Dante Poscente said his life was "a series of perfect things happening at the perfect time." In fact, his analytical prowess, deep love for family and appreciation of others created his good fortune.
Months after Dante was born, his family immigrated to Calgary. Two years later they settled in Trail, B.C. Dante and his four siblings thrived in the tight-knit immigrant community. Here Dante made valued friendships, blew clarinet in the Maple Leaf Band and played on the baseball team. Without his parents' knowledge, he quit school at 16 and rather than working in the mines as most Italians did, he found a job as an assayer at Cominco Smelter. Later he worked his way into sales and marketing.
Dante joined the Trail Jaycees and in 1956 he attended the national convention in Winnipeg to support his friend's bid for president. The friend won but Dante was the bigger winner. He met his soulmate, Lucy Smaizys. They wrote to each other every day and six months later she accepted his proposal. They were married in 1957 and had five children - Neila, Paul, Don, Elise and Mia.
As newlyweds they moved to Vancouver, where Dante joined British American Oil. He began by selling fuel to service stations, businesses and ships in port. Ten years and five children later, Dante was promoted to district sales manager for Gulf Canada in Toronto. Gulf needed a nationwide inventory and accounting system. To save time and money, Dante found and hired a person who had already developed one and then he modified it. Impressed, the American parent company adopted Dante's system and subsequently appointed him as marketing director of Gulf Italiana.
In 1979, Dante moved his family to Rome, where they lived for the next three years. Since Rome was just 60 kilometres from Antrodoco, the town of Dante's birth, he visited often and reconnected with relatives. He commissioned research to produce the family history as a gift to his children.
Dante gave back to the communities he loved. Throughout his life he supported the Cristoforo Colombo Lodge in Trail and in 1954 he started the East Trail Little League, whose teams have represented Canada in the Little League Baseball World Series. He and Lucy created a girls' hockey division so their daughters could play in the Thornhill Community Hockey League.
After retiring in 1982, Dante founded the Gulf retirees association. He continued reading voraciously about world history and politics and ensured that his grandchildren knew the family history. He and Lucy travelled extensively. At 83, he shot a hole-in-one.
Dante's perfect life had a perfect ending. His final words were to Lucy: "I love you."
Maria Cioni is Dante's friend.