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MARIO MICHELE TRAVAN
Born: Jan 01, 1928
Date of Passing: Jan 29, 2022
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MARIO MICHELE TRAVAN
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our husband, father, and nonno, on January 29, 2022.
We thank the caregivers at the Grace Hospital for their care and concern for Mario during his stay there under Covid restrictions.
A funeral mass was held for Mario on February 4, 2022, at Holy Rosary Church.
Mario was born just after midnight on January 1, 1928, to a fisherman and a midwife in the coastal town of Parenzo, Pola, Italy. Partly because he was so prone to sea sickness, he was apprenticed as a blacksmith at the age of 12, and was trained to design and manufacture any metal part required.
He endured the bombing and occupation of his port town in the Second World War, and after Italy lost the territory to Yugoslavia in 1947, he left Parenzo and spent some time in a refugee camp near Rome, before ultimately settling in Monfalcone, Italy. In the refugee camp, he heard one could immigrate to the west and became interested in this idea. But his search for work led him to Karlovy Vary, Czechoslovakia, where he lived for six years, but then lost his job and work visa in one stroke. Still following employment, he settled in Visp, Switzerland, but he did not want to be at the mercy of a work visa again, so he applied for immigration and sailed for Canada in June of 1956. When he arrived in Halifax he asked the border officer to not send him anywhere too cold – "He sent me to Winnipeg, can you imagine?!" Mario got to know his new city through his love for walking and exploring, and he did this in all weathers with his long, straight-backed gait.
Not long before his departure for Canada, Mario met his future wife in a hospital in Visp, where he was a surgical patient, and after two letters from Canada, he proposed to Luigina who arrived in Winnipeg to be married in April 1958. He worked as a labourer in various positions until he found a job in his field at Ogilvie Flour Mills where he remained for most of his working life.
Mario lived in Wolseley for almost all of his 66 years in Winnipeg, and for many years took his family walking on the Palmerston, Wolseley, Omand's Creek, Wellington loop every Sunday. Mario went for a walk every evening, in all weathers, without fail. He loved walking in nature most of all and would often take his family out of town for hikes, or to the beach on Sundays. In his retirement he would go for a walk three times a day, and often went with Luigina to walk for hours in Kenora, from Gimli to Winnipeg Beach, or from West Hawk to Falcon Lake. In 1974, he also purchased a 2.5 acre garden lot to which he travelled by bicycle and worked tirelessly every Saturday. He loved spruce trees and planted over 200 saplings on his lot; it was the place he wanted to be. An adventurer at heart, when watching television or a movie he would invariably ask – "Where is that place?"
Intelligent and multi-talented, he also did every repair in his 1912 house, including rebuilding the kitchen cupboards, levelling the house, rebuilding the stairs, making the metal railings, building an insulated cold storage room, and replacing the sidewalk. He measured four times and cut once, ruminating on the best way to solve a problem. He also loved passing the time reading the Winnipeg Free Press daily for hours.
We are happy for you now that you can run, climb Alpine mountains, and swim in the sea again. What a happy reunion it must have been for you to be back in the arms of your long missed parents, Domenico and Luigia (née Petretti); your sisters, Nives and Silvia; and your beloved son GianRoberto. Left to love you always, is your devoted wife of nearly 64 years, Luigina (nee Ortis); brother Giuseppe (AnnaMaria) of Monfalcone; daughter-in-law Deborah; daughters, AnnaMaria (Christopher) and Eleonora (Alvin); grandchildren, Katie (Lawson), Daniel, and Caroline of Charlotte, NC; and many in-laws, cousins, nieces, and nephews in Italy and Holland.
"Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds
of earth, And danced the skies
on laughter-silvered wings;"
ETHICAL DEATH CARE
Simple Cremation & Life Celebrations
204-421-5501 – EthicalDeathCare.com
As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Feb 05, 2022
Condolences & Memories (2 entries)
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Mr. Travan walked each day in our Wolseley neighborhood. I noticed him enjoying his walk through the years and eventually, we'd wave to one another and stop to talk. The warm, sunny days I remember most of all, on my way home from work stopping to talk with Mr. Travan. - Posted by: Michael Weretyk (Friend and neighbor) on: Feb 06, 2022
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Our deepest condolences to Luigina, AnnaMaria, Eleonora and families. We remember his friendly smile and he and Luigina were always there at our major family events. He was a good friend to my father Elio, so much so that dad (Elio) would insist I write a Christmas card every year to Mario and Luigina for him, even when dementia set in. It has been heartwarming to see a friendship last so long. As for myself, I remember visiting your place in Canora that had beautiful woodwork in the home and playing as a young child with AnnaMaria and Eleonora and sometimes even GianRoberto would join in. Once again, we send our condolences from My sister and brother Maria and Aldo as well. - Posted by: Rossana and Domenic DeLuca ((Elio’s daughter) ) on: Feb 05, 2022
