Community mourns loss of Tony Di Bacco — a 'prince of a guy'

Tony Di Bacco, a man of ardent faith who deeply loved his family, who poured his heart and soul into teaching and had an endless passion for volleyball, died earlier this month. He had just turned 61.

Di Bacco was a “prince of a guy” and “larger than life,” say those who knew him. He was passionate about everything he pursued, was constantly in motion and had a smile that could light up a room or a gym.

It’s ironic that a man known for his big heart had a debilitating heart defect that was detected when he was just four. He had three open heart surgeries - when he was 4, 12 and 45.

But, he was a fighter and battled the “end stage of heart failure” for 18 months longer than the doctors anticipated.

“We've known this loss was looming over our family for the last year and a half, yet it is still surreal that he is gone,” said his daughter, Olivia, who described her father as “larger than life.”

“His physically broken heart was the beating heart of our family,” said Olivia. “His impact on all six of his children cannot be adequately expressed with words. 

“As students, he taught us discipline and attention to detail. As athletes, he instilled in us passion and intensity,” she explained.

“As human beings, he modelled integrity, faithfulness and humility.”

Tony Di Bacco was an English teacher at Orillia District Collegiate and Vocational Institute (ODCVI) for 31 years. 

John Caryl was a colleague for many of those years and served as head of the English department at ODCVI.

When Caryl emigrated to Canada in 1989, he wanted to see how English was taught in a Canadian school, so the then head of the department, William Bell, arranged for him to sit in on Di Bacco’s class.

“This was a Grade 10 class, and he was teaching Romeo and Juliet. It was an interesting lesson, and I noticed the close attention of the students,” recalled Caryl.

But he was also struck by the “formal line-ahead arrangement of the desks ... straight out of the 1950s.” It was in stark contrast to the layouts of tables in other classes.

“Tony’s teaching style was like the arrangement of his desks — straight ahead, formal, and no-nonsense,” said Caryl.

After the lesson, Caryl asked a student about the class.

“I hadn't asked about the teacher, but I've never forgotten what she said. She said, ‘Oh, Mr. Di Bacco's lessons? Well, he's quite unlike any other teacher. Other teachers, you just learn the lesson, but with Mr Di Bacco, you live the lesson.'"

That was Tony Di Bacco in the classroom, said Caryl, noting Di Bacco was known as a hard marker and “an exacting taskmaster, but he gave students a good groundwork and they knew it and appreciated it."

“Many, many of his former students will grieve his passing,” said Caryl.

He also leaves behind a huge void in the volleyball community. Di Bacco coached countless teams at ODCVI before joining the Orillia Suns program for high-level players who travel around the province to compete. He was also well known and widely respected as a volleyball referee.

Kris Parnham served as an assistant coach with Di Bacco with various Orillia Suns teams.

“Tony had a real passion for the game,” said Parnham, adding Di Bacco was intense, but respected the rules, worried about certain strategies and decisions and demanded fairness.

He also ignited, in others, a passion for the sport.

“Tony was simply the best developmental coach for young players because he infected them with his passion for the game,” said Parnham.

That meant the kids he came into contact with were “all-in” on volleyball.

“He made a huge impression,” said Parnham. “I can’t even imagine the number of people he touched through volleyball.”

But volleyball was just one of his passions. Di Bacco loved music and board games and enjoyed the outdoors, gardening, along with camping and biking with his family. In his later years, he discovered a passion for cooking - much to his family’s delight.

He was “into something” every season, explained Parnham, describing how his friend would pour his energy into a backyard rink in the winter or the apple orchard in the fall. 

“Tony always found something to pump life into it,” said Parnham, adding Di Bacco often handed out his home-made apple sauce to friends and those connected to his volleyball teams.

And the family home where Tony and wife Sue were the heart, “was always bustling,” said Parnham. “There was always something going on ... and Tony was always in there mixing it up.”

Di Bacco was “a prince of a guy,” said Parnham. “As a friend, he was a great listener and with a heart as big as his … there just aren’t enough people like that on the planet,” said Parnham.

Olivia Di Bacco agrees. 

“He's left a huge hole which only the grace of God can fill,” Olivia said of the loss of the family’s patriarch. 

“We will miss his off-key singing, his radiant smile and his intentional questions about the smallest details of our lives.”

A celebration of life is being planned for August. Click here to read the obituary.