Ilya was born on Wednesday August 6th, 1997 at 6:55am in St. Petersburg, Russia. He was a very happy smiley boy. When he was 2 years old, he got accepted to the local Day care. He had two amazing teachers Elena Igorevna and Marina Genadevna. Who loved him and forgave him for his little monkey tricks. He was a very carrying and likeable little boy. Even the principle of Ilya’s day care Tatyana Nikolaevns adored Ilya and he never left the day care without visiting her office to say goodbye, to give her a hug and to get a small present from her. His first crush was a girl named Vlada, they were 5 years old and they played together at day care. Ilya brought her flowers and candies and were planning to marry her. When he was 7, he got a new love. She was a family friend lovely girl named Nadusha. She was two years older than Ilya and much taller, but it didn’t bother kids and they had a great timeplaying together.

Ilya’s parents separated when he was 5, so he moved into new place with his mom and got his first pet, albino rat Albus. Albus was a very grumpy and mean rat, Ilya loved him anyway. He finished grade 1 in Russia and then moved with his mom to Toronto, Canada where his dad lived. First place he lived in Canada was in the apartment building at Allen Rd and Eglinton. He got placement in Cedarvale Community School, which he attended until grade 6. Ilya didn’t speak any English back than. Before going to school he learned how to say “My name is Ilya and I need washroom”. It was more than enough to make friends and have fun at school. First day after school he came home and said that he made a friend. His name is Leo and he speaks Russian. It was a beginning of long relationship. He loved school, teachers and the kids. He spent a lot of time with ESL teachers Mrs. Anderson and Mrs. Melnek. Iren Melnek became a very big friend of Ilya and keep in touch with him even after he left Cedarvale school. While he was in Cedervale, a become friends with Rita, who was the teacher of an after school program which he never attended. She gifted Ilya a little kitten, who became Ilya’s favorite “lover” for the rest of his life. They ate together, had a bath together, played and cuddle. Ilya made a spcial photo for kitty with picture of him as a cat and the cat’s mother, which he took from the teacher Rita.

Ilya was a bright student who always were looking for extra attention, so it wasn’t easy sometimes for teachers as he loved to talk and ask too many questions. In grade four school assign him to do some tests and evaluation, as a result he’d got a placement in a gift program at Forest Hill school. His friend Leo also was tested and get placement in a gifted program, so they moved in the school together.

In Forest Hill school he made more friends with students and teachers. His class room teacher was Ms. Rousso, who was extraordinary and extremely understanding towards kids. They read “To Kill a Mockingbird”, did a lot of fascinating projects and had a lot of fun at school. In the same year, his mom got married on amazing man Amram who become a great father to Ilya. Three of them spent a lot of time together. After school Ilya had a lot of activities. He learned how to ski when he was 3 years old and had professional classes 12 hours a week right before he moved to Canada. In Canada he continued to do swimming classes and other activities. He did art, magic, breakdance, aikido, played guitar, basketball, soccer, baseball and many other activities.

After finishing Forest Hill school Ilya were transferred to Deer Park P.S. than Northern SS and later to Thornhill SS. In each school he made more friends which he kept in touch for many years after. He was a good student with incredible personality. Everyone absolutely loved Ilya as he was very kind, charming, understanding and compassionate! He was part of the school drama club and played in school plays, as well as participate in Magic night events. He had artistic skills, so he wanted to become a graphic designer and create comics. He wrote one graphic novel while being at school, but in Grade 11 he met a teacher whose passion to cooking change his perspective and define his carrier. Ilya decided to become the cook. He got placement for co-op program in Terra Restaurant, where later on he continue to work as Line and Prep Cook. And after finishing Thornhill School he got accepted in George Brown Culinary School. During his school time he worked in different restaurants: Terra, Francobollo Posto Italiano, El Catrin Commissary. He also went for “adventure” to work with his friend Ben as a cook for a tree planter program in Alberta. It was great experience, plus Ilya met a lot of new friends. Unfortunately many hours of cooking effect his arm, so it wasn’t easy to work on the kitchen when he came back. One day Ilya met someone and after speaking with his new friend he decided to switch his speciality and become a bar attended. He got a position in Amalfi Coast Restaurant where he can work on his own cocktail menu. Also, he started to take some shifts as a waiter and went back to George Brown to start his Sommelier Certification. Along the way he met more wonderful people and he got a job in Keg restaurant and started to work for LCBO as well.

Ilya loved people and people loved him back. He had a lot of hobbies: painting, skiing, swimming, long boarding, playing guitar and singing songs, he was a dungeon master in his DND games.

On February 7th 2019 around 1:30 PM Ilya’s got into a car accident. He was transported at ST. Michales Hospitol at Toronto in the critical condition. Despite all the efforts of medical team to help Ilya he couldn’t regain conscious and his heart stop beating at 12:20 pm on Valentines Day.

His life was short, but it was rich of life and filled with joy and people who loved him very much. By his young age he accomplished much more than other kids of his age and left a great impression in other people lives. He was very charming, huggy and affection towards people. He made a lot of friend and left a lot of great memories behind. He had 4 parents, 5 siblings (one step sister, 3 half sisters and one-half brother), 6 cousins and a lot of other relatives. His soul left this world, but he will live forever in our hearts and always in our thoughts.