elevated IOME9 June 12, 1931 ~ December 30, 2024

elevated IOME9 Visitation
Tuesday, January 7, 2025 from 11:30 am – 1:15 pm

elevated IOME9 Holy Cross Catholic Funeral Home
211 Langstaff Road East, Thornhill, Ontario, L3T 3Z6

elevated IOME9 Funeral Service
Tuesday, January 7, 2025 at 1:30 pm
Chapel of St. Joseph at Holy Cross Catholic Funeral Home
211 Langstaff Road East, Thornhill, Ontario, L3T 3Z6

elevated IOME9 Interment

elevated IOME9 Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery

elevated IOME9 8361 Yonge Street, Thornhill, Ontario, L3T 2C7

elevated IOME9 Obituary

elevated IOME9 The Dash Poem

elevated IOME9 There is a famous phrase “live your dash (-)”. It comes from one of the most famous poems in the world: The Dash, by Linda Ellis.

elevated IOME9 It’s the little line between the year you were born and the year you die. Live your Dash means to be mindful that we’re only on earth a little while. The dash, in essence, represents our life, and all the experiences we had from birth to death. Those who loved and lost a dear one can only truly know what that little line is worth.

elevated IOME9 John Bilicz’s Dash

elevated IOME9 It is with sorrow, that we announce the passing of John. The Lord called John on Monday December 30, 2024 to reunite with family and friends he missed. He passed away peacefully during a nap at Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital. About an hour before he passed, he had a Tim Horton’s coffee and sighed “Ahhhh”. Again, he just loved coffee.

elevated IOME9 Predeceased by his Beloved Parents Joseph and Franciszka; brothers Walter, Franek, Bronisław and sister Marysia. Steadfast Brother of Stanley.  Loving Uncle/Wujek/Wu John of Walter, Eddie, Lynda, Donna, Mary, Helen, Irene and Betty. Godfather to John.

elevated IOME9 He had also loved many dogs in his life, saying “Fajna Pszinka (Nice Dog) just like his Father used to say. 

elevated IOME9 John was born in Mało Wody, Poland, June 12, 1931. During WWII, in 1944, the family was forced to move to Germany to live in a workcamp. In 1950, John immigrated to Canada with his family joining his sister Marysia and her family. The family was joined through the valiant efforts of family reunification by the Red Cross. The family banded together and built a life full of Polish Culture, hard work and moments of family joy.

elevated IOME9 John had an eclectic life dash. He worked as a general laborer throughout his life. His dash filled up, enjoying different hobbies and life focus:

elevated IOME9 -He loved his family and always recounted stories from Malo Wody where he was born; he also drew a little map from memory of the village. Priceless.

elevated IOME9 -He loved his cars and was always proud to tell anyone who would listen that he was the first to buy a car in the family. His last car, the red Pontiac Sunbird, was donated to charity after Alzheimer’s made it difficult to navigate safely.

elevated IOME9 -He loved talking on the phone with his siblings and also spending time with his brother Stanley and family on the porch. His sister Marysia loved to chat and so did John. His brother Franek was quieter, but there was always a topic of conversation~many times about memories from when they were young.

elevated IOME9 -He had a true following of Pope John Paul II.

elevated IOME9 -He had a deep love of anything electronic~tvs, radios, watches, antennas. He would always date his purchases to ensure he knew when he bought them. He also had a shared the love of electronics with his brother Bronislaw. They used to have deep conversations about tubes, tvs and the lastest electronics.

elevated IOME9 -His signature sayings: Oh Well; Something Like That and Probably Not.

elevated IOME9 -Watching hockey games and wrestling.

elevated IOME9 -He was always welcoming of family and friends at Kings Park Blvd over food and drinks.

elevated IOME9 -Listening to Polka music on 8 tracks, tapes, records and Dvds. He also had a shared love of the Polka with his brother Bronislaw and nephew Eddie.

elevated IOME9 -Sipping coffee on the porch at Kings Park Blvd.

elevated IOME9 -He loved surprises. In 2017, he was at the Christmas Eve dinner table at Stanley and his sister in law Barbara’s. Barbara asked everyone to lift their plate up after dinner. Barbara had hidden many loonies and quarters. John exclaimed “UNBELIEVABLE!” It was a joy to hear.

