Romana Noemi Chiuchiolo

Family and friends will be received at the Ward Funeral Home [Weston Chapel], 2035 Weston Road, Toronto, on Thursday, May 9^th, from 3-8 p.m.  

A light reception with food and refreshments will be held throughout the Visitation. 

Romana Chiuchiolo
 
We announce with great sadness the passing of Romana Chiuchiolo, April 29^th, 2024, at Etobicoke General Hospital, following a fall a week earlier that caused a traumatic head injury.  She received extraordinary care at both Trillium Mississauga [Neuro ICU] and Etobicoke General.  Romana was fiercely independent till to the very end dealing with all of life’s challenges with minimal support. She is now in the arms of her beloved husband and soulmate Joseph who was called 8 years ago.   Romana enjoyed her life, travel, wonderful food, socializing, and cultivated an incredible number of friendships, indistinguishable from family, along her mostly cheerful 93-year journey.

Predeceased by her parents Laudemia “Demia” and Erisini “Coccheri”, and her sisters Corisca [Salvatore Miloro] and Ottorina, niece-in-law “Mima”, and Florinda Salvagna.  Romana will be missed by her nephew John Salvagna [Annie Zhu], John Guadagnini, the Santangelo and Iammatteo clans; Rosina [Tony] Grosso and family, Michelle Tran [Vincent, Lucas, Vivan] - Switzerland, and as well many of her many cousins and families from Tuscany.  Florence: Alberto Civolani [Asiana], Corso, Sara, Brando; Renato [Gabriella].   Lucca: Pierluigi Morbini [Claudia], Matteo, Tommaso; Massimo Morbini, Gaia; Fabio Civolani, Alessandro; Carla [from Porcellino], Liuba [from Montevardri], Angelo Miloro [from Sicily].

Romana (and Joe) never lost their connection to family and family in Italy as they both travelled back every year.  During their retirement years they extended their time in Italy enjoying their home in Florence and visiting friends and family enjoying Tuscany and the beaches of Rimini and Puglia.  

Continued friendships to this day with many include Mario [Anna (deceased)] from Florence, and Carla [Renzo (deceased)], Veronica [Piero], Lorenzo, Francesco; Monica [Luigi], Federico from Reggello. Locally, they also maintained lifelong friendships with wonderful people such as Hannelore [Hans], Sabina, and family, as well as the Santarossa clan, Tia, Lou, Liana [Romana’s goddaughter], Marco and their families.

Romana was born in Cavriglia [Arezzo], Tuscany, November 23^rd, 1931.  She always had a passion for fashion and food that continued after emigrating to Canada.   Her sister Corisca exposed Romana to the glamorous fashion industry while working for Prada in Florence during the 1950’s; and Ottorina provided her the foundation and skills to appreciate wonderful Tuscan cuisine as she remained in their birth town also known as the gateway to the Chianti region.  Romana was offered the opportunity to emigrate to Canada in 1956 as a nanny to the family of an Olivetti executive that was being relocated to Toronto. Early in her life she must have realized that an Angel was watching over her … she and the family were scheduled to travel across the Atlantic aboard the “SS Andrea Doria” but because of delays within the very efficient Italian bureaucracy Romana’s passport was not ready on time.  Due to this delay Romana and the entire family rebooked on another ship later in the year and missed boarding that ill-fated voyage. After a couple of years supporting the Olivetti family, she decided not to follow them on another company transfer to the United States.  

Romana was determined to reinvent herself and wanted a new career and to establish roots in Toronto.   An opportunity quickly presented itself and after a stressful week preparing, she successfully passed the required English language and aptitude test before being hired to join the CIBC … and she never left until her retirement about 40 years later.  Long customer lines would form at her bank window as she was a charming conversationalist.  At one of the bank branches, she experienced two bank robbery attempts … during the first one she refused to turn over any money … the wannabe thief faced with this unexpected rejection quickly high tailed it out of the bank empty handed … same Angel looking out over her again.   During the second bank robbery attempt the robber handed her a note and Romana decided to quickly comply and handed over the money … once again same Angel.  But more importantly, it was also at the bank where she met her Joseph … simply a result of her convincing him to open an account at her branch … on that day in July 1966 … RBC lost a customer and Romana gained a husband and the rest is history ... they were happily married for almost 50 years. 

Romana lived at her Dixon condominium for over 50 years, high up on the 27^th floor overlooking the Toronto skyline which always provided an impressive vista for the many relatives she loved hosting when they visited from Italy.  It was also during this time she created wonderful friends that became her extended family, too many to mention.  But especially after Joseph’s death, very close friends like Gabriella [Renato], Babu [Mala], Bea [Mark] and their families stepped up by checking in on her providing amazing support and companionship. Romana always created reasons to have lunch with friends like Linda, Madeleine and to go on critically important shopping runs to Italian shops with Filomena to stockpile espresso, cookies, and panettone.   

As a young widow at the age of 85, Romana was determined to be self-sufficient now that Joseph was no longer here to support her. She loved to cook and entertain whenever possible and truly looked forward to her beloved Sunday lunches with family and friends.  Her independent spirit and the keys to her Hyundai provided her with the freedom to make her unexpected social calls and to complete her weekly shopping runs to No Frills; Grande Cheese; Shoppers Drug Mart [on Thursdays], Medical appointments, and yes, Petro Canada (exclusively).  We also witnessed her transformation embracing new technology [to her], learning computer skills to craft emails, update her Facebook account postings, and to source the many cooking and music videos on YouTube.  What followed was her request for a Smart Phone … she quickly learned taking pictures, making video calls on WhatsApp and posting (accidently) on Instagram. Admittedly there were some steep learning curves, but she conquered those challenges and reaped the benefits being able to use this newfound technology to keep closer connections to family and friends.  Romana would spend countless hours in her den in front of her computer becoming a passionate fan (groupie) to musical talents like Yanni, Il Volo and most recently Dimash.  She was truly amazing, adapted and pushed through any obstacle that was placed in front of her … she will truly be missed as she was a remarkable person that was always generous with her time and an absolute joy to be in her presence. I know she is happy to be back with Joseph.

Family and friends will be received at the Ward Funeral Home [Weston Chapel], 2035 Weston Road, Toronto, on Thursday, May 9^th, from 3-8 p.m. 

A private cremation will be held at the Riverside Crematorium.