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Jan 15,2006 - Jan 22,2006 |
13 - The man who created Villa Colombo
Along with the community and its prominent members Anthony Fusco conceived project
By Antonio Maglio
Originally Published: 2002-12-22
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Anthony Fusco
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The man who created Villa Colombo is shy, deeply religious, and a hard worker. This summarizes about one hour of conversation with Anthony Fusco.
He's shy because he says that Villa Colombo (the large seniors' residential complex near Lawrence and Dufferin) is the fruit of an idea of his, all right, but also of the entire Italian community and of Elio Madonia's untiring evangelism (cfr. Tandem, November 7, 1999). He's deeply religious because "a man's success is almost never his own; it is due to the Lord who guided him." And he's a hard worker because, in spite of an intense life and some trouble with his heart, he never lost the "workoholism" he inherited from his father.
It's not by chance, then, that this man has received multiple honours: he's a Knight of Malta, Knight of the Order of St. Gregory the Great, and Knight of the Republic of Italy. "But I only did my duty," he protests, and one can see his is no false modesty.
He claims to be a Sicilian from Termini Imerese, but he was born here, 66 years ago. His father Giuseppe left Sicily in 1908, with the great waves of Italians emigrants looking for jobs all over the world. His father ended up in Canada, and after roaming the country while doing hundreds of jobs he stopped in Toronto, where he opened a grocery store on Danforth Ave.
Business was beginning to thrive and compensate him for his hardships when he was killed by a heart attack; his two sons, Joe (18) and Anthony (13) had to abandon their studies and their ambitions ("My brother Joe wanted to become a doctor") to go behind the counter of the family store, their family's only source of income.
It must have been tough.
"Yes, it was, but the Lord has always been very generous with us, and never forsook us. As for me, I always strove to put into practice my father's legacy."
Which was...?
"He always said: 'Try and leave the world a little better than how you found it.' This motto influenced my whole life."
In spite of Giuseppe Fusco's sudden death, the grocery store flourished, and business was good for Joe and Anthony, who weren't contented with staying behind the counter.
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