Karina Villar Sanabria

June 22, 1975 - April 20, 2025

Karina Mirella Villar Sanabria, a perfectly pretty and petite Peruvian princess, passed away quietly in her home on April 20, 2025, accompanied to the hereafter by the sound of her children playing.

Despite knowing virtually no one living in Canada, Karina immigrated to Canada in 2008. A year later she stole a so-so young man’s heart, refusing to give it back. He didn’t object and the two were married in 2010. She loved her job in human resources, which she saw as a very tangible way of helping and serving people, of looking out for others and caring for them. She had a special fondness for young colleagues and loved mentoring them, being recognized with an award for leadership from the University of Toronto. Her diligence in her work was a daily prayer, and a way for her to show her love for others.

Her greatest love, however, was for her friends and family. In 2018 her family expanded in a special way to include her two children, Michael and Kayla, whom she loved dearly. She found in the Holy Family of Nazareth a model of the home she sought to build.

In 2022 Karina was diagnosed with cancer. She fought to the end and won — just not in the way expected. She never gave in to despair, never gave in to hopelessness, and never lost her compassion or love for others. Even at the last she reminded everyone how blessed she had been by God, how thankful she was for everything, and to always remember to praise Him. In the end, she won... we just happened to lose her in the process.

Karina is survived by her husband – her knight in business casual – Nathan, their two children, Michael and Kayla, her parents, Jose and Alejandra Villar, and her brother Marco and his family.

We ask that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre or Holy Family Parish in Whitby in her honour.

Visitation:
Monday, April 28, 2025, from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Barnes Memorial Funeral Home
5295 Thickson Rd. N., Whitby, ON L1M 1W9

Funeral Mass:
Tuesday, April 29, 2025, at 10:30 a.m.
Holy Family Catholic Church
91 Ribblesdale Dr., Whitby, ON

Interment:
Resurrection Catholic Cemetery
355 Taunton Rd. E., Whitby, ON

Memories and notes of condolence may be shared at Barnes Memorial Funeral Home.