OBITUARY
Katalin (nee Talas) Avatis
December 1, 1930 – January 6, 2019
Passed away peacefully in her 89th year after a rich and fulfilling life, with her husband Bill and son Andrew by her side.
She was a caring, thoughtful and self- assured mother, wife, and pharmacist.
Born in Tiszakurt, Hungary, the eldest of four siblings, to a Calvinist pastor father, and to a loving mother, both of whom died in Katie’s youth. Soon after graduating as a pharmacist, Katie fled the 1956 revolution and made her way to England, where she met her husband and life-long partner to be, William (Bill) Avatis, at the London School of Pharmacy. She re-qualified as a pharmacist there, requiring no less than learning the basics of the English language. Katie remained in London while Bill trained in Canada for the Charles E Frosst company in Beirut. Upon his return to London 1 year later, Bill proposed to Katie and she followed him several months later to Lebanon. However, Katie’s discomfort with the unrest convinced her and Bill to uproot again and emigrate to welcoming Canada. Attempts to wed being denied by senseless bureaucrats in Lebanon and Switzerland, …Katie and Bill were finally married on the 1st of August 1963 in London, en route to Montreal, while managing to bring along Bill’s parents from Egypt.
Katie worked at the University of Montreal with stress-pioneer Dr. Janos Selye where she met Vali Feherdy, whose husband, Ivan, coincidentally was a classmate of Katie’s from Cegled. In 1966, she gave birth to Andrew and the family lived in a Hungarian -filled apartment on Sherbrooke Street where the scent of paprika chicken permeated in the corridors, and bridge was played into the wee hours of the morning with fellow ex-patriots.
The family moved to Dollard des Ormeaux, to quite possibly the most difficult street for a Hungarian tongue to pronounce: Blythwood! She readily admitted to massacring the word but the charm of her pronunciation was undeniable. The transition for this late-night coffee- drinking urbanite to the suburbs enabled new friendships. Katie met dear friend Addie Ciebien while working at the Apothecary Pharmacy in Fairview Village. In a conflict of interest when Bill opened his pharmacy (The Pharmacy) in Kirkland, Katie moved to the Lakeshore General Hospital. Never known as a morning person, she did not particularly enjoy being woken up by Bill’s 24 -hour emergency prescription service, which provided the family’s home phone number for those in need.
In this period, Katie cemented her deepest friendship with Elma (nee Gray), wife of George Howitt, whom Bill had met years before while working for Frosst. Elma was Katie’s soul-sister, confidant, English mentor, and scrabble partner.
A very special bond formed between Katie, Elma, Bill and George. They became not only very close friends but also successful business partners with South West One Pharmacy and Medequip. The two couples moved close to each other again in Beaconsfield, where many evenings of lively conversation, scrabble, scotch and tea were had. There, another close friendship was made with Marge and Malcolm Niven.
Katie developed a passion for travelling, for pleasure, starting with her cruise to Alaska with her mother-in-law Victoria and continuing with her world cruises, safaris and an Antarctica expedition with Bill.
Her final years were spent in her waterfront condo in Laval, the view from which gave her pleasure as reduced mobility set in. There, she enjoyed the presence and appreciated the kindness of her brother in-law, Raymond and his love, Lucile Racicot. She was very successful at online bridge during this period and developed competency with computer usage. She enjoyed visits from grandchildren Gabriel (7) and Oliver (4) when dominos, shuffle board, book reading, chicken soup and the swimming pool took precedence over iPad time!
In typical Katie fashion, her final days were self -planned following her advanced directives. Many thanks to all her doctors who contributed to her care, and special gratitude to Mrs. Dee Davidson and Mrs. Carmen Pascu who assisted Katie greatly in her final months. A memorial service will be planned in the spring.
She will dearly be missed by all that knew her, and while the grief is acute now, we are all relieved her suffering is over and she has taken her place amongst the stars with her mother Maria, sister Vera, Elma and Marion, mother in-law Victoria, and sister-in-law Lili. It is only natural that their souls are now together, and we know that someday we will all be together again. Rest well Katie, we love you.
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Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Katalin nee Talas Avatis 2019..
Résidences funéraires Collins Clarke MacGillivray White Funeral Homes
Death notice for the town of: pointeclaire, Province: Quebec