CUPLINSKAS, Eugenijus - Died peacefully at the age of 90 at St. Joseph's Health Centre on Monday evening (November 19th), held by his beloved wife and children, after several years of declining health.
He is survived by Judita, his wife of 54 years, and children Darius (Noortje), Vytas (Asta), Indre (Marc) and Rimas (Agnė).
Eugenijus was born in Kaunas, Lithuania, the son of Leonas and Valerija. At an early age, he began studying violin at the Kaunas Music Conservatory, the start of a lifelong love of music.
In 1944 his family fled Lithuania, beginning a refugee journey which brought him to Canada in 1949. He had to choose between pursuing his passion for music and a more more practical profession. Practicality prevailed, and he graduated from the University of Toronto with a Masters degree in Engineering in 1953. While working at the engineering firm H.H.Angus, he met other young engineers who had recently immigrated to Canada, and together they founded their own consulting firm – Okins Leipciger Cuplinskas Kaminker. This was Eugenijus' professional home until his retirement in 1993. He specialized in heating and cooling systems, and during the energy crisis of the 1970s, became one of Canada's leading authorities on passive solar heating design.
Eugenijus was a committed leader in the vibrant Lithuanian diaspora, serving on the first executive of the Lithuanian World Community and as President of the Lithuanian Canadian Community. As the Soviet Union began to crumble in the late 1980s and Lithuania re-emerged as an independent republic, Eugenijus led initiatives to support the fledgling democracy there.
Eugenijus was a quiet, sometimes reserved man, but also persevering, and in 1964 he married a vivacious young dentist named Judita Matulionis, also a refugee from Lithuania. It was a good match, and within a few years they were a family of six. With his children, he shared his passion for music, skiing, astronomy, photography and emerging computing technology. The family spent many summers on meticulously planned camping trips across North America, including an unplanned but memorable night-time encounter with a grizzly bear in Jasper. He became an affectionate grandfather to Nerija, Matas, Sigita, Vėjas, Daiva, Audra and Ugnis. Despite geography – the grandchildren live in Chicago, Edmonton, Berlin, Vilnius and London, England – he developed warm relationships with each of them.
Visitation will be held at Turner & Porter - Butler Chapel, 4933 Dundas Street West, Etobicoke, ON, on
Sunday, November 25th, from 1:45pm to 4pm and from 5pm to 8pm. Funeral Mass will be held at Lithuanian Church of the Resurrection, 1 Resurrection Rd., Toronto, ON, on Monday November 26th, at 11am. Reception to follow service at the church. Interment St. John's Lithuanian Cemetery
2185 Stavebank Road, Mississauga, ON, on Tuesday, Novmeber 27th, from 12pm to 12:30pm.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the St. Francis Oncology Centre in Klaipėda, Lithuania or the Charitable Work of the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception in Lithuania. Cheques can be made out to the Franciscan Fathers, with the charity noted in the memo line.
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