MANCHEE, Peter Frank Charles - Left us quietly on July 6, 2021, a couple of weeks shy of his 71st birthday after two difficult years of declining health.
Eldest son of the late Charmian Vaughan Manchee and Frank Charles Manchee, brother of Patti (deceased 1988), Melanie (Peter Love), Alan (Bev Bradley) and Denny (Eitan Cornfield, Steve Lapp), adoring uncle of Charmian, Colin, Gage, Gaelan and Allison Love, Roslyn and Gillian Manchee, and Charlotte and Joseph Cornfield, great-uncle of Toby, Peter, Annie and Wally, Pete was a man of huge heart, blessed with a sunny disposition.
Just a week ago, 10 days into another hospital stay, he received the news that there was a large mass on his left lung.
His response: "I guess that's why I'm not feeling so chipper."
We had no idea the end would come so swiftly. Pete was saddled with severe health problems from a very early age that cast deep shadows on his life.
But despite these challenges he was the most upbeat, generous and giving person you can imagine. A loyal friend, he was keeper of the Manchee family history, loved country music, old movies and Hawaiian pizza and, from the time he could toddle, had a deep connection with animals.
They got him and he got them – Snowball, Jupiter, Mercury, Morky, Elmo, Smokey, Buffy.
In the last month he got his first cell phone, which opened up a vast new world of communication. He called us multiple times a day from the hospital, giving test updates, enquiring about our own lives, pulling the many narrative threads of family into the small world of his hospital bed.
With his death, the architecture of our family is forever altered. Pete was special, quirky and kind, and taught us many things about what it is to be a family. We will miss his name popping up on our phones, his gentle warmth, cheery hellos and huge bear hugs. We will miss his humanity.
Many thanks to the caring staff at Revera Forest Hill Place, Pete's home for the past five years. He was happy there.
A private family ceremony will take place at a later date.
Donations to the Toronto Humane Society or True North Aid would honour his passions.
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