BEST, Kevin -- Ingonish
Published: March 11, 2023
We regret to announce the passing of Kevin Best, 58, of Saskatchewan, and formerly of Ingonish, on Tuesday, March 7, 2023, in Cornerbrook, NL. Kevin was a joyful soul who brought light and laughter wherever he went. Born in Ingonish on April 16, 1964, he was a son of the late Ian and Mabel (Morrison) Best. Kevin is survived by his daughter, Megan; his son, Ian; their mother, Shauna; his brother and sister, Kenneth Best (Phyllis) and Pamela Powers (Maynard); his niece, Alisha (Mitch); his nephews, Christopher, Dougie, Jericho; grand-nieces, Danni and Addison, and his grand-nephews, Hayden and Wesley.

Kevin enjoyed coming back to Nova Scotia to visit his family and spending time on the water with family and friends. He is going to be greatly missed and will always hold a place in our hearts. His family will receive visitors on Tuesday, March 14, from 10-11 a.m., in the United Church in Ingonish.

A celebration of his life will take place in the church at 11 a.m. with Rev. Pieter A. LeRoux officiating. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in Kevin's memory may be made to the Canadian Diabetes Association: https://www.diabetes.ca (https://www.diabetes.ca) Words of comfort may be forwarded to his family at www.jmjobesfuneralhome.com

CURTIS, Francis Joseph "Frank" -- Reserve Mines
Published: April 04, 2023
It is with heavy hearts that we announce the peaceful passing of our dear father, Francis "Frank" Joseph Curtis, age 86 of Reserve Mines on Wednesday, March 29, 2023, in Glace Bay Hospital. Born in St. John's, Newfoundland, he was the son of the late John and Ann (MacNeil) Curtis. He was employed as a superintendent for an apartment complex in Scarborough, Ontario and also worked as a cook on a great lakes freighter boat. Dad will be remembered for his loving smile, laughter, his heart of gold and the love he had for his wife, family and friends. He is leaving behind his son, Donald; daughters, Christine "Chrissy", Francetta (Pat), Connie (Corre), Roxanne (Joe), Audrey (Ian); 13 grandchildren; 8 great-grandchildren; sibling, Mary (Curtis) Ryan; lots of nieces and nephews and an abundance of friends. Besides his parents, dad was predeceased by his loving wife of 62 years, Mercedes (Pennell) Curtis; brothers, Charlie, Edward, Jim (Mary) and Johnny (Patsy-living). Cremation has taken place under the direction of V.J. McGillivray Funeral Home, 16 Reserve Street, Glace Bay. There will be no services at this time. Memorial donations in memory of our dad may be made to a charity of one's choice. Online condolences to the family can be expressed at: www.vjmcgillivray.ca
Heaven has gained another angel, so now Dad you may fly high with Mom"

EPSTEIN, Sylvia -- Toronto, Ont.
Published: April 04, 2023
On March 31, 2023, Sylvia Epstein, died peacefully at Sunnybrook Hospital, surrounded by the loving support of her two children, Michael and Sandra, and her granddaughter, Johanna. Born Sept 23, 1929, in Cornerbrook, Newfoundland, where she lived with her immigrant parents, Nina and Max Neiman, and her two older brothers, Gregory and Alec. Sylvia sadly lost her Father and her brother, Alec, when she was only 18 years old. After her losses, she moved to Montreal with her mother and brother to attend McGill University.

Shortly after graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree, she met and married her gregarious, devoted and loving husband, Erwin. They settled in Sydney, Nova Scotia, where they raised their two children, Michael and Sandra. While there, Sylvia was active in the family business as well as devoting many volunteer hours to Hadassah Wizo and the Cape Breton Jewish community. She also was a substitute teacher at the local High School. In retirement, Sylvia and Erwin moved to Toronto to be closer to their children. Travel was a big part of their lives, with frequent visits to their West Coast Family, Florida and to the cottage at George's River for the summer months. After Erwin's passing, Sylvia moved into the Dunfield Retirement Residence, where she was able to thrive and enjoy the last years of her life.

