Obituary for Aldo Potenza
POTENZA, Innocenzo “Aldo”
After 11 years of the decline of his brilliant mind into dementia, and 5 years in Long Term Care, Innocenzo “Aldo” Potenza has passed away at age 84 from Covid-19. Italian born in 1936, Aldo amazingly survived his traumatic childhood during WW II. Having lost his father to tuberculosis in 1942, the Catholic Diocese then took him from his mother and placed him in a Catholic orphanage. When she remarried in 1944, the church returned him to Florence to live with her, his sister and new step-father. Once the Western Allies had taken over Sicily in 1943, life essentials were more abundant there than on the impoverished mainland. Therefore, at war’s end, Aldo was sent for 18 months to live in Palermo with his grandmother and attend public school, where he quickly picked up the Sicilian dialect. At 16 he refused further education in order to help with the financial needs of his parents and siblings by learning the restaurant skills of service and cuisine, finally owning and operating 3 restaurants. He served his country in the Italian Marines, where he was taught plumbing and electrical installations, giving him extra means for income over the years. Aldo spoke five fluent languages: Italian, French, German, Spanish, finally learning English in 1986 after meeting his Canadian wife, Carol Baggott-Forte. His hobbies in skiing, bocce ball, swimming, language studies and other life pursuits were rewarding for him and helpful to others. Aldo’s humour, kindness, intelligence, assertiveness and affectionate nature will always be missed by his wife, Carol, his sister-in-law, Sherry, Carol’s cousins (the Baggotts, Pughs, Christensens and Vails), as well as his surviving sister, Sandra Buscioni, nieces: Elena and Anna Calamandrei, his brother, Piero, nephew, Christiano Buscioni, the Panzicas and multiple friends in several countries. In Aldo’s memory, please consider donating to the Alzheimer Society of Niagara Region. Arrangements entrusted to Considerate Cremation & Burial Services, 26 Nihan Drive, St. Catharines (between Lake Street & Scott Street), 289-362-1144. Online condolences may be made at CCBSCares.ca
After 11 years of the decline of his brilliant mind into dementia, and 5 years in Long Term Care, Innocenzo “Aldo” Potenza has passed away at age 84 from Covid-19. Italian born in 1936, Aldo amazingly survived his traumatic childhood during WW II. Having lost his father to tuberculosis in 1942, the Catholic Diocese then took him from his mother and placed him in a Catholic orphanage. When she remarried in 1944, the church returned him to Florence to live with her, his sister and new step-father. Once the Western Allies had taken over Sicily in 1943, life essentials were more abundant there than on the impoverished mainland. Therefore, at war’s end, Aldo was sent for 18 months to live in Palermo with his grandmother and attend public school, where he quickly picked up the Sicilian dialect. At 16 he refused further education in order to help with the financial needs of his parents and siblings by learning the restaurant skills of service and cuisine, finally owning and operating 3 restaurants. He served his country in the Italian Marines, where he was taught plumbing and electrical installations, giving him extra means for income over the years. Aldo spoke five fluent languages: Italian, French, German, Spanish, finally learning English in 1986 after meeting his Canadian wife, Carol Baggott-Forte. His hobbies in skiing, bocce ball, swimming, language studies and other life pursuits were rewarding for him and helpful to others. Aldo’s humour, kindness, intelligence, assertiveness and affectionate nature will always be missed by his wife, Carol, his sister-in-law, Sherry, Carol’s cousins (the Baggotts, Pughs, Christensens and Vails), as well as his surviving sister, Sandra Buscioni, nieces: Elena and Anna Calamandrei, his brother, Piero, nephew, Christiano Buscioni, the Panzicas and multiple friends in several countries. In Aldo’s memory, please consider donating to the Alzheimer Society of Niagara Region. Arrangements entrusted to Considerate Cremation & Burial Services, 26 Nihan Drive, St. Catharines (between Lake Street & Scott Street), 289-362-1144. Online condolences may be made at CCBSCares.ca