On Sunday, November 28, 2021, William Petrovitch passed away at Margaret’s Place Hospice in Dundas, Ontario. He died following a series of medical challenges, complicated by rapid onset of dementia.

He was "Bill" to those who knew him. He was affectionately nicknamed “Chops” by his wife Elizabeth, who died in 1986. To his three sons Ed, John and Curt, he was always "Dad".

Bill was born in September 1929 in Toronto, and was the first of two children to Czech immigrants John and Susanna who both passed away in the 1970s. Bill’s slightly younger brother Edward who became a doctor, died in 1990. Bill’s life took a different path than that of his brother. After living in Florida for a few years in the 1950’s, Bill and his wife moved back to Canada, bought a house in Scarborough, and raised three children, largely on his meager earnings working six days a week as a parking lot attendant.

But Bill was anything but unmotivated. He earned a certificate in electronic engineering by going to night school. He had a sharp mind, an affinity for mathematics and an innate ability to fix and rebuild anything from the family car to the interior of his humble home. While he could be a demanding father when it came to the academic expectations he had for his children, he never failed to provide for them and equip them with what he thought they needed to thrive in the world.
Bill was a man of simple tastes, both literally and figuratively. A meal of cabbage rolls and pierogies was living well. On rare occasions when he wasn't working, his living room was filled with classic country or Big Band sounds coming from the stereo. He seldom bought anything new, except when it came to his family: a backyard pool when they were small. Bicycles.

Bill allowed himself one main pastime and became a pilot. He took friends and family on extraordinary Sunday trips among the clouds. Later in life, he took up radio controlled model airplane flying. He was an avid golfer.

After the death of his wife in 1986, Bill met and began a relationship with Betty Nuttall and the two spent many years in each other's company, dining and travelling together. Indeed, one of the hardest parts of Bill’s hospitalization was that he lamented his separation from Betty, who he loved very much.

Bill is survived by his three sons. His passing is mourned by them and Bill's daughters-in-law, his grand children Ellie and Daniel of Vancouver, Eric, Mike and Kelly of Tennessee, his great grandchildren Ana, Liam, Ximena, Mikey and Myles, Sophia, Graison and Olivia all of Tennessee.

Bill is also missed and remembered by his late brother's children, his nieces Robin Nunnelley of Michigan and Chris Moses of Nebraska, and his late wife’s sister’s daughter, niece Susan Lussier, of Mississauga.

The Petrovitch family is a small one, scattered over thousands of kilometres and separated by provincial and international borders. Bill's passing makes it that much smaller, and represents the loss of a living link to the family's roots, first planted in Canada a century ago. Bill was proud of his children and his extended family. We were proud of him for what he gave us.