Tributes for Tony Demarco.

He died this week at the age of 99.

City Councillor Dave Mendicino says he met Tony at a young age.

“What a gentle man he was back then. He managed to handle all the kids that came in in a gentle way but also a firm way when he needed to be firm,” he says.

He says he was a lifelong Chicago Cubs fan and when they finally won the World Series after waiting over a century he was quite the happy man.

Nipisisng MPP Vic Fedeli says he first met Tony in the store while he was playing pin ball over the lunch hour while attending St. Joseph-Scollard Hall.

He says one of the highlights of any election campaign was the famous Demarco poll.

“The Demarco Poll was a very, very significant poll. Unlike many polls taken today this was a real bell weather for the community and would tell you if the political winds were going to change,” Fedeli says.

Fedeli says when you were in the store you got a pulse of the community.

He says Tony will be remembered fondly.

Demarco ran Demarco’s confectionary, a family business.

It closed five years ago.

(photos by Jeff Turl BayToday)

Filed under: Dave Mendicino, MPP Vic Fedeli, Tony Demarco