Amrik Singh Dhaliwal passed away peacefully on May 20, 2022 in Markham, Ontario at the age of 87. He was predeceased by his wife Paramjit in 2013 and is survived by his children Ken (Kelly) and Jas, his granddaughters Mira and Kiran, his sister Haji and brothers Manmohan and Harjit. Amrik had a long and very full life. He will be remembered fondly by friends and family near and far.

Amrik was born in Patialia, India and was raised in a large and loving family with his parents, three sisters and two brothers in Amritsar. He attended Khalsa College in Amritsar and was active on the College tennis team, a sport that he continued to enjoy for most of his life. He had an adventurous sprit during this period, even riding his scooter from Amritsar to Srinagar. Though he enjoyed being a bachelor, that ended when his future wife Paramjit moved into the house next door in Amritsar. They exchanged letters by secretly throwing them over the wall separating their houses. Eventually, they were married in 1964, and by 1969 they were a family of four.

In 1970 Amrik left the relative comfort of a good job in Mumbai and moved his family to Toronto with the help of family in Canada (Daman and Livlin Malik), and some coaxing from Paramjit. They were in search of every immigrant’s dream - a better life for their children and themselves. After a challenging adjustment period working multiple jobs, Amrik established himself with a company where he would remain for over 30 years. He started as a salesman and moved up to become a branch manager, and eventually the sales manager for the entire company.

As they made new home for themselves in Canada, Amrik and Paramjit were lucky to make some lifelong friends. While the social butterfly in the couple was definitely Paramjit, Amrik enjoyed their busy social life. However, at heart Amrik was a true homebody and was completely happy being in his own house. Anyone who knew Amrik also knew how much he enjoyed his daily afternoon nap – a habit he inherited from his mother. Every summer, he enjoyed gardening and was very proud of the annual results of his vegetable garden. While the resident expert chef was Paramjit, Amrik would occasionally venture into “her” kitchen to try out recipes he had collected in his travels. On weekends he liked nothing more than to have a scotch, enjoy a barbeque meal with family, and finish the night watching a James Bond film.

Family was very important to Amrik, particularly his parents whom he missed very much after immigrating to Canada. After he retired in 1994 he enjoyed many years of travelling including to India with Paramjit to visit his parents and brothers and sisters. He was a loving father and doting grandfather who regularly encouraged his granddaughters to do well in school, sometimes with the promise of a bribe. He had offered the same encouragement to his sons, but without the bribe. He always had a helpful lecture or words of wisdom ready to share on topics such as education, health, religion and the importance of family.

Amrik remained very passionate about tennis - both playing and watching for many years. When he was younger, he often played twice a week at his local tennis club. He religiously watched Wimbledon every year, and even had the chance to visit the Wimbledon club during his retirement. Later in life he also took up golf as pastime, playing both in Canada and India while visiting.

Religion was a central part of Amrik’s life. For many years he recited the daily Sikh prayers and later in his life he found comfort in listening to and watching the services from the Golden Temple. Among the highlights of his travels during retirement were regular visits to the Golden Temple and making pilgrimages to the Sikh holy sites of Panja Sahib in Pakistan and Hemkund Sahib in northern India.

The loss of Paramjit who had been his constant companion for almost fifty years made the last few years of life more challenging for Amrik, but he was resilient as he battled dementia and was able to remain in his home until almost the very end. We are grateful that his passing was peaceful and without any pain.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to the Alzheimer Society of Canada.