Obituary for Serafino "Steve" Venittelli
He passed away peacefully at the New Vista Care Home in Burnaby, on February 09, 2022, from complications related to Parkinson’s disease. He was 80.
A celebration of life service will be announced at a later date. Memorial gifts may be made to the Parkinson’s Society of British Columbia.
Serafino was born May 28, 1941 in Casacalenda, in the province of Campobasso, Molise, Italy. In May 1954 he immigrated to Canada with his family to make a new life. They eventually settled into East Vancouver close to Commercial Drive where he attended Templeton secondary school.
On October 29th 1973 he married Ruby Mavis Macleod at Canadian Memorial Church in Vancouver. Serafino was employed as a fire, safety and security guard with Macmillan Bloedel New Westminster Lumber Division. He enjoyed his work and shortly after he retired, decided to he immigrated to Canada with his family become a school bus driver.
He was also a trained opera singer and loved classical music. As a young man he won the “H.R. Macmillan Cup” in a singing contest organized by the PNE. Serafino studied opera in Italy and met Luciano Pavarotti during his studies in Mantova. He also taught music for a period of time.
Serafino was an avid gardener and collector of classical music records. He enjoyed working around the house and spent most of his free time biking around Vancouver and Port Coquitlam with his wife and son Eric. He also enjoyed road trips around the interior of BC, Vancouver Island, and across the border to Bellingham and around Washington State.
Serafino is survived by his three sons John, Robert and Eric, and his wife Mavis; daughter in law Regan, two grandchildren: Miguel, Francisco, and their mother Cecilia, his brothers Tony, Pat and Mike and several nieces and nephews.
On behalf of our family we would like to thank all of the nurses, doctors and staff at the New Vista Care Facility for their unwavering care and support of Serafino during the last years of his life at this facility.
A celebration of life service will be announced at a later date. Memorial gifts may be made to the Parkinson’s Society of British Columbia.
Serafino was born May 28, 1941 in Casacalenda, in the province of Campobasso, Molise, Italy. In May 1954 he immigrated to Canada with his family to make a new life. They eventually settled into East Vancouver close to Commercial Drive where he attended Templeton secondary school.
On October 29th 1973 he married Ruby Mavis Macleod at Canadian Memorial Church in Vancouver. Serafino was employed as a fire, safety and security guard with Macmillan Bloedel New Westminster Lumber Division. He enjoyed his work and shortly after he retired, decided to he immigrated to Canada with his family become a school bus driver.
He was also a trained opera singer and loved classical music. As a young man he won the “H.R. Macmillan Cup” in a singing contest organized by the PNE. Serafino studied opera in Italy and met Luciano Pavarotti during his studies in Mantova. He also taught music for a period of time.
Serafino was an avid gardener and collector of classical music records. He enjoyed working around the house and spent most of his free time biking around Vancouver and Port Coquitlam with his wife and son Eric. He also enjoyed road trips around the interior of BC, Vancouver Island, and across the border to Bellingham and around Washington State.
Serafino is survived by his three sons John, Robert and Eric, and his wife Mavis; daughter in law Regan, two grandchildren: Miguel, Francisco, and their mother Cecilia, his brothers Tony, Pat and Mike and several nieces and nephews.
On behalf of our family we would like to thank all of the nurses, doctors and staff at the New Vista Care Facility for their unwavering care and support of Serafino during the last years of his life at this facility.