elevated IOME9 -Drinking coffee and beer, eating pierogi, bananas, eggs, clementines, Polish sausage and donuts.

elevated IOME9 -Aspiring to celebrate his 100th birthday and get a puppy, -He loved getting a haircut, buying and wearing hats: he had a vast array of shoes, boots.

elevated IOME9 -He had a fascination for all timepieces and always updating everyone with what time it was at that moment. Especially when a doctor was late!

elevated IOME9 -He loved reading electronic magazines, the Newspaper, flyers, Polish Newspapers.

elevated IOME9 -He knew details of everything~like he had a microchip in his brain. He could list Olympic locations like the alphabet, the date the roof was installed, birthdays and the price of gas 30 years ago.

elevated IOME9 -He loved to go to Gerrard Square Mall and Thorncliffe Plaza to sit in the food court drinking his coffee. Through Alzheimer’s disease, we found out that he had assembled the food court tables and seats at Gerrard Square. He had a special link to that mall.

elevated IOME9 He had an incredible memory until Alzheimer’s disease.

elevated IOME9 The family is so thankful to all those who supported John’s journey throughout his life, especially towards the end of the life dash when his world was changed due to Alzheimers. It took an entire team to support him in living on his own until he was 92, and then transitioned to a Long Term Care facility in Oakville.

elevated IOME9 Thank you to all of John’s family who supported him through the years through calls, visits, food and assistance. Also to family through marriage that took him on like their own Uncle. The Janik families who invited him to Christmas events and Easter events, delivered food and who be at the front door to help.

elevated IOME9 Thank you from his brother Stanley and niece Betty to all those that cheered John from the sidelines, help, providing advice and a listening ear: Mark, Ed, Danusia, Jozef, Sophie, Linda, Angela, Mary, Janine D, Urszula, Jean M, Marysia F, Li, Yasmin and Lise. Your kind words, help, advice, suggestions allowed his dash to shine for him.

elevated IOME9 At his home in Toronto, his Personal Support Workers (Maria and Nena), Dr. Wong at St. Mike’s Hospital, Neighbors (Mary, Danny, Helen, Katie, Dan and Irec).

elevated IOME9 Thank you for all the homemade smoothies, home maintenance emergencies, wellness visits, soup pots, hedge/ grass cutting, after Church food drops, ambulance calls and solution finding, daily calls of caring, advocating, remote requests. The list is endless. We are so indebted to you all for making the “dash” for John so much more incredible from a quality of life perspective.

elevated IOME9 His family is also very grateful and appreciative of the care and support that he received at Northridge Long Term Care Facility in Oakville, where he was at home for almost a year during his dash. The Nurses, Doctor, PSWs and Management Staff provided top shelf care, for which we are indebted to you. Whenever the family visited, all we heard was “Hi JOHN! How are you? He even participated in games and loved playing balloon tennis.

elevated IOME9 Thank you to all the Staff at Oakville Trafalgar Hospital over the last year who treated him with such care and allowed him to reach the end of his dash on December 30, 2024 in a caring and professional manner. A special thank you to Angela Koster for her “check ins” during his stays, relaying how he was doing to his niece Betty.

elevated IOME9 You will always be in our hearts. With every sip of coffee, you will be remembered with an “ahh,” just like you used to do.

elevated IOME9 In John’s memory, sip coffee, do what you love and always remember to make the most of your dash!

elevated IOME9 Friends and family are invited to pay their respects at Holy Cross Funeral Home, located at 211 Langstaff Road East, Thornhill on Tuesday, January 7, 2025 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:15 p.m.

elevated IOME9 A Mass will be held on Tuesday, January 7, 2025 at 1:30 p.m. at Holy Cross Funeral Home, followed by a internment in Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery. Immediately following the interment a reception will be held.

elevated IOME9 The Family encourages everyone who can, to attend all or parts of the day. We so look forward to reminisce in memories, connect and celebrate John’s long and unique life. Of course, there will be food and coffee~he loved his coffee. He would be the first at the table to eat and sip his favorite, coffee.

elevated IOME9 In loving memory of John Bilicz, donations may be made to the Alzheimers Society using the following link: www.alzheimer.ca/on

elevated IOME9