Maria Moro
elevated IZZ6w February 15, 1936 – April 1, 2021
elevated IZZ6w Maria Moro
elevated IZZ6w It is with a mixture of profound sadness tempered with a modicum of peace that we announce the sudden passing of our much loved mother, Maria. An enigma and a force of nature. She had a sharp tongue and smart wit. Despite facing many obstacles that attempted to knock her down, she valiantly defied odds time and again. Although no longer with us in body, her spirit will forever live in our hearts and minds. Much loved by Stephen (Sonja), Jacquie (Rej), Sister Annetta and her treasured grandkids Zach and Jordana, along with a multitude of nieces and nephews. Maria is now free of the hurdles of this world and is now surrounded by the angels who have passed before her and the love of her life Fortunato. We love you mom.
elevated IZZ6w
Family and friends are invited to view the Funeral Mass on Wednesday April 7, 2021. Please click the link below to view:
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elevated IZZ6w
elevated IZZ6w
elevated IZZ6w
elevated IZZ6w
elevated IZZ6w
Your mom was a wonderful lady. She never complained about her bad health that she lived with for so many years. She just wanted everyone around her to be happy, and as with Aunt Rita, she made us all very proud to be part of her family.
God’s blessing, Frank & Jackie Orsini & family
Thank you for your kind words and for thinking of us.
Dear Jacquie & Family,
I will miss Mama Moro very much! She was one of the sweetest people I know. I enjoyed seeing her and having our little catch up chats. She was a tough fighter through all her battles. I remember so many times at the Skopit house, where I got to experience her amazing Italian cooking. Always so welcoming and generous 🙂
You will be missed by everyone, but never forgotten. Rest in peace Ms. Moro!
Thank you Les for your sweet words 🥰
We are saddened about the loss of your loved one. Our heartfelt condolences go out to your family.
Thank you for your condolences.
Dearest Jacquie and Family
My Deepest Sympathies for your loss. Your Mom is a beautiful Soul. I will always remember the many moments that I was able to share with her. She was always very kind and always generous. She will be greatly missed. Maria will always be a bright Star in the sky.
Roy
Thank you for your kind words in our time of loss.
Aunt Maria was a very caring and compassionate person. She was always kind and loved to laugh. Her memories will be in our hearts forever. She will truly be missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with you. With Heartfelt Condolences
Thank you for your lovely words. I know you were very close to our mother when growing up Angela. She has certainly left a void in our family.
For those who could not attend today’s service, my brother and I would like to share with you, our words of remembrance of our mother that will be spoke today.
Good afternoon everyone. Thank you for coming to show your love for our mother and for supporting us as we mourn her loss. Before you all go, we wanted to share a few thoughts and memories about our mother.
Our mother Maria was an incredible woman that touched the lives of so many during her 85 years, and we are very grateful and fortunate. She guided us through life with endless love, compassion, wisdom, and generosity.
Our mother came to Canada on her own at the age of 16 to act as housekeeper for her brothers who had journeyed to Toronto earlier. Her brothers were quite strict with her in what she could and could not do. Maria was of a generation when women had set boundaries and as obedient as she was, she was a rebel at heart and afforded us, the liberties in life that many of our own peers did not enjoy. She nurtured the bold and daring pain in the ass teenagers that we were and the adults we became.
Growing up we understood that our mother had and injury and had undergone a spinal fusion and that she had a ‘bad’ back. What we didn’t understand about her condition until later in life was that what she was living with was severe and chronic pain. We didn’t know, because she never complained. Even when later in life she was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and her joints swelled obscenely, she did not complain. In 2006, when she suffered her stroke we were told she would not regain consciousness. When she did, they told us she would never regain mental function. Yet she came back as sharp and lucid as ever. But for sure she would never walk again, they said. Again they were wrong – they just didn’t know the strength and determination of Maria Moro. After a more falls and broken bones, twice more, we were again told by medical professionals that she would never walk again. We’d listen to them, smile and nod, and then they’d leave the room she would say “They don’t know us” and then once again she would put in the hard work to recover. That was her rebel-self, she was fierce. Of course, she could not have done it alone. Mom of course, and myself have and will be forever grateful to my sister Jacquie for being there for her, to support her, encourage her, and for cracking the whip occasionally on days when she needed a bit more motivation
We enjoyed listening to the stories our mother told of her youth, of stealing figs and peaches from the trees in Ceprano, her mother’s bread, the German soldiers who displaced them from their home and the stories of her early jobs in Toronto from plucking chickens, making dolls and becoming a seamstress. We knew our mother was beautiful both inside and out. We were told that there was a line of men from the top to the end of the street of wanna be suitors for my mom. But it was one fateful afternoon that the love of her life, a friend of a friend, Fortunato Moro visited the family home on Rosemount Ave. My mom had baked a lemon cake that afternoon and it was essentially a love at first sight encounter and they wed 6 months later. My mother baked that lemon cake every Sunday for our father for 30 years until his passing.
Our mother lost her life partner far too early but was able to relish in the joys of gardening, riding her bike and cooking – and the cooking was good! Her freezer was always stocked. And thanks to her love and generosity, our fridges were always full as well. I wouldn’t say that that was the main reason we visited her, but we always looked forward to opening our trunks and loading up the already prepared boxes of her amazing meals.
What thrilled her the most was the arrival of her grandkids Zach and Jordana. They both brought her such great joy and she often lamented how her stroke robbed her of being the nonna she wanted to be. Thankfully they have the fun and loving memories of quality time spent, family vacations and the recent trip we all took to Italy 2 summers ago.
I have been her caregiver for the past 14 years which to many may seem as an act of duty or obligation or perhaps a burden but to me it was a blessing and I relished in her presence even if it was just her and I laying in the backyard silently reading a book. She met my needs and I met hers. I loved dragging her with me to the east coast to Italy to New York, the Dominican wherever, she was always up for the adventure.
Our mom was looking forward to many things this year, coming up to our new home on the lake, a road trip to the East Coast and the upcoming marriage of the light of her life, Jordana to Andrew. But we know that while she wanted these moments, we also know that she was tired of the struggle and was ready to leave this world and be back with her husband, her mom, her brothers and sisters and many other lost loved ones.
Despite her Italian heritage, she was fiercely loyal in her Canadian identity always stating that it was this country that gave her the beautiful life she relished. And a beautiful life it was indeed. She has left a void and will be sorely missed. We love you mom.
Jacquie, thank you so much for posting this. Maria often shared the story of her famous lemon cake and I loved hearing it every time.
Your mom was such a strong woman and many of my clients knew about her strength and resilience (especially the younger ones who love to complain when they have no reason to :p).
Your mom was kind and generous and I will forever cherish the time that I spent with her.
Thank you for inviting me to her service. I truly wish I had met Stephen and Sonja under different circumstances. You are all in my thoughts and prayers.
Jacquie and Stephen, I had called Maria at Christmas time, but not recently. I have very fond memories of living next door to your family at 309 Skopit Rd. Then when my Dad, Bob Lamb, died in 1980, your family bought our house, which made it easier for my Mum Lorraine Lamb to move on! When I was a child I was in awe of Maria, who looked like Sophia Loren.The first pizza I ate, Maria made. Jacquie was the cutest 8 yr old flower girl, at my wedding. Wonderful people, the whole family- Maria, Fortunata, Jacquie and Stephen!