Cheers Tony

My father inlaw, Tony Iwanow passed away last week after a fabulous 81 year adventure. You couldn't have asked for a better husband, father, grandffather or friend.

At the memorial service I was thinking that he was probably up there looking down on us feeling thankful for all of the family and friends that had gathered to celebrate his life, but more importantly I thought he was probably looking down at the casket and thinking..... What a waste of money. He probably had some old used plywood, rusty hinges and handles in his back yard that he could have made a perfectly good box with. He was a master of collecting and recycling.

I'm gonna miss him alot.

I'm gonna miss the family get togethers where I'd have a few beers with him and he'd tell me the same stories about the old days over and over again, totally oblivious to the fact that I could mouth the words along with him cause he had told me the stories so many times.

I'm gonna miss his incredible sense of fashion. He had a real flair for mixing and matching pieces of wardrobe. He would wear a grease stained baseball hat with an old frayed leisure suit, a loud shirt with a mismatching tie, running shoes and he'd top it all off by slinging his wife Lidia's purse over his shoulder. He had his own SPECIAL style.

I'm gonna miss his values. Tony didn't care about stuff, he cared about people and I learned alot from him about that.

I think the greatest gift you can give is the gift of life and I'd like to thank Tony and Lidia for two of the greatest gifts I have received in my life, my wife Vera and her brother (my best friend) Al.

Tony would want us to know that he is at peace and in a good place.

To Tony I would like to say, it's an honour to be your son inlaw, I love you and I miss you.

CHEERS