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It is with great sorrow that we announce that our father and grandfather, Ezio “Ez” Pedrini, passed away on Monday, January 17th, 2022 at the age of 102 years.
Our family is at peace knowing Ezio is together with Lillian again at last.
Ezio will be lovingly remembered by his son, Wayne Pedrini; granddaughter, Shannon (Adam Latta) Pedrini; and great-grandchildren, Dominic and Sierra Pedrini-Latta; as well as other family members and friends.
A Memorial Service celebrating Ezio & Lillian’s lives will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, January 27, 2022 at Christensen Salmon Generations Funeral Home, 703 13 Street North, Lethbridge. For those who wish, live streaming will be available by visiting www.generationsfh.ca and scrolling to the bottom of Ezio’s obituary.
The following is a life story tribute written by Ezio's niece, Kalie, in her words, for his 100th birthday.
UNCLE EZIO's 100th BIRTHDAY TRIBUTE
My name is Kalie and Ezio is my uncle. I want to tell you some stories about his life that he’s shared with me over the years.
Ezio Pedrini was born on November 1, 1919 (100 years ago) in the Village of Lasino in Italy.
COINS AT THE CHURCH
The house he lived in was right next to the church. It had fencing around the front yard and people would come and throw coins in. He watched as all these coins were just sitting there, so he and a little friend decided to take some of them. They got sticks and put tree sap on the end and the coins stuck to the sap and they pulled them out. I’m sure candy was on their minds but not sure how he would explain getting the coins.
IN ITALY / EDUCATION
His Dad Luigi, had left for Canada to find a place for a better life. Somehow he found Diamond City and decided to settle there. Luigi came back to get Nonna, but it was decided that Uncle Ezio would remain in Italy until they were settled. This was to be just a very short time. So in 1925, Nonna left for Canada. He was only 5 years old.
He was going to be staying at the orphanage in the Town of Trento. He ended up going to Kindergarten and Grades 1 & 2 there. He then went to Grades 3 & 4 at a boarding school in Trento. This now was way longer than he was supposed to be in Italy.
So long as Luigi kept sending money Uncle Ezio was being cared for at the boarding school. For awhile the money just wasn’t there and he would have to leave the boarding school and go stay with his Zia Elvira, Nonna’s sister. He was also very close to his Zio Piern (Pierno), Nonna’s brother. He enjoyed spending a lot of time with him especially during the holidays. He was a teacher and unfortunately he was accidently shot and killed in 1929. This was a huge loss for Uncle Ezio.
LEAVING ITALY
He spent 5 years in Italy waiting to join Nonna and Luigi. Nonna told me it was very painful for her not to have him with her during this time. The reason he was there still is because in the late 1920’s / early 1930’s, the Italian Gov’t stopped allowing ANY MALES out of the country. They needed them for the army. So he couldn’t leave.H]]
His Zio Angelo Chistie, Nonna’s brother-in-law, was asked if he could help to get permission for Uncle Ezio to leave and join his family. Angelo knew someone that might be able to help. Finally, in the late summer of 1930, he received permission to leave. He was finally going to be with his parents.
On September 9, 1930, he left for Canada, only 10 years old and basically by himself. There was a young Italian man there visiting his family and was leaving the same day, so he was asked if Uncle Ezio could go with him and if he could “keep an eye on him during the trip”. He said of course and they left for France on the train.
When they got to the docks to board the ship in France, Uncle Ezio saw a kid selling some fruit. The young man gave him some coins to go buy some. Only speaking Italian, he just showed the kid his money, the kid took it all and gave him all the fruit. After being show how to peel it, he took a bite, he didn’t like it at all. They were BANANAS…….
Now, he has 15–16 bananas and what was he going to do with these because he didn’t want them. So he handed them out to people on the dock waiting to board the ship. They all thought what a nice little boy.
ON THE SHIP TO QUEBEC THEN TO ALBERTA
On the ship, the Captain had a room set up for the kids to go to play games and eat. One meal came with a strange dessert. He had no idea what it was and he wasn’t going to try it. So he gave it to the little girl beside him. She was thrilled. It was JELLO…..
