PIANO “CON TE PARTIRO” or “TIME TO SAY GOODBYE” played by: JEANNIE LONGACRE
PAUL:
Thank you Jeannie, that was a lovely opening.
Dear friends and family – we are gathered here to celebrate the life of Giuseppe Loiacono, who was known to most of us as Joe. My name is Paul Kachan and this is my wife Lisa. We are very honoured to be your masters of ceremony as we come together to share how much Joe meant to all of us. Being masters of ceremony has a unique advantage in that we get to say a few words about our experiences with Joe…and there were many!
Many of you may not know this, but I was his family doctor for many years. Our relationship started in a somewhat auspicious way. It was early in my career and I was working in a walk-in clinic, in addition to my family practice. Joe came into the walk-in clinic and apparently decided that I was going to be his family doctor. Much like today, my practice at the time was full and I wasn’t taking any new patients. Well, I’m sure you’ve experienced this with Joe – he doesn’t take “no” for an answer. I told him my practice was full and I thought that would be the end of it. But it wasn’t.
A few days later, I was working in my regular office and my assistant came over and said “there’s a small man in the waiting room, and he won’t leave”. I said “what do you mean he won’t leave?” and she said “no, I mean he won’t leave.” So I stuck my head out and I thought “oh, it’s that Italian guy I saw the other day at the walk-in clinic. I told him I wasn’t taking patients. If I ignore him, he’ll eventually go away”.
So, I proceeded to see my next 2-3 patients and he was still sitting there. Still there, reading the paper, and quite calmly. Finally, I agreed to see him. He came in and I had every intention of saying, again, that I wasn’t taking new patients. Of course, Joe has a way of cajoling and charming his way into your heart. At the end of the visit, I had agreed to be his family doctor… It took another three or four visits, each ending with an invitation to come for dinner (because, of course, Rosa would cook) before I finally said yes to that too.
After I had said yes to dinner, I gave some thought to what it might mean to start a friendship. We are strongly advised as physicians not to blue the lines of our professional and social lives and I’ve always abided by this. I can say that during my 30 plus years of practice, Joe and his family are the only patients whom I have wholeheartedly embraced as close friends.
Joe and I managed to successfully navigate the boundaries of physician and friendship. I am ever so glad that I agreed to take him on that day, for to quote Humphrey Bogart “it was the beginning of a beautiful friendship”, one that lasted almost 30 years.
LISA:
It was an honour to be asked to say a few words about our long-time friend Joe, who felt more likely family than a friend. It seems that as I think back to our many shared moments together with the Loiacono family, images of Joe always make me smile…or shake my head (and smile). Joe was many things, but the qualities that stood out for me were Joe’s generosity, his welcoming, open-arms approach to everyone, ability to fix anything, his love for life, his dedication to his family, his exceptional work ethic, his gifted hands, his cheekiness, sense of fun and his amazing ability to connect with people.
During one of my last visits when Joe had lost the ability to be the man we had always known, I said to Rosa “the Joe I remember was happiest when he was climbing trees, swinging an axe, loading a trailer, fixing a plumbing problem, stomping on grapes, tinkering with a car, making wine (or giving it away), playing with his grandchildren with great joy, tending to his garden, hosting a dinner party or driving his big personality around town in his little Smart Car to find a project or a friend to call on.
I think if we were to ask for a show of hands as to how many of you have heard any one of the 3 phrases I most associate with Joe, we would have all hands in the room raised.
These Joe-isms are:
- “Do you need more tomatoes” (I’ll share more about produce deliveries in a few minutes)
- “Come for dinner tonight, Rosa will cook for you” (we would then quickly call Rosa and tell her not to worry, that we wouldn’t come for dinner on short notice)
- “Please, have more wine, there’s another bottle”
PAUL:
and it was on one of these many occasions of a shared dinner and wine that we got to know Rosa’s sister, Teresa Delli-Carri, who will now come up and offer a tribute to Joe.
TERESA – TRIBUTE
LISA:
Thank you Teresa, that was a wonderful tribute.
I mentioned I would share more about Joe’s non-profitable, side business, the produce courier. I cannot measure our good fortune at receiving so many deliveries of boxes loaded with fresh tomatoes, zucchini, basil, chard and cucumbers throughout the summer. Joe would pull up in that little Smart Car and out of the back, he’d lift an impossibly large box brimming with all sorts of wonderful things from his garden. He had a remarkable gift for gardening, which was topped only by his generosity in sharing with others.
PAUL:
Joe and I had many intriguing conversations. He was very interested in world political news and I would go so far as to call him a news hound. He was always reading different news sites and often had the newspaper in hand. This led to some very philosophical discussions about world affairs. I recall one evening when I was having dinner with Joe and Rosa. He said to me “Paul – you know what I can’t figure out? You have these jihadists and these martyrs and you know, when they go to heaven, it’s said that they are offered 72 virgins”. So, as you can imagine, I didn’t know where this was going! He went on to explain “72 is a very arbitrary number. And why virgins? How about 70 virgins and 2 experienced women, you know, to show them the ropes?” I couldn’t argue with his logic! We had many of these kinds of exchanges over the years and with his wealth of knowledge of world politics, it was always a fun and interesting discussion when I spent time with Joe.
Many of these stories are light-hearted, but there was so much more to Joe’s life, and we’d like to now ask Joe’s daughter, Catherine, to come up to share the Eulogy.
CATHERINE – EULOGY
LISA:
Thank you Cathy, that was a wonderful eulogy. I’d like to close by sharing something deeply meaningful that has shaped our family life since becoming so close to this very special family. We have truly admired the commitment and love they have for each other, the trips they have always enjoyed together and the understanding that nothing matters more than family. We learned from the Loiaconos that experiencing life’s greatest joys is richer when celebrated together and the sorrowful times are less heavy when you take them on together. Joe and Rosa had a wonderfully loving marriage that was the envy of many of us here today and in his final days, I heard Joe & Rosa exchange these few words: Rosa “Joe, do you love me?”, Joe: “of course”, Rosa: “how much”, Joe: “ A LOT”.
PAUL:
There will now be a video tribute to Joe, followed by the playing of “Volare”, one of Joe’s favourite songs, by pianist, Jeannie Longacre.
VIDEO
VOLARE
PAUL:
In closing, the Loiacono family would like to first thank you for being here with them today. And since today is a celebration of Joe’s life, they would like to invite you to stay and join them for a glass of wine and the chance to share more stories about our beloved Joe. Thank You