Grenada-born centenarian dies in Stouffville at 102

Michael Alvan Antoine of Stouffville,Ontario  who was a teacher in his native Grenada and in Trinidad  and a well known  parang aficionado,  died at hospital on February 13 last,  one week after he was diagnosed with colon cancer. He was 102.

Antoine  who was born in the town of Beaulieu in  Grenada, went to Trinidad when he was 26 years old and took up a position there with the Port Authority. While in Trinidad where he met his wife, Marjorie, he also ran a private school.

After he  retired from the Port Authority as shed manager, he came to Canada in 1974 and worked for many years with the Canadian National Railway at Union Station in Toronto.

Antoine was described in an eulogy as  a “a renaissance gentleman with many accomplishments.”

Rupert Johnson, a  close friend of Antoine who delivered the eulogy, said he (Antoine) was an outstanding educator, an avid traveller, an accomplished musician and an elegant dancer.

Antoine’s daughter,  Anne Marie, told the Caribbean Camera that  he was” still dancing ” when was a hundred years of  age.

“He had a great passion for dancing,” she said.

He also played the saxophone  and loved  parang music.

Joan Alexander, organizer of the biggest annual parang soca event in Toronto, said Antoine  showed up year after year at “my parang lime.”

“He was certainly a parang aficionado and an inspiration to me,” she added.

Antoine  whose wife passed away several years ago, was the father of  eleven children.  He had 35 grandchildren and 44 great-grandchildren.

A funeral service for Michael Alvan Antoine was held at  St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic church in Scarborough on February 23 last.