Obituary of Fernando Marto

It is with a sad heart that we announce the passing of Fernando Marto on February 26th, 2024.  He died peacefully at Markham-Stouffville Hospital battling heart disease right to the end because even at 91 he just wasn’t ready to let go of life.

Fernando was a Markham pioneer, opening the town’s first fine dining restaurant on the Main Street in 1974.  Many Markham residents celebrated special occasions in the banquet halls or came to Fernando’s for dinner.  Later he introduced dinner theatre.  Dinners were entertained by musicals or laughed out loud to Beyond the Fringe.  The Kinsmen and Rotary called the place home for their weekly meetings.  Fernando’s sponsored every type of kids’ sport because he loved sports and would treat teams to burgers and fries whether they were champions or not.  He loved the Toronto Maples Leafs and hockey.  So, he was very excited to cater the Hockey Night in Canada crew the year “Showdown” was filmed at the Markham area.  Wayne Gretzky was 17 years old and the main draw.  It was the September of his rookie year and he had yet to play an NHL game.

Fernando arrived in Canada in 1955 from the north-east of Portugal.  He went to work on a tobacco farm.  He eventually moved to Toronto and apprenticed as a chef.  Before long he had risen to the ranks of chef at Weston Golf Club and eventually Head Chef at Scarborough Golf and Country Club.  But his dream was to open a restaurant and that’s when he moved the family to Markham.

Fernando grew up very poor in Portugal and once he was established in Canada nothing was more important to him than to send money home and help his other brothers and sisters come to Canada.  He loved his Portuguese heritage and his Marto family.  He loved those who survive him: Arthur, Eugenio, Vince and Jose, David and Mario.  And those siblings who he joins now but who he always believed were supposed to outlive him: Maria de Ceu, Dulinda, Armando, Antonio, and Octavio.

Fernando is survived by his children Fernando and Nancy (James) and the grandchildren he loved so much Aidan and Olivia.

Donations can be made in lieu of flowers to the Markham Stouffville Hospital Foundation.

Funeral will be held on Saturday March 16, 2024, at the Dixon Garland Funeral Home (166 Main Street North in Markham).  Visitation will be at 11 am.  There will be a service on site starting at 12 noon.  Internment will be at approximately 1:15 pm at Christ The King Catholic Cemetery (7770 Steeles Avenue East in Markham).  A reception luncheon will follow at the Cemetery facility.