The basketball community has sadly lost a pillar and pioneer of Filipino Youth Basketball leagues in Toronto. Jose Walfrido “Wallie” Encarnacion Landicho, affectionately known as “Tito Wallie,” passed away on Saturday, November 18, 2023 at the age of 79.

His contributions to the Toronto basketball community have shaped the lives of many.

Wallie was born in Manila, Philippines to Andrea and Pedro Sr. Landicho on February 18, 1944. He is the third of Pedro Sr.’s nine children.

He was preceded in death by his father, his mother, his sister Lourdes, and his brother Pedro Jr. He is survived by his siblings Rolando, Amelita, Rosario, Angel and Paulita.

Wallie was only two years old when he was introduced to basketball by his older brother Lando, who brought him to his first basketball game.

This is when he began to fall in love with the game of basketball. As a child growing up in Kamuning, Quezon City, Wallie played in neighbourhood basketball.

Even at an early age, he dominated the court, quickly realizing his potential to be a great player. As he grew older, Wallie played for Quezon City High School, where he was a dynamic scoring machine. He was a sharpshooter, seeming to float in the air while finishing difficult shots.

Before long, Wallie became known as a must-see player in the neighbourhood, once scoring 113 points in a single game. Wallie took his talents to Mapua University, where he played for the intermural team and studied business administration in accounting. After earning his degree, Wallie worked for several accounting companies in Manila.

Although basketball was his first love, he met his true love, Carmencita, known as “Menchie,” while working. The two hit it off immediately and their connection was evident from the start.

Menchie and Wallie were married in the Philippines on February 17, 1973 in a civil ceremony.

A few months later, Menchie moved to Toronto, Canada, and sponsored Wallie to join her.

They were reunited several months later and were married in a church in Toronto on December 29,1973. The couple planted roots in a place called Scarborough, where they raised their two sons, Jeffery (wife Ariana) and Jonathan (wife Valerie).

This year, Wallie and Menchie celebrated fifty years of marriage. Wallie brought this love of basketball to Canada. He competed in the early days of Fil-Act, a Filipino men’s basketball league in Toronto. In the 1990s he became co-founder of Phil-Can, a Toronto league that pioneered Filipino youth and ladies’ basketball. He also helped organize FNAHC, a Filipino basketball league in the Highland Creek neighbourhood.

All the while, Wallie kept playing basketball, continuing well into his fifties. Wallie’s love of the game deepened even further in 1991, when he became a basketball official. As he refereed games across the GTA, he became affectionately known as “Tito Wallie”— in Tagalog, “Tito” is a term of endearment meaning “uncle.”

Wallie became a life member of TABO, and in 1994 became the treasurer of the board. In his work for the organization, Wallie was a calming force, mediating between the teams and was always willing to communicate with the players and coaches.

His legacy will live on in the hearts and minds of everyone who was lucky enough to meet him, including his six. Wallie was so many things to so many people: a son, a brother, a husband, a father, an uncle, and a grandfather.

He loved spending time with his six grandchildren, Kaleb, Gianna, Armani, Tiago, Shai, and Xavien, to whom he passed on his traditions, good moral values, and his love of the game. To everyone else, he was a beloved “Tito” who dedicated his life to teaching players to become the best versions of themselves, on and off the court.

Good basketball requires time, patience, teamwork, and dedication.

Wallie not only exuded all these qualities but also inspired them in others. Generations of basketball players grew up taking it for granted that when they showed up to their game, Tito Wallie would be there, as always, with his referee’s whistle, striped uniform, a word of encouragement, and a smile.

To the multiple generations of basketball players who were lucky enough to know him, Wallie was as much a part of the game as the court itself.

Wallie Landicho Fund: HYPERLINK "https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=8U76QXVGHFVS8"https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=8U76QXVGHFVS8 Memorial Announcement Video: https://youtu.be/0uZYB3mCXDg?si=MPyHrBVKScgWEpwZ

Online condolences may be shared at makfuneralhome.com .