DUNETS, Stephen Roman - Stephen Dunets, at Lakeridge Health Oshawa on April 27, 2022, at the age of 68.
Devoted husband of 33 years to Cathy Garside.
Loving father of Siobhan, Rhiannon, and the late Nicholas Dunets.
Protective and supportive brother of Anna Dunets-Wills and friend to her husband, Michael Wills.
Also companion and willing “patsy” to his beloved cat, Shadow.
Steve was born in Toronto in 1953, the first child to Welsh immigrant Olwen Dunets (née Stephen) and Ukrainian immigrant George Dunets.
He was born on July 1st, and it was always a point of pride for his mother to have had her first Canadian baby on “Canada Day”.
Growing up, Steve absorbed all that school had to offer with little effort and was constantly teaching himself more through reading.
He benefited by having parents who had lived through some of recent history’s more momentous times and who were grounded in their national history.
This led to some deep political discussions around the table. Steve was a renaissance man in the days when this was not always a desired trait.
In the pre-Google era, his sister had only to turn to him to get the answer to any question.
He saw the humour in every situation and if there really were none there, looked for any absurdity in the human or physical world. He was lucky to find a like-minded friend in kindergarten - Gary Homans (Diane).
The two walked to school every day for the next 13 years and remained best friends for life.
He was also lucky to find a soulmate in Cathy, and together they did the hard work of raising three children and building a life together.
Having been introduced to traveling at a young age, Steve journeyed to Asia, Europe, South America and Africa before “settling down”.
After working at various companies, he spent the majority of his career with the City of Toronto as Senior Systems Integrator for Children Services’ IT Department.
Outside of work, he was an avid reader, history buff, and sci-fi appreciator.
With his children, he enjoyed nature walks, long drives to nowhere, and going to the movies.
He was constantly sending them articles on the latest odd animal discovery or texting them updates on their “furry sister”, Shadow.
In recent years, he and Cathy had taken to traveling Europe together again; as a lover of desserts, he was particularly fond of France.
He is remembered by friends and family for his supportive nature, kindness, and surprising sense of humour. Stephen was a parishioner of Dewi Sant Welsh United Church from birth.
Dewi Sant was a big part of his childhood, where he met Cathy, and where they eventually married.
His memorial service will, therefore, be held at Dewi Sant Welsh United Church (33 Melrose Avenue, Toronto) on May 14th at 11:00 a.m. The church is requesting that all attendees wear masks.
The service will be live-streamed as well on ZOOM; anyone who wishes to join should contact the church office at
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Myeloma Canada, Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation, or Doctors Without Borders.
Online condolences may be shared at makfuneralhome.com .
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