My deepest condolences to Petar, Sava and Danilo who have had a difficult year to say the least!

Tetak was always so kind and loving.  His soft voice and sweet smile will not be forgotten.  As a child I remember him as the gentle giant. He always gave the best hugs.  😢💔

I'm so glad I got to visit with him late last year.  May he RIP 🙏🏻 

While Ana was small but mighty, Veljko was a gentle giant. He had a wonderful sense of humour, loved telling jokes, and had the best one-liners. He was full of stories and loved to share them. He also had a good handful of what one could refer to as “Djedoisms”; words of wisdom on how to navigate life. He always had a pen in his shirt pocket and sweets for the kids. As noted by many here, he was always ready to lend a helping hand, motivated purely by altruism. He assisted us with various home improvement projects over the years without hesitation. He was a generous, hard-working man with a big heart. He loved his family and friends, and his community.

Tea Lake: Ana and Veljko worked extremely hard to build their cottage and our families were blessed to be able to enjoy the fruits of their labour. Veljko even built a treehouse for the grandchildren and hung tire swings from the trees. The memories created and shared during our time at Tea Lake are priceless. Not only did it provide a nature retreat for my children, more importantly, it was a place where they could spend extended periods of time with their grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins during their most formative years. Learning, playing, lounging, laughing, eating…my memories of Tea Lake are truly the fondest memories I have from the past 25 years and I am forever grateful to Ana and Veljko for them.

Veljko, may you rest in peace eternally.  Thank you for all that you did.  You are missed, but not forgotten.

Love,Sue

When we came to Canada tetak and tetka opened their home and hearts to us, if not for them God only knows where we would be now...will always be thankful to them for where all of us siblings are now!

There was so many laughs and good times with 2 families in one home.  The get together after we moved out at each others homes for BBQs and games.

One memory that always will be with me is those early years I just learned how to ride a bike, thanks to tetak, I was riding it on the street still shakey and this neighborhood kid would come around and mess with me, cutting me off.  One weekend during summer again same thing, tetak saw this and the gentle giant with a heart of gold took off  barefoot  and and shorts after this kid.  Kid was peddling for his life to get away, I never saw a man his size move so fast.  Needless to say that kid never showed his face on that street again.

Tetak and teka were truly our saviors when we came to this country...always in my heart and never will forget ♥️ 😪♥️♥️

Cika Veljo along with his late wife Ana were key figures in my childhood and into adulthood. My childhood is filled with memories of the wonderful times our families spent together. Time spent at “the Cottage” was always a summer highlight. I have a specific memory of playing Trivial Pursuit and both my dad and Cika Veljo would always refuse to play. They would remain nearby and would then annoyingly yell out the answers!!! I remember that the answer to one of the questions was ‘Vikings’ and Cika Veljo couldn’t remember what they were called. He shouted, at the top of his lungs: “You know, the guys with the horns who yell AHHHHHHWHOOOOO!!”. To this day I wonder what the people around the lake thought when they heard the loud Viking cries. 😂🤣😂

I also remember the time a bat was in the cottage and Cika Veljo and my dad tried to catch it with a towel while the rest of us cowered. What a sight that was. 😂🤣😂

When I suffered from my first awful hangover it was Cika Veljo who taught me about the “banana eating remedy”. He also taught me to never mix different types of alcohol and to drink loads of water before going to bed after a big night out. It’s a valuable lesson that has paid dividends to this day. Cika Veljo even taught me to swim when I was terrified of water. 

There were so many good times, too many to mention, but I’d like to share one more that sums up the type of people Veljo and his late wife Ana were. When I was in my early 20’s and still living at home (while working and studying), a real estate deal of my parents collapsed, leaving us homeless for several months until my folks could find a new house. My parents stayed with my sister and brother in-law and it would have been cramped with me there too. Veljo and Ana kindly told me that I could stay with them, and I jumped at the opportunity. The only condition that they stipulated was that I had to follow the same rules as their kids. Their rules were far more relaxed than the ones I had at home, so it was happy days for me!!! 

 Veljo, Ana and the beautiful friendship they had with my parents provided me with a template for how friends love and support each other through life. Whenever we needed something Veljo was there, whenever Veljo needed something my dad was there. There when you need them… but not in your face all the time. All of our time spent together was special and meaningful.

It’s been over 20 years since I left Toronto and the only thing I missed since leaving is the people and Cika Veljo and Teta Ana near the top of that list. It’s hard to fathom that we won’t have a chance to create new memories or share and laugh at old ones.

I love and appreciate them both very much and the world is much more lonely place to me without them in it. 

Danilo, Colleen, Sava, Marko, Petar & family... please accept my deepest condolences. 

I had not seen my Uncle Veljko (or Bill, as he was known to non-Serbs) for many years.  I remember him mostly from my teenage years, when all of us cousins and our aunts and uncles used to get together frequently.  I always remember him as a towering, strong man, always very calm and even-tempered.  He was also a good story/joke-teller from what i remember.  And he had a lot of competition from the Grujic's in that department!  I'll miss you Tetak.

My sympathies to Sava, Petar, Danilo and all the grandkids and great grandkids.