Obituary of Fr. Lino Santi

SANTI Fr. Lino Rev. Father Lino Santi C.S., Pastor of St. Anthony's R.C. Church in Thunder Bay, Ontario passed away suddenly and unexpectedly in Thunder Bay On Thursday October 8, 2009. Fr. Lino was born in Caldieino, Verona, Italy on May 19, 1933, the son of Giacinto and Angela (Panato). In 1946, he entered the seminary in Bassano del Grappa where he pronounced his first religious profession on Sptember 21st, 1953. He completed his studies at the Mother House of Piacenza where he made his final vows on October 7, 1956, and where he was also ordained to the priesthood, by the laying on of hands by the Cardinal Marcello Mimmi, On May 19, 1959 ( his 26th birthday). Assigned to the province of St. John The Baptist, he spent his first year as a priest by being an Assistant Pastor at the Parish of Holy Guardian Angels in Chicago, Ill. From there, he was sent to Canada, where he served in a variety of missions: as Assistant Pastor in Windsor, ON (St. Angela Merici, 1961-1969), Thunder Bay ON (St. Anthony 1969-1971, 1976-1977, and 1980), and Vancouver BC (Our Lady of Sorrows: 1971-1974). After this, he exercised his ministry as Pastor in the Parishes of Saint Maria Goretti, Edmonton AL (1974-1976), St. Angela Merici, Windsor, ON (1983-1984), St. Peter, Sarnia, ON (1994-1997), and lastly, in the Parish of Saint Anthony in Thunder Bay ON (1997-2009). In 1985., Lino was elected First Councillor and Vicar of the Province of St. John the Baptist. From1976-to 1980 he was granted permission to minister to the Indaians in the Canadian Northwest Territories (NWT), and his priestly activity was very much appreciated by the Diocesan Bishop, and by the local populations whom he served with authentic apostolic zeal and simplicity of life style. This experience of closeness to unspoiled nature, and the hard living conditions strengthened him in his priestly and missionary vocation, marking him with a strong love for the earth, already present in his soul due to a long family tradition of sharecropping first, and fruit growers after. Fr. Lino suffered a heart attack on October 8, 2009 at his residence in Thunder Bay ON. He will be interred this week in the Cemetery at Caldierino, Verona, Italy. A Memorial Mass will take place at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday October 22, 2009 at St. Angela Merici Church (Louis Avenue at Erie St., East) Windsor, Ontario. A very giving man by nature, Fr. Lino would ask that donations would be made to the Scalabrini Charities for the poor. We pray that the Lord will reward Fr. Lino by receiving him into the arms of the Saints. Any online condolences may be sent to www.windsorchapel.com where they will be graciously forwarded to his family in Italy.