Obituary of Salvatore Bernard Lentine

Salvatore Bernard Lentine We announce with great sadness that Salvatore Bernard Lentine died on February 16, 2020. He was 92 years old. Whether you knew him by the name of Toots, Len, Sam, Daddy, or Papa, he was a creative man of many talents. He could fix anything and he liked to cook and recite ballads and sing, in both English and Italian. He was kind and fair and taught us to share everything we had. He loved being outside in the sun, gardening, or people- watching from his veranda. He enjoyed hosting family gatherings. On Victoria Day weekends he used to light fireworks and firecrackers in his backyard with the ever present cigarette in his hand. He stopped smoking as soon as he discovered that second -hand smoke could harm his family. Salvatore is survived by his wife Audrey Margaret Myers Lentine and his daughters Laura Lentine Johnstone (William) and Cathy Lentine. He adored his four grandchildren: Stephen /Stavros Tzagadouris (Becky), Samantha Tzagadouris (Matt Thomas), Daniel Johnstone (Christopher Farrer) and Matthew Johnstone. He was overjoyed to have five great grandchildren: Morgan, Archer and Elliott Tzagadouris, and Sloane and Sawyer Audrey Thomas. He loved them all very much. Daddy taught his little girls that siblings are your first friends and will always be important in your life. He loved his ten sisters and brothers. He is survived by Wilfred Lentine, Beatrice Rheinheimer, Teresa Wardle (John), and his sister-in-law Kay Lentine (Joe). On Audrey’s side of the family he is survived by sisters-in-law Doris Warwick (Don), Thelma Snow (Hank), Jean Hudak and Avis Myers (Raymond). He had many, many nieces and nephews and he maintained special relationships with all of them. Daddy worked for the Federal Government for thirty years, first for the Royal Canadian Navy and then for Canada Post. He retired early at sixty years of age and spent the next thirty two years enjoying family and babysitting his grandchildren. He played in the backyard with Stephen and Samantha in Peterborough and took Daniel and Matthew to the playground at Woodbine Beach. He read books over and over and over again to all of them. As soon as Archer saw him he would grab a book and sit in his Papa’s lap. Daddy loved a good cup of tea and had one beside him constantly. He was very proud of his wife Audrey’s skill in the kitchen and brought his father and brothers home every Saturday night for dinner after a day of betting on horses at Woodbine Racetrack. He loved watching the horses and did not bet on anything else. Daddy always had dogs and cats and birds in his life and rescued several injured birds in his backyard. We had Walter Pigeon for years. He continued to fly outside but would always return home. When she was shown the photo that accompanies this obituary, of her Papa in 1954 in his Navy uniform, Sloane Thomas asked her mother Samantha why this man was alone in the photo. She then said that this man is not alone now. ”He is with a lot of people. He wants to read me a story book.” We are all inspired by this vision. Sam Lentine, or Toots or Len – our husband, father, grandfather, brother, and uncle – is in heaven in his young movie star body. He is with his family. We are sad for us because we miss him but we are not sad for him. We know he is happy. We know he is not alone. We rejoice that we will see him again. There will be no service. We plan to celebrate his life in the summer, outside in the sun that he loved.