In Memory of Robert Carlo Corno
Hi Friends,
Things will be looking a little bit different for me in the future, as I navigate life without my dad. As you will see below I am dedicating my deliveries to him as he was such a big part of it. Please if you have the time watch the video and/or read his story. It would mean the world to me. I am very excited to announce, that a good friend Meghan (AKA Bosco) & her husband Travis have agreed to help me with my birthday deliveries. A job which you all know is very important to me & that I wouldn’t just hand over to just anyone. If you see one of them, please be sure to say hi as they are amazing people just like Papa C.
I hope you are having a wonderful year so far & I look forward to connecting soon.
With Love,
Rob
Dad’s legacy, through me.
This is the story of Robert Carlo Corno.
A story that starts in Torano Castello, a small town in southern Italy in 1951. The second oldest of four boys, Rob, and his family moved to Canada when he was five.
Rob and his family lived in Kamloops, British Colombia. And that’s where he met Gwen (aka Mom). She was 14. He was 16. This love story, like all the best love stories, took time, patience, and a good sense of humour—things that came so naturally to Rob. By 1975, Gwen was 21 and had flown the nest to Edmonton.
On a visit home to see her parents, she caught a glimpse of her childhood friend Rob at his work. He could still make her laugh. In 1978, Rob moved to Edmonton to follow his heart. Gwen was glad he did. On April 5, 1980, they were married. On January 22, 1981, yours truly was born.
Some of my favourite childhood memories of my dad are us bonding over sports! In the 80s, he took me to see Wayne play with the Oilers, and we watched countless hockey games together on TV. Golf was by far his favourite sport to play. He had also played soccer growing up and he coached and cheered me on as I played growing up too!
Rob started working at the Safeway grocery warehouse as soon as he arrived in Edmonton in 1978. He worked there as a pallet jack operator for 41 years. It wasn’t his dream job by any stretch, but he earned a lot of paid vacation days, which he loved. In 2018, the warehouse was bought out by Sobeys and was set to become automated, eliminating the need for his job in the very near future. This came as a surprise and was a tad scary for dad. He had done the same thing for so long and had no idea what he would do next.
At that same time, Stacey and I were starting to get our newly rebranded real estate company off the ground. I saw an opportunity that I thought would suit him very well and give him a chance to do something he might enjoy. Then I pitched the idea: hiring dad as our designated “sign guy” to put up and take down all the real estate signs for the agents at the office. Fast forward a year—I’m not sure it was his dream job but I can tell you he really loved it. He loved having his freedom and he loved interacting with the people. He quickly became very well known in the community for his outgoing personality and his bright and friendly demeanor. I am so grateful that even work became a family affair with dad.
During this time, my own personal real estate business was growing. I have always put great value on my current and past relationships with my clients and loved to honour them on their birthdays with some sweet treats. I always tried to deliver them personally. Needless to say, at some point, this gets hard to handle by yourself. So, dad (who was always there to help me no matter the project) agreed to step in to give me a hand with my business by becoming the “cookie delivery guy”. Again, he slid into this role seamlessly, and even though we told him he didn’t need to knock on people’s doors and bother them, he always wanted to “make sure they got their cookies”.
Secretly, we think this was just an excuse for him to be able to do what he loved the most, which was to have conversations with people.
Dad was the type of guy who just loved people. It didn’t matter if you were a family member, a friend for 30 years, or a waitress at Boston Pizza. He would strike up a conversation with you and talk your ear off about anything and everything (most recently real estate signs) or fire out his endless supply of one-liner dad jokes. “Ima no canna believe!”
The bottom line is it didn’t matter who you were, he was never too busy to chat. What was so cool about him is he didn’t just chat, he also listened.
My daughter Lily (his “little munchkin”) affectionately named him “Papa”, a name that stuck. Being Papa to Lily was one of his most cherished roles in life. He was a lovely and kind Papa who made everyone’s day a little brighter, wherever he went.
In April of 2021, Rob was diagnosed with Acute Leukaemia. In May of 2021, we lost him.
Rob’s Sweet Legacy
To honour this great man, we have dedicated the birthday cookie program to him. The “PC” in his logo stands for “Papa Corno” as well as “Papas Cookies”, so a little piece of him can be sent with love with every delivery.
Dad had two virtues at his core: patience and empathy. If you were lucky enough, he may have caught you on the phone with something he “needed to ask you” but then got roped into a long conversation about something entirely different.
If he were still here, he would want us to live by the below:
Tell The Story
Dad loved to talk to people. If you knew him, you know this—he loved to tell stories.
Remember that it takes time to tell a story and time is valuable. Take time with the ones you love to tell a story and be part of their story.
Be The Change
This comes from a quote from Gandhi that states “be the change you want to see in the world.” Always remember that with love, your actions speak louder than words.
If you made it this far, we want to say thank you for taking the time to read this.
Dad is missed every day, and we are so grateful for the love and support from all our family and friends.
Robbie + Gwen