Artur RODRIGUES

RODRIGUES, Artur

Born in Lisbon, May 4, 1928 and
passed away in Toronto on June 19,
2015. Loving husband to Manuela
(predeceased), father to Fernando
and Ann, grandfather to Kristy and
Casey and father-in- law to Elisabete
He was generous both to family and
friends and will be deeply missed. In
Lisbon, he was employed by
Fonsecas Burnay Bank, and played
soccer with several teams, including
Benfica as a goalkeeper. He
immigrated to Canada in 1958 and
soon his wife, son and mother
followed. His first month here came
as a rude awakening, and the only
employment he found was as a
painter at $.90/hr. 'He was one of
the few people I met, who can call
you 'my friend' within an hour of
meeting you and mean it' (Stan
McAlister). He dedicated most of his
life to the Portuguese Community
where he was one of the founders
and later became the President of
the F.P. C. C. He coached the F.P. C. C
Soccer Team and later Toronto
Croatia to a championship in the
N.S.L. He went on to coach the
Toronto Metros of the N.A.S.L where
he took the team to a Division Title
in his first year as coach. He had
many offers to coach teams in North
America and Portugal; he was
selected as the Provincial Senior
Coach of the O.S.A. where he
discovered Canadian talent, but
never left his position at the Clarke
Institute of Psychiatry and retired
after 26 years. He loved life and did it
'his way' and will be deeply missed
by his family and friends. A funeral
service will take place at YORK
VISITATION CENTRE (160 Beecroft
Rd., 416-221-3404) on Saturday,
June 27, 2015 with visitation from 12
p.m. until time of service in the
Chapel at 2 p.m. Interment to follow.