Obituary of William Debattista

DEBATTISTA: William passed away at the Assiniboine Centre in Brandon, Manitoba on Saturday, November 8, 2014 with family at his side. William was born November 21, 1915 in Tarxen, Malta. He was indentured at age 16 to apprentice in the occupation of Engine Fitter and fulfilled his contract six years later. In 1940, he married Ida Tonna and had two daughters and a son. William immigrated to Canada in 1948 to take up employment with the Canadian General Electric. He and his family settled in Peterborough, Ontario where he and Ida had two more daughters. He continued working for the CGE until his retirement in 1978. Shortly after his retirement, he moved to his cottage near Bancroft, Ontario where he spent many years rebuilding his new home and enjoyed family, friends and fishing. When he sold his cottage, he lived for a brief period of time in Ottawa with his grandson, Shawn, before moving to Brandon in 1996 to spend the last 18 years of his life with daughter Christine and her family. He watched his granddaughters Stephanie and Rachel grow up to have families of their own and always had smiles for his great-grandchildren, especially when they raced to get "Papa Bill" for supper. William was pre-deceased by his wife Ida, son-in-law Tom Markwick and grandson Nicky Truttman. He is survived by daughter Mary and husband Ted Buehler, daughter Doris Markwick, son Reny and wife Jo-Anne Debattista, daughter Joyce Truttman and Malcolm McCallum, and daughter Christine and husband Rick Sharpe. Also surviving are 11 grandchildren: Louise, Frank, Jeremy, Kathy, Shawn, Brenda, Jennifer, Laurie, Teri, Stephanie, and Rachel as well as 17 great-grandchildren: Rebecca, Mark, Laura, Shelby, Benjamin, Lindsay, Emma, Victoria, Emily Leeann, Nicholas, Bostyn, Anglin, Emily Jade, Lily, Sadie, Zoey, and Bentley. A private graveside service for family will be held at the Brandon Cemetery on Thursday, November 13, 2014. Donations in memory of William may be made to a charity of choice.