Renato ZAMBONINI Obituary
elizabeth, Ontario, Canada
November 28, 1946 - July 24, 2017
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Renato ZAMBONINI Obituary
Nov 28, 1946 - Jul 24, 2017
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ZAMBONINI, Renato "Ron"Renato "Ron" Zambonini died peacefully at home with his family by his side on July 23, 2017. Ron is survived by his loving wife of 47 years, Gail, his beloved son Paul (Jill Cameron), and his adoring grandsons Jack and Sam.Ron was born on November 27, 1946, in Motherwell, Scotland, to Mary (née Gonnella) and John Zambonini. He was the oldest of five children, John (Fiona), Mario (Lia), Eva (Bill) and Gerald (Lyn). Ron had a happy childhood in Scotland, helping with the family fish and chip shop and learning how to play the accordion.Ron excelled at mathematics and attended Glasgow University where he met the love of his life, Elizabeth ("Gail") Zambonini (née Milligan). They married on May 28, 1970, and began their married life in Wishaw, Scotland, where Ron worked at nearby Honeywell as a computer programmer.In 1974, Ron and Gail moved to Toronto, Canada, where Ron came to work for a company called Comtech.In 1976, they were blessed with the birth of their one and only son, Paul.Ron continued to work for a number of companies in his capacity as a Research and Developer - including Greb Industries, Cancor and Cullinet - before ending up at his true home, Cognos in Ottawa, in 1989.Ron was very proud to have been a part of the Cognos family, starting in Research and Development and ultimately progressing to be President, then CEO and upon his retirement, Chairman of the Board. Ron had many fond memories with all of his friends at Cognos and also enjoyed inspiring his colleagues by dressing up as Braveheart, Zorro and, of course, Scotty from Star Trek at the annual company "kick-off" meetings. The company enjoyed tremendous success under his leadership and he was fortunately able to retire at the young age of 57 to pursue his other passions, most notably duplicate bridge.While Ron unfortunately did not succeed in his lifetime goal of representing Canada in the world bridge championships, he came very close on a number of occasions. However, he did have great success in nearly every other every aspect of his life. He helped raise over $100 million for the Ottawa Hospital Foundation. He travelled the world. He dabbled in golf. Most importantly, he was a wonderful husband, father, son, brother and grandfather.Sadly, Ron was unable to defeat the aggressive lung cancer with which he was diagnosed last summer. He fought a good fight and was very grateful to all of the staff at Princess Margaret Hospital, in particular, Dr. Bezjak, Dr. Shepherd, Dr. Darling and the thoracic unit at Toronto General Hospital. We are grateful to Dr. Roy and all of the care staff sent by the Dorothy Ley Hospice who eased Ron's suffering in his final days.The family would like to thank his Cognos colleague, Jane Baird, who set up a Facebook page where Ron was moved by reading the hundreds and hundreds of memories and well wishes. We would also like to thank all of Ron's friends and family for their support during this difficult time.A private cremation has been held. A Celebration of Life will take place on Tuesday, August 1 at 6:00 p.m. at the St. George's Golf and Country Club, 1668 Islington Ave, Etobicoke, Ontario. An event in Ron's honour will also take place in Ottawa in the fall. In lieu of flowers, the family would ask for donations to the Princess Margaret Hospital or the , or a charity of your choice.
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