Sylvia was a kind, elegant but tough and stoic woman who left a mark on everyone she met. She was an excellent bridge player and avid lover of music and was frequently heard playing her favourite tunes on the piano at the Dunfield. Sylvia was predeceased by her husband, Erwin; her parents, Max and Nina Neiman; and two brothers, Alec and Greg. She is survived by her children, Michael (Catherine) and Sandra; her grandchildren, David (Lauren), Alexander, Johanna, Neesa and Geoffrey. Thanks to the staff at the Dunfield Residence for making her time so enjoyable over the past six years, and particularly to Evan Ravacio, who became an integral part of our family. Our gratitude also goes to the team at Sunnybrook Hospital who provided such compassionate and attentive care.

Funeral details: Steeles Memorial Chapel on Monday, April 3, at 11 a.m. Shiva Hours: Monday 2 to 4:30 p.m., Monday and Tuesday evenings 6:30 to 9 p.m. with services starting at 7 p.m. Address: 2 Edith Drive, Lobby Function Room; Buzz Code 1053. In lieu of flowers, please donate to Canadian Hadassah Wizo, Sunnybrook Hospital Foundation or a charity of your choice.

LATIMER (FIELD), Bertha Juanita-- Ontario
Published: March 11, 2023
April 19, 1924-March 3, 2023
Juanita died peacefully with her daughter Katherine by her side, at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. She was predeceased by her husband, Eric William Latimer; her parents and her siblings. Her memory lives on through her daughter Katherine and son-in-law John Andrew, her daughter Debby and her grandchildren Ginger and Cody. She is also survived by many friends and relatives, including her nephew David Hoffe, who held a special place in her heart, and his wife Joanne, and the Walsh family.

Born in Cook's Harbour, Newfoundland, Juanita was the youngest of Clara Jane (nee, Wheeler) and George Field's ten children. At the age of sixteen, Juanita left home for a career in retail fashion, selling the latest styles at The Model Shop in St. John's, Newfoundland. She later joined Eaton's Department store. It was here she met her husband Eric Latimer who was looking to replace a button on his coat. Eric worked at the St. John's branch of The Royal Bank of Canada. After dating a few years, they married and began their life together in Sydney, Nova Scotia.

Eric's career brought the family from Sydney to Dartmouth, Halifax, Montreal, Sudbury and Toronto. In retirement Mom and Dad moved back to Cape Breton, where she lived until Dad's death. Juanita's gift of home organization, interior decorating, fashion, cooking, creative crafts and laughter made each of these relocations entertaining and effortless. Mom knew how to make a home feel like home. The scent of freshly baked bread and homemade soup remain warm childhood memories. She created the tradition of Saturday night grilled steak. She loved deeply and left a warm imprint on us all.

Mom was much loved by her extended family and wide circle of friends. She loved throwing a party and was happiest when families were together in her home. Although she loved curling, skiing and golfing in her early years, it was long walks with her beloved dog Sam that gave her the most pleasure. She also loved her flower garden and spent many hours during the summers sitting on her patio with a coffee, enjoying the colour. She loved music, dancing and laughter. She traveled with both her daughters all over Europe and the United States. At the age of 84 she acquired an IPad and loved email, photos, books and FaceTime. She connected with many this way, sometimes accidentally hitting a wrong contact, much to the surprise and then delight of both of them. It brought her and others great joy to connect. She loved people. She had a warm and mischievous relationship with her grandchildren Cody and Ginger. She loved spending two months of every year with her daughter Debby and her grandchildren, watching them grow and play on the sugar white sands of Naples, Florida.

We thank the staff of the Balmoral Club for their care and kindness to Juanita during the years of her stay pre-COVID. She met her very dear friend Edythe there. During COVID she went to live with Katherine and John where she enjoyed full days of love and care and the devotion of her beloved grand dog, Henry. On the day of our mother's passing, Toronto received a record snow storm with a most unusual accompaniment of thunder and lightning. We think that this was a noisy lit up snowy signal from Mom letting us know she had arrived at her final destination. Much love to you Mom.

