to any length to support and help his family.
He was an incredible grandfather — very involved and active in his grandchildren’s day-to-day lives.
Lino’s acts of kindness towards family, friends and neighbours were uplifting; whether it was an extra set of hands for a household project, a bag of fresh lettuce or a bottle of homemade wine delivered to your doorstep, or a cleared driveway after a winter storm, they were all undertaken without expecting anything in return.
Lino has left his family a legacy of love, selflessness, and strength.
His amazing smile and contagious laughter will remain forever in their memories. Lino will be lovingly remembered and dearly missed by his wife of 61 years, Iole, his daughters Doria (Donald) Pelletier, Iolanda (Tom) Sarvas and Rosy Brizi (Peter Buchan), and his grandchildren Lee and Jacob Pelletier, Jessica and Nicole Sarvas, and David and Julia Buchan, as well as many surviving relatives in Italy. He was predeceased by his mother and father, Rosa and Lucio, and his siblings Iolanda, Gina, Felicita, and Leandro. Services are delayed pending the return of immediate family members to Thunder Bay.
The funeral mass will be held at 11am on Tuesday, May 31, 2016, at St. Dominic Church, to be celebrated by Rev. Maurizio Maifredi cs.
Visitation will also be held at St. Dominic Church commencing one hour prior to the funeral mass, at 10am. In lieu of flowers, donations to St. Joseph’s Foundation of Thunder Bay or the Heart and Stroke Foundation would be greatly appreciated.
Lino Brizi will be remembered in the Blake Funeral Chapel Memorial Grove. Annual dedication service Sunday, June 11, 2017.
