Obituary of Thomas (Tom) Alföldi

It is with a sad heart that we announce the passing of Thomas (Tom) Alföldi.  Tom left us at the age of 78, peacefully, surrounded by his wife, sister and brother-in-law, at the Queensway Carleton Hospital on Sunday, August 30, 2026. He is survived by his loving family: his wife of 25 years, Diane, his two daughters, Jessica (Daniel) and Lucy (Matthew), and his two beloved grandchildren, Nora Sage and Simon.  He will also be lovingly remembered by: his mother Georgina; his sister Susan and his brother-in-law Ted; his niece Jenny, her husband Andj and their two daughters, Emma and Kate; his mother-in-law Pauline, his sister-in-law Monique, and his brothers in law and their spouses, Rene (Elaine), Robert, Claude (Tracey), and Michel (Natalie), as well as by many nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews on the Boucher side of the family, namely Kerri (Alain), Ryan, Crissy, Matthew (Jen), Paula (Mike), Bronson, Cory (Laura), Andrea (Jason), Nicholas (Adriana), Adam (Megan), Grace, Sophia, Jack (Kaylee), Dalainey (Daniel), Madison, Noah (Nicole), Pyper, Hailey, Matteo and Callum. He is predeceased by his father Stephen, his niece Carrie, and his father-in-law Henri.

Tom loved science and photography.  He spent most of his career combining those two loves, working with satellite imagery at the Canadian Centre for Remote Sensing. 
He put himself through high school and University (U of T, master’s in engineering) doing photography and later enjoyed teaching it and doing volunteer work as a photographer for the Brighton Street Clam Bakes, Ottawa museums, Habitat for Humanity, and the OSCA local newspaper, to name a few.  He also worked on many builds for Habitat for Humanity, especially after he retired in 2004.

He loved his family and friends and liked to spend time with them as often as possible.  He always had a joke or an anecdote to tell, or a photograph to show, with a twinkle in his eye. His love of photography also led him to take underwater pictures while scuba diving, one of his favourite pastimes for over 25 years.  We made many new friends at Viva and Tom enjoyed showing them the best of his underwater pictures, safari pictures, pumpkin carving pictures and best candid pictures. He also enjoyed travelling, walking, cycling, and curling at the Navy Curling Club.

We wish to thank the wonderful staff at Viva Barrhaven Retirement Home for their support over the past two and a half years, with special thanks to Donna Fe and the Wellness team, as well as the Carefor team, who took great care of Tom, especially since October 2025.  We are also grateful to the staff in the Queensway Carleton Hospital emergency team and ICU team for their compassion and care during the last few hours of Tom’s life, and to the staff at the three campuses of the Ottawa Hospital, who also took great care of Tom over the last few years.

A Celebration of Life in honour of Tom will be held at Pinecrest Remembrance Services at 2500 Baseline Road in Ottawa, on Saturday, September 19, 2026 (one of his favourite days of the year, ‘Talk like a pirate’ Day), from 2 to 4 pm.  Donations to Parkinson Canada would be appreciated in lieu of flowers.

Remember his favourite saying: ‘No matter where you go, there you are.’