Antonio Benincasa

Antonio Benincasa was born on January 2, 1915 in Paterno, a small town in the south of Italy in the province of Cosenza. He was one of nine children from Michele and Rosaria Benincasa (nee Cipolla). Antonio grew up working on the family farm; taking the excess produce to the nearby towns to sell them at market. He met his wife-to-be, Maria Teresa Muto when he was a young man, and always had a very deep love for her. He cared for his wife in her later years when she suffered from dementia, and he wore his wedding ring even after she had passed, for the rest of his days.
During World War II, Antonio served multiple tours that brought him to Greece and Germany over several years. He told many stories of his experiences. He would tell how he kept his packs of cigarettes that were part of his rations, and trade them for food; about his days in Greece and how beautiful the land and the people were; of the sounds the airplanes made during bombing raids, and so many more.
A few years after the war, Antonio began making plans to bring his family to Canada, which he did in 1954. He, along with his wife and two children (Michele and Rosetta) lived with extended family members in the early years, and eventually were able to save up enough money to buy their first home at 532 Brunswick Avenue in The Annex, Toronto. Antonio often told stories of how the various families would visit each others’ homes on a weekly basis, and with nothing more than an unfinished basement, an old record player and accordion, would sing and dance into the early hours of the morning.
In 1972, Antonio and his family moved to 38 Dombey Road, in North York. During the coming years he would watch his four grandchildren (Tony, Mary, Gene, and Marco) grow and he played a big part in shaping their characters, always leading by example. He cultivated his love for gardening by keeping a large section of the backyard dedicated to vegetables, and even had a couple of fig trees that he would bury each fall to keep them from dying over the winter.
Antonio Benincasa was a man that was there when he was needed. He would go from home to home with some of his brothers and brother-in-laws and help build a deck here, put up a fence there, and so on. He was never idle. It wasn’t just his body that he put to use, but also his mind. He was a firm believer in bettering oneself through learning and experience. He often repeated the phrase “No one is born knowing everything”, and he always encouraged using the mind to solve the next challenge that was in front of him.
On February 26, 2020, at the incredible age of 105, Antonio passed away in his sleep at home. He left this world as he had lived in it: peacefully and close to his family.
He is survived by his son Michele Benincasa, and his grandchildren Tony Benincasa, Mary Bongiardino, Gene Guzzo, and Marco Guzzo.