Cremation has taken place. Mom's ashes will be buried beside our father in Sydney, N.S. later this year. Condolences may be forwarded through www.humphreymiles.com

PITCHER, Donald Joseph 'Joey' -- Bateston
Published: March 16, 2023
We, the family, regret to announce the passing of Joey, on Tuesday, March 14, 2023, after a short but courageous battle with cancer, surrounded by his family at the Cape Breton Regional Hospital, Sydney. Born on March 27, 1952, in Burin, Newfoundland, Joey was a son of the late Joseph and Janet (Bolt) Pitcher. Joey is survived by his loving wife, Ann (Spencer) Pitcher; three sons, Daniel (Jeanne), David (Jodie), and Kevin (Stephanie); grandchildren, whom he loved dearly, Kinnon, Ben, Jack, Beau, Teddy; and his only granddaughter, Rosie; siblings, Harry (Donna), Wayne (Nora), Calvin (Caroline), Yvonne (Harry), Bonnie (Stewart) and Peggy (Bernie); many nieces and nephews; as well as Aunt Winnie and Uncle Harry. Besides his parents, Joey was predeceased by his twin brother who died at birth; mother and father-in-law, William and Josepha (Locke) Spencer (who thought of him as a son); and brother-in-law, Jim Bates.

Joey was an avid Maple Leaf fan and loved playing in the Wednesday hockey league with the guys. He had a great love of music and enjoyed playing his guitar. His greatest joy was spending time with his grandchildren, who called him Bop. Special thanks to the staff at the Cape Breton Regional Hospital for all the great care provided to Joey during his battle, especially to his Palliative Care Nurse, Brett Gillis, and his oncologist, Dr. Kian Kodadad.

A gathering of family and friends to celebrate the life of Joey Pitcher will be held at Pier Community Funeral Home, 1092 Victoria Rd. (entrance on Church St.), Whitney Pier from 2 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 18th. Private family interment will take place at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Joey may be made to Hospice Palliative Care Society of Cape Breton. Funeral arrangements are entrusted to the care and direction of Pier Community Funeral Home. Online condolences can be forwarded to the family at www.pierfuneralhome.com

TOMPKINS, John P. -- Antigonish
Published: March 22, 2023
Passed away March 17, 2023, in his 102nd year. He was born in Tomp-kins, Co-droy Val-ley, N.L., on April 27, 1921. He first worked at the fam-ily busi-ness, Afton Farm-house, a well-known hotel and fish-ing and hunt-ing es-tab-lish-ment. It was here that he met his fu-ture wife Kath-leen "Kay" Sears. In 1956 the fam-ily moved to Syd-ney, where he worked his way from pas-try cook to ex-ec-u-tive chef. In 1968 he be-came chef at Mount St. Bernard Col-lege and, later, man-ager at KFC. In his com-mu-nity, Johnny was a mem-ber of St Joseph's Church choir (Syd-ney), Knights of Colum-bus, Town of Antigo-nish Tree Com-mit-tee, and a long-serv-ing Heart and Stroke can-vasser. A pas-sion-ate New-found-lan-der, he con-tin-ued yearly vis-its to the Co-droy Val-ley until age 97. Johnny loved sports, music, danc-ing with Kay, and going for dri-ves in the car. Ob-serv-ing wildlife, gar-den-ing, pick-ing ap-ples, berries, and road-side flow-ers gave him great plea-sure. A well-dressed and sharp-wit-ted gen-tle-man, he put peo-ple at ease.

Pre-de-ceased by his par-ents, James and Ur-sula (Burke) Tomp-kins; his seven sib-lings; his wife of 64 years, Kath-leen (Sears); his grand-daugh-ter, Ale-cia Maud-s-ley; and his great-grand-daugh-ter, KeiraKil-bane. He will be for-ever loved by chil-dren, James (Ronalda), Claire (Ralph Downey), Mau-reen (George Robin-son, de-ceased), Brian (Anita), and Pa-tri-cia (Steve Maud-s-ley); 12 grand-chil-dren, and 20 great-grand-chil-dren. A spe-cial thank you to Dr. David Cud-more, Elaine Bowie, Faye McKenna Steeves, Mary Mac-Don-ald, Anna VanZupthen, the late Sheila Deon and the staff at Antigo-nish Manor and the R.K. Mac-Don-ald Nurs-ing Home.

Vis-i-ta-tion will be held in C. L. Curry Fu-neral Home on Wednes-day, March 22nd from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. Fu-neral mass will be held in St. Nin-ian Cathe-dral on Thurs-day, March 23rd at 10 a.m.; bur-ial to fol-low at a later date. Fam-ily flow-ers only. Do-na-tions may be made to the Antigo-nish Com-mu-nity Food Bank, the R.K. Mac-Don-ald Nurs-ing Home or the Cana-dian Can-cer So-ci-ety. www.clcurry.com