Sydney Young
Sydney Young
Sydney Young
Sydney Young
Sydney Young
Sydney Young

Obituary of Sydney Granville Young

 Words of Remembrance

 

What a long and adventurous life this guy has lived. Born to Wong Ah Young and Winifred Sandilands on April 14, 1922 in Lucea, Hanover, Jamaica, he lived for nearly 99  years as he passed away on Tuesday, February 16, 2021 at the Toronto Western Hospital.

 

Sydney was the fourth child of 14  children, namely:  Berthebel, Leon, Daphne, Amy, Madge, Ronald, Rita, Astley, Gladstone, Norma, Barbara, Clive and Emerson.  He developed into being the “star boy” in Lucea from his youth to his senior years.  He spent 47  years in Jamaica, resided in New York City for 4  years and then relocated to Toronto, Canada, which he dearly cherished as his home.

 

He  was flamboyant, sociable, well mannered, and yet hot-tempered.  He  enjoyed  playing cricket,  ping  pong,  billiards, dominoes, card games and attending horse racing. He was always searching for  “sessions” due to his love of music and dancing. He applied his acquired baking skills to help  establish  the  bakery  section  of  the  family  business.  He  moved  to Kingston  in  1959 and  worked there for a few years before returning to Lucea to become a shopkeeper and bar operator.

 

Sydney  was  the  elusive  bachelor  until  he  married  Evadney  Leonie  Stewart  in  1965 with whom  he  had  two  daughters:  Claudette  and  Christine.  He  also  fathered  seven  other children,  namely:  Canute  (predeceased),  Cecile  (predeceased), Sandra, Michele, Ingrid, Dwayne and Joseph.

 

He migrated to New York City in 1969 and assisted Barrington and Sybil Evans in establishing their  bakery  business. Then  in  1973, Lionel  (Lallal)  Hugh  Williams  and  his  wife  Joyce encouraged  him  to  visit  Toronto,  where  he  felt  at  home  after  meeting  many  Jamaican friends.  He grasped the opportunity to  reside permanently in Canada when an amnesty was offered to undocumented immigrants. He became an official resident in the late 1970s, worked as a taxi driver and eventually became a Canadian citizen.

 

For the next 35  years, his indefatigable spirit for living never waned as he traveled to New York  City  and Jamaica to visit  his  siblings  for  weddings,  funerals,  family  gatherings  and Rusea’s Old Students Association (ROSA) events. He never lost touch with his siblings as he accompanied them on ship cruises to other Caribbean Islands, Mexico and Alaska.   

 

Sydney became ill in 2015 and could no longer live on his own. He had to be removed from his Keele Street residence  where he had lived for over 40  years and was now in need of assisted care. After being shuttled around from one short stay unregulated group house to another for two  years, his youngest sister Barbara Maxwell found him through their family friend Clive Marzouca. She rescued  him from a bad situation and with the assistance of their nephew, Trevor Moo,  became his joint legal guardians by powers of attorney. Trevor  did  an unparalleled  job  in  administering to his care by ensuring Sydney got placed in a registered long-term nursing home and that he received the appropriate medical and dental care available.

 

Vermont Square  Long Term Care Home was chosen after consultation with the authorities. Sydney was  at home at this facility that provided him with suitable accommodation and a comfortable  environment for the last four years of his life. His health deteriorated in 2020 as he was shuttled between hospitals and Nursing Home due to his increasing  frail condition that required acute medical care. Added to this, the presence of the  COVID-19 pandemic restricted personal social interactions that  he had thrived  on  all  his  life.  Despite  having weekly virtual family visits, he increasingly appeared interactively distant and to have almost given up, falling short of the century of living he so long desired.

 

Sydney leaves behind  six surviving  siblings,  seven children,  grandchildren,  great- grandchildren,  numerous  nephews  and nieces as well as a wide circle of  friends who  all have fond memories of him. He will be sadly missed and may his soul rest in everlasting peace.

 

 

Uniquely entrusted to eco Cremation & Burial Services Inc.

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