He says he remembers 2 little kids on the ship that were only 8 & 10 and they were ALL ALONE. They were from Poland and no one was looking after them. They stayed close to Uncle Ezio all the time as they felt safe with him. All they had were tags around their necks with their names and destination. He said they were very scared and he’s never forgotten them.
The ship took 7 days to arrive in Quebec. Once in Quebec they boarded a train to Alberta. The Italian guy took Uncle Ezio with him to his sister’s house and they spent the night. The next day he borrowed her Model T car and drove him to the farm.
FARM LIFE / WORK
He arrived on September 25, 1930, to the total delight and relief of Nonna. He was also so happy to be there with her. He was quickly introduced to farm life. He’d never been on a farm before, never did any kind of farm chores and never milked a cow. He learned very quickly. He really didn’t care for any of it, but he did end having a prize pet pig.
He arrived to already having a sister, Dorrie born October 7, 1926 and a brother Alfi born January 25, 1928. His youngest brother Nino was born December 26, 1931. He went to school in Diamond City, not knowing a word of English. This was not easy for him. Luigi passed away on August 6, 1943; he was 53 years old. This was extremely devastating to the family.
Uncle Ezio had to step up to take over the farming for Nonna. Alfi was 15 and had to quit school to also work on the farm. When Nonna moved into Lethbridge, Uncle Ezio bought the farm from her and also paid all the back taxes that were owing.
LILLIAN / EZIO & WAYNE
In 1948 Ezio met Lillian Poch. When we asked him how they met, he said: “I was at a dance and I looked across the dance floor and I saw this beautiful woman I had to meet.” They dated a couple of times, but Auntie Lillian was leaving for 6 months to Utah to be a caregiver for the Ellison Mills family. When she returned they rekindled their relationship and were engaged a few weeks later.
They married not long after the engagement. I guess when you know, you know. They were married for 69 years, until Auntie Lillian passed away on March 10, 2018 at 92 years old.
On their wedding day, Uncle Nino was to be taking all the pictures. Well, he was taking pictures like crazy. At the end of the day he realized he had forgotten to put in a roll of film. They didn’t have a single picture. So they had to dress up again in their wedding attire some time later and have pictures actually taken.
They share a son, Wayne and a daughter-in-law, Greta. They share a granddaughter Shannon and her husband Adam along with 2 great grandchildren, Dominic and Sierra.
In December of 1949 they took a late honeymoon to Calgary for 3 days. On their way just this side of Granum, the gas line froze. It was cold and there were no other vehicles on this road. He was actually very worried they were going to freeze to death; so he decided he would take out the back seat and start it on fire for heat to survive. Luckily a vehicle did come by and he didn’t have to. They towed them to Granum.
While waiting for the car to be repaired they went for supper. The same couple was there also. When the other couple left they waved good bye. When Uncle Ezio went to pay the check, he found out the couple had paid for their supper and left a tin of cigarettes for Uncle Ezio and a box of chocolates for Auntie Lillian for their honeymoon. He said he regrets never asking their names.
While working on the farm, he also drove Taxi from 1947 – 1950. Then in 1952 – 1956 he worked at Imperial Motors. In 1964 they tore down the old farm house and built a brand new home.
I remember him telling us about the time, I think it was the Gas Company, had to replace some piped on his land and they paid him to allow them to do this. Then he was able to sell the used pipe to the Hutterites. He told my Dad this was the easiest money he’d ever made. Just had to sit there and watch it all happen.
In 1967 they bought a brand new baby blue Mustang car. I’m sure a lot of people here remember that car as they had it forever.
They decided to rent out the farm land, and in 1964 Uncle Ezio went into Lethbridge to work for Hagen’s Electric until 1983 when he retired. Auntie Lillian also worked in Lethbridge; she was an LPN.
In the mid 1980’s, they sold the farm and moved into Lethbridge.
I remember my Dad saying to Uncle Ezio, remember the good old days, and he would say “those were NOT the good old days, these are the GOOD old days”.
Uncle Ezio was a very talented welder. He made many things, but he was especially good at some very unique and detailed gates and posts. He also made railings and planters. He made me some front step railing for one of my houses and some inside railing for another.
TRIPS
While Uncle Ezio was living in Italy, he was asked to pose for a statue that was being carved of stone, so he did. The statue still stands today in the Town of Calavino.
