The Kelertas family is very sad to announce that our beautiful and loving mother passed away at the Amica Bronte Harbour Residence in Oakville, Ontario on Tuesday, October 14, 2025, just two days shy of her 98th birthday.
Surrounded by family, she took her last breath peacefully and graciously on her own terms and with dignity.

A child of the Veneto region of Italy- with the Dolomite mountains towering above her hometown- Antonia and her family (her mother Maria Zordan and her three older sisters- Angela, Edvige and Elpida) persevered during the toughest times of the Great Depression and the Second World War without a father (Antonio) to guide & protect them. A former Alpini infantry soldier during WWI, he died in 1927 from an influenza related illness while Antonia’s mother was pregnant with her. However, her maternal grandfather, Fortunato, was a guiding influence in her life. She spoke fondly of the times she spent with her grandfather walking among the mountain paths and fields, as he imparted his simple wisdom of life to her.

After the Second World War, Antonia travelled to England to help her sister raise her two young nephews (Roger & Danny Lindley). It was there she met our soon-to-be father Jonas in Oldham (Greater Manchester) after an introduction by her brother-in-law George. It was love at first sight.

After a very difficult ocean voyage to Halifax, and train trip from Quebec City to Toronto, our mother married our father in 1953 on Hallowe’en at St. Agnes Church in Toronto. At the reception, they offered pieces of their wedding cake to the many trick -or -treaters of the neighbourhood as the wedding party had no idea that October 31st was also a special day for the local kids!

Within six years of strict saving habits and hard work, Mom & Dad bought their first house in the Junction area of west Toronto and raised their two sons (Richard-1954 & Kenneth-1963). A move to Etobicoke, Ontario followed in 1978, and she would remain in their beautiful home until 2017, even after our father passed away too early in 1998.

“Toni”, as she was known to her close family & friends, worked for many years as a bookkeeper, retail products buyer, and insurance adjuster for numerous companies- from the University of Toronto to the Sealy Mattress Co. to the R. Simpson Co. to the Co-operators Insurance Group -and then as a trusted partner in our father’s TV repair business. Not only was she a valued and productive worker, but she was also a shrewd financial wiz at balancing the books at home and for their business. However, her real talent lay in her self-taught insights and monetary skills regarding stock market investing and retail banking, where Toni excelled at turning small sums into much larger ones!

She was fiercely protective of her family, worked extremely hard at everything she did, and raised her family to be strong, humble and honest. Toni was blessed with a strength of will, a constitution of iron, and a deep love of her old and new countries that was passed on to all her family.

She is survived by her two sons Richard (Julie Belzil) and Kenneth (Novalea Jarvis), 8 grandchildren -Keegan (Andrea), Marc-Antoine (Marcella), Katrina, Harrison (pre-deceased in 2016), Kassandra (Michael), Tristana, Alisse, and John-Robert, and 2 great-grandchildren, Koby & Isla. The family dogs Cooper, Benny, and Maple miss her as well. She also leaves behind many nephews and nieces in Italy, Spain, England, South Africa, Canada, and the United States.

A special note of thanks goes to my brother Kenneth, who cared for her and kept her company during her final years.

See below for a summary of memorial events taking place November 1, 2025.