Timo Venalainen passed away on December 1, 2024 at the age of  77. 

Timo worked at CSA for 37 years. He joined as a Certification Engineer after graduating from U of T. He became the Senior Engineer of the Audio/Video group in the 1980’s while the team was still at the Taber Road location.  He was promoted to Technical Manager, Electronics in 2003.  Although rather quiet, Timo excelled in providing technical training to the team. 

Timo was an active tennis player and organized the CSA Tournament several times.  He was a proficient skier and always attended the CSA ski trips.  Timo was active in his retirement attending many retiree events.

Timo is survived by his wife Lorna and sons Marty and Jonathan, who works at CSA.

The visitation will occur on Wednesday, December 4^th from 2-4pm and 6-8pm at Ward Funeral Home at 2035 Weston Road, Toronto, with the funeral service (also at Ward) on December 5^th at 10:30am (Toronto time). Lunch will follow the service. The service will be livestreamed.

For more information and to leave your message of condolence to Timo’s family, please visit: https://www.wardfuneralhomes.com/obituaries/timo-venalainen

We’re sad to announce the passing of Bob Nelson from Standards Division at the age of 78. His obituary with information on visitation and funeral can be found at Bob’s Obituary page.

John Howarth passed away on August 17, 2024. John was a part of Corporate IT for over 20 years, spending many years at the Spectrum Way office. He held several roles in IT and would be recognized by many from his days doing desk-top support.

John didn’t get a chance to retire, leaving us way before his time. Information on Visitation – Thursday August 22 and Funeral – Friday August 23 is on on John’s Memorial page where you can also leave messages of condolence for his family.

Andrew Preisz passed away on May 13, 2024. Andrew was a member of the Inspections team joining CSA in the mid-’80s.

Marjorie passed away on November 13. 2023 in her 89th year. Marjorie retired many years ago, but you may remember when she was responsible for Purchasing, with her office on the main floor near the windows on Rexdale Blvd. She wasn’t far from the Accounting department, where her husband John, who passed in 2006, was working. 

Please visit Marjorie’s Obituary and Tribute Wall to leave a message for her family.

Update (thanks to Dave Z.): For those interested, there will be a memorial service for Marjorie on Wednesday, March 27 at St. James Anglican Church in Caledon East, ON at 11:30am followed by a light lunch. If anyone is interested in attending in person or virtually, contact Jennie Buckler at jennie.buckler1@gmail.com.

Pat Paladino passed away on October 7, 2023 at the age of 70. Pat was a P.Eng who first joined CSA as a student in 1976, then held many positions as he moved through the organization. He was a job holder, a director and a vice-president in both Certification and Standards Development. He worked at Rexdale, but also spent some time in the Moncton office. He even played Santa at the Children’s Christmas party. Pat left CSA in 1999, but continued his career in conformity assessment later joining SCC.

Pat’s visitation on Oct 11th and his funeral on Oct 12th will be held in Niagara Falls. Visit Pat’s obituary page for details, to see pictures posted by family, and to leave your message of condolence on his memory wall.

Noel Harriott passed away in on August 27, 2023 in his 84th year. He retired some years ago and had worked in the Wire & Cable group. A Service of Remembrance is planned for Saturday, September 9, 2023 at 10 am at Highland Funeral Home, Scarborough, located at 3280 Sheppard Ave E, Scarborough, ON. Please view Noel’s obituary and sign the guestbook with your condolences for his family.

Note: this post replaces a the previous post of September 2.

Frank Cutler passed away on August 6th in hospital after complications from surgery.  He was a Lighting Group test specialist/certifier in the CSA Cleveland office, and a CSA Retiree.  Frank worked closely with many of the CSA Toronto Lighting Group staff and will be sadly missed.  There are no further details at this time.

His wife, Lila, specifically wanted to thank Frank’s many colleagues in Canada for all the years of friendship they had given him. 

This post has been updated with new and corrected information.

The flags at 178 Rexdale Blvd. are flying at half-mast today (July 11th) in respect and condolence on the sudden passing of Kelly Yaremko (nee Ewing) on July 11, 2023.

Kelly had worked at CSA for the past 27 years in various roles in C&T as well most recently as a Standards Administrative Assistant. Kelly was president of the EMBA and secretary for CUPE 967. Those of us who attended the Canada Day BBQ a couple of weeks ago shared greetings, hugs and ice cream with Kelly. Her smile and enthusiasm will be missed by all. Kelly was not yet 60 and her passing comes as a shock to us all.

An obituary with funeral details for Kelly has been posted at the Ward Funeral Home website. Visitation is on Wednesday July 19th from 2-8 at Ward – Weston Rd. Her funeral is on Thursday the 20th at 1pm in the Ward Chapel.

Lynda Payne nee Maralee Lynda Irvine, passed away on July 11, 2023. Lynda worked in C&T, Corporate IT (or IRG as it was known then) and in the Executive Office for 20 years before retiring in 2004.

In the office, Lynda could often be found, glasses off proofreading documents, but in her free time, she’d be out playing softball. Lynda often attended the EMBA golf tournament and could cut a rug on the dance floor at the Christmas dance. Lynda was deeply proud of her six children and many grandchildren. She was a great-grandma too! Sadly Lynda’s husband Jack passed away before they could enjoy retirement together.

Visitation is at the Newediuk Funeral Home – Kipling Chapel on Kipling, North of Rexdale Blvd., on Monday July 17th from 7pm-9pm. Her funeral will he held at St. Benedict’s Church on Rexdale Blvd on Tuesday July 18th at 11am.

Please visit Lynda’s obituary and memorial page to leave your message of condolence.