On September 1, 1972, Auntie Lillian and Uncle Ezio flew to Italy for the first time for 3 weeks. He wanted to finally see this finished statue. He was quite shocked when he saw it, because the statue of him was NAKED and he said he definitely was NOT……. He remembers when they returned on September 21st, there was already 4” of snow on the ground.
Over the years they travelled a lot, going to England, Europe and Italy numerous times; they also travelled to Hawaii and California.
On one trip to Italy he brought my Dad back a bottle of wine with a large pear inside. My Dad was amazed wondering how they got that pear inside the bottle. The tag on the bottle showed that the tree was covered with bottles on the branches. The pears grew inside the bottles, the branches were broken off and the bottles were filled with wine. That bottle was displayed in our house for a very long time.
MEMORIES
I remember going to the farm to visit. I was amazed that Uncle Ezio always only drank his coffee out of a soup bowl. I never saw him at home drink from a mug. I had no idea why…..and when I asked he’d just laugh. Not sure he knew why either.
They would come to our house for dessert and coffee and when Mom would ask him what kind of pie he wanted, the answer was always YES… That meant all of them. He always had quite an appetite. He was one person who definitely got his money’s worth at a buffet. He loves Polenta, Gnocchi, Chinese food and desserts. He loves vanilla ice cream but hates anything chocolate.
Oh, and he did say he also liked women. Even to this day they still seem to like him. They just walk into his room to visit. Once he said a lady just walked in and he was in his underwear. She sat down and he doesn’t think she even noticed. He’s even had offers of hanky panky.
He told me he remembers the day Dad and I were at the farm and Wayne was showing me how to skip rocks on the pond. I picked up this nice flat rock and all of a sudden 2 little ears popped up. It was a baby bunny. Uncle Ezio knew where the mother was, so he took the baby back there.
When I come to Lethbridge, I go and spend time with him. I always love hearing all the stories of his life. He has a memory like an elephant; he never forgot any details. The best time was when he brought out all his pictures and documents he’s had forever. We spent a long time going through them. The youngest picture we found of him was at 18 months old.
He still has his passport when he came to Canada from Italy when he was only 10 years old. He’s carried it around with him for 90 years. It’s in immaculate condition, all hand-written in Italian. His picture at 10 years old is so cute. He asked me if I thought it was expired. I said “I’m pretty sure it is”, and he had a good laugh. He gave this to me and it’s something I’ll treasure forever. In Italy when he was born, you didn’t get a birth certificate, you just registered the birth at the church. So when getting a passport he needed confirmation of his birth. The priest wrote a letter for him to use as his birth certificate. He still also has this.
For his milestone of 100th birthday, we applied to the Mayor of Lethbridge, MLA, Alberta Premier, Governor General, Prime Minister and the Queen requesting Milestone birthday wish letters. You can see all of these items on the display table.
CLOSING
Whenever Auntie Lillian and Uncle Ezio sat together they were always holding hands. She was absolutely the love of his life. He used to always call her his “FIFI”. He said they never spent time apart, never argued or had harsh words. They were in love from the moment they met.
He’s a man with a funny sense of humor, a very big heart and has huge love for his family and friends. He likes to tell jokes, some pretty colorful to a 100 year old man. If you’ve ever had the opportunity of spending time with him to listen to his stories you are very lucky. He has experienced and seen so much growth and changes in his 100 years of life. Not many of us here will be so fortunate to celebrate such a milestone. For me, this is my first 100th birthday party. man with a funny se
Up until a year ago, he was taking the stairs up and down 1 floor 3 times a day for meals. Only a few years ago he lost his driver’s license. When Auntie Lillian was in St. Michaels he would take his walker and walk over to see her twice a day. The Dr. told him he should go for a walk every day as it was good for his health. He said to me “Does he know how old I am?”, but he walked every day. He told me last year he didn’t think he was going to make 100. I said “OMG, you’ve made it 99 years already, what’s just 1 more”.
And this is what has brought us all here today. We are so blessed to still have him in our lives.
Uncle Ezio, with all my heart and all my love I want to wish you a huge HAPPY 100th BIRTHDAY and I look forward to being able to spend more time with you as I’m sure there are still more stories I haven’t heard yet.
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