Charles Annis

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Charles slipped peacefully away at home, leaving his loving wife of 71 years Helen (nee Chantrey) and children Tom (Lynne), David (Patricia), Robert (Teri) and Mary (Bruce). Charles was predeceased by sons Andrew and Gerald but celebrating his quick-witted longevity are grandchildren Adam, Julia, Lauren, Erin, Andrew, Daniel, Jeremy, Michael, Jennifer and John. He also leaves great-grandchildren Jayden, Madison and Araya.

Charles dropped out of Grade 9 to work. After wooing Helen at her home in Thistletown near the Humber River the young couple married a mere four years after he had left school. He eventually earned a business degree while Helen tried to hush six children while he studied. (How did he do that?)

Charles, Chuck, Chas, Charlie Potatoes -- that last one comes from Tony Curtiis's character in 1958's The Defiant Ones, an escaped convict who dreams of being successful and admired. When we saw that movie all those years ago, the name instantly rang a bell.

A mentor to a generation or two of young printers, a faithful church usher, a volunteer at St. Francis Table in Parkdale along with Helen, an avid lawn bowler at their first retirement stop in Lindsay, Ontario, a keen poker player when his teenage children's friends visited, a strict but, um, we guess, fair disciplinarian, Charles is also remembered as the quiet man on the couch, deep into a book, but blessed with comic timing when he felt a joke or jab was needed.

Many thanks to the staff at Del Manor in Etobicoke for their care for Charles, especially during these pandemic years. That retirement home is also on the Humber River, a ways downstream from where the romance began more than seven decades before. After his kidneys finally failed and he declined dialysis, Charles, with much help from that staff, managed to last more than nine months. (How did he do that?)
Charlie Potatoes to the end.

In lieu of flowers, please support St. Francis Table at www.capuchinoutreach.org

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