Tony Casnig

Tony Casnig was born Anton Csanig in a small villiage in Hungary. Growing up on a farm near Wainfleet, Ontario with brothers Alex, Bill, Roger and Jim; and sisters Margaret, Barbara, Anne, Mary, Rose and Kaye, his first love was nature. Intelligent, healthy and ingenuitive, he struck out on his own to explore the world at an early age. Soon afterwards he married, fathering Carol, near Thunder Bay, Ontario.

Laying in communications in the no-mans-lands of World War II, he saw the things that no one should see. It was during the war that he contracted both malaria and tuberculosis, which would, like the horrors of war, continue to effect him for the rest of his life.

His first marriage a collateral casualty of war, he returned to the farms of southern Ontario, where he met and fell in love with Barbara. Soon afterwards, they moved to Kingston, Ontario, where he would sire a steady stream of unmanageable scallywags. Having been poorly raised by his own father, Tony largely distanced himself from his children as they grew up, being bitterly cold at times, both for a lack of inherited parenting skills and to prevent continuing a cycle of abuse he himself had endured as a child. This would cause much harm to the spirit of the household, exacerbated by the turmoil of the 1960's, which brought a new form of socially-endorsed divide between parent and teen.

Working primarily as a carpenter, then a general contactor, Tony plied his trade with precision and quality, building homes and businesses - even moving an entire curling rink. Weighted by the collapse of the family in the 1970's, he went through a phase of quiet isolation that would give birth to a blossoming of his fathering skills later in life. He helped Richard build his stained glass business, "Whitby Gather", until the early 1980's, when the pressures of outrageous interest rates a bad economy would force the business to fold.

He had a love for science fiction, favoring with great affection the "Perry Rhodan" books. He watched "Star Trek" with a sense of humor shared with his children. He shared a love of chess with his family, and a love of crosswords with John. His love of wood has expressed itself through Dan and his scuptures and cabinet-making (who still recalls with fondness the ibex that Dad had carved years ago) and through Lar and his house-framing skills.

Settling into retirement, Tony spent much of his time gardening. It was around this time that he was diagnosed with lymphoma, and had begun years of treatments. Giving recognition to his mortality for perhaps the first time in his life, he began to espouse fatherhood with newfound vigor. A changed man, he would consult and console with his sons like never before - while continuing to provide the more "dutiful" aspects of fatherhood. It was an inspiration to witness.

Fittingly, in passing, this man of nature fell like a leaf from a tree, amidst the company of loved ones. He had shown his sons that one can change at any time in life; fulfilling the transformation that is the essence of our family symbol. He is remembered fondly with each new day.