It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Joseph Menezes, at the age of 93, 6 days shy of his much anticipated 94th birthday. Joseph was an involved and loving family man, husband, father, grandfather, brother and uncle. He was born in Belgaum, India, moved to Nairobi, Kenya and eventually migrated to Canada, his cherished home for over 50 years.

Married for over 63 years, he is survived by his wife Nora, his sister Ceci, his 3 children Darryl (Kimberley), Sharon (Malcolm), Farley, many nieces and nephews and his cherished granddaughters Hilary, Madison, and Elianna. He was predeceased by his older brother Paxcy (Lira).

Joseph sustained many interests. In his younger days, he played a lot of tennis and badminton. When not reading or playing racquet sports, he watched every round of grand slam tennis tournaments, his beloved Blue Jays and the Toronto Maple Leafs. His interest in the Leafs, started in the early 1970s, when he purchased last minute seats to games at Maple Leaf Gardens. Since then, he rarely missed a Jays or Leafs game on television.

As an avid reader of the Toronto Star and the New York Times, he would not let his subscriptions expire (he never embraced the digital editions and much preferred the hard copies). As an aspiring amateur librarian, he would cut out numerous articles and save and share them with his children and grandchildren, on a diverse array of topics. His ever-growing, but curated selections of articles were not always embraced and appreciated by family members. But, they reflected his wide interests, his agile mind, his humour, curiosity and intelligence.

Beyond sports, he enjoyed many social functions and dances put on by the Goan communities in Nairobi and Toronto. He relished meeting Goans from all corners of the world. In addition to cultivating these friendships, he took an active interest in gardening and politics. His political views were informed by newspapers, books, and informed pundits on television. His strong views about global political phenomena were often shaped and tempered by an open and flexible mindset.

Although Joseph worked for a variety of corporations, including National Grindlays Bank and International Harvester, his most enjoyable and compelling phase of his professional life, was as a realtor with United Trust, Royal Trust and eventually, Remax. In the Bloor West Village, he sold over 100 homes. He thoroughly enjoyed assisting clients to find their ‘forever home’.

He will be deeply missed.