Mr. Norman William La Rose

On the morning of July 8, 2015, Norman William La Rose, age 63, fondly known as Captain Groovy or ACC to many of his friends, departed this earth to the beat of a different drummer following a courageous battle against gastric cancer, with his loving soul mate of 22 years, Zita, by his side in their home. Born in Etobicoke, Ontario, Norman was predeceased by his parents, Tom and Helen, and is survived by sisters Theresa, Bonnie-Lee and brothers, Tommy, Vincent and Bernie. Instantly reconizable by his long salt and pepper hair, beard, kind eyes, crooked smile, expressive hand gestures and dressed in frayed jeans, bright shirts and his notable red sneakers, Norm reminded eveyone of decades past. He was a gifted musician, drummer,keyboard and synthesizer player. If you listen very carefully, you might even hear him blithely lost in an everlasting jam session be it jazz, fusion, blues, classical or rock and roll. Music was his passion and heaven sounds a little richer now. Norman was such a multifaceted man-a camera technician, photographer, a voracious reader(favourite author Noam Chomsky), activist, lover of Warcraft & Titan Quest, a writer/philosopher, a mechanical genius and forever curious tinkerer, studied in geology, physics and mathematics, a staunch defender of the downtrodden, poor and less fortunate, especially women and children, who bore the brunt of social, economic and political ineptitudes & injustices, an ecological warrior wanting to save our beautiful planet, an amazing cook with a connoisseur's palate for anything organic, an avid lover of all things comedic (Monty Phython, Marx Bros, Johnny Carson, Mel Brooks), dabbled in fishing and golfing, owner of a green thumb and awed by Mother Nature's amazing gift of flowers, lover of dogs, birds and wolves, just to name a few of his multidimensional interests. Most of all, Norman empathized, sympathized, listened, engaged and entertained people in conversation or debate, connecting on a very personal level with most everyone he met in his own special way, always with laughter, wit, wisdom and his penchant for the positive. Zita extends her heartfelt thanks for their caring support to the team at Trillium Health -QHC - CCAC Mississauga-Saint Elizabeth nurses extraordinaire Dulce, Neesu, Jennifer and Rasheed, PSW Pat and others, The Dorothy Ley Hospice, The Hart House. My sincerest gratitude goes to my condo neighbours, Kerry Price who kept Norm smiling & laughing, fed with magical pea soup and challenged with hours of Scrabble and mind boggling conversations, Mark Rines, our super whose musical antidotes, jokes and company put rays of sunshine on Norm's face, Kerry's wife Mira who expertly and compassionately guided Norm through a maze of documents, Mark's wife Michelle and daughter Cassidy who donated her keyboard for Norm to play and set him up on his tablet. To my dear friends Lynn Craibbe, who unerringly drove me everywhere to get anything needed and Anne-Marie Yaraskavitch, who provided both Norm and I with guidance, words of comfort and council on this final journey. At Norman's request there is no visitation or service. Cremation has taken place. A celebration of Norm's life is being planned, details yet unknown. For friends who wish to attend, contact zitanorm@gmail.com. Instead of flowers, Norm would hope that you will do an unexpected act of kindness for some less fortunate soul or donations to the charity of your choice.