For more than 30 years, Newmarket resident Luis Reis lit up the holiday season at his 253 Billings Crescent home.
Reis was renowned throughout town and beyond for his festive season landmark as he decorated his house and lawns with a massive display, bringing hundreds of visitors to see the beautiful display.
Once again, Reis put up the lights on his home this year, a task he mostly does alone, his granddaughter Jeanette Paz Homem said.
“He was just a Christmas guy,” Paz Homem said. “I don’t think there was one year he didn’t do it. It didn’t matter if he was sick or anything, it was 'these lights are going around the house.' He loves doing it. He loves the traffic it creates.”
This year stands to be the last time, as Reis passed away this week. Hundreds of people have responded to the news, with a Facebook post from Paz Homem garnering more than 1,900 reactions.
“My heart is full,” Paz Homem said about the response. “I never realized what he meant to the community. It literally brings me to tears, and I love it the most because that’s all he wanted. To make people happy in Newmarket.”
Reis worked as a longtime school custodian in Bradford. The 86-year-old made his home a holiday mainstay in Newmarket, visited by hundreds of people each year. Reis originally came from Portugal and told NewmarketToday in 2021 that his favourite decoration was the nativity scene, a staple holiday decoration in Portugal.
“It’s a happy time of year. I came from a poor family with eight or nine kids. It was that time of year you got a little something extra. I would find oranges in my shoes as a kid,” Reis said then.
The lights were up but had connection issues when Reis passed, but Paz Homem said the family made sure to have them light up the night for this year.
The family decided that “if it’s the last thing we do, we’re connecting this because this is what the season meant to him,” Paz Homem recounted. “He wanted nothing in return, other than people enjoying.”
Many in Newmarket shared memories about their experiences with the home.
“This home was such a big part of our Christmas tradition when my children were little. We live nearby and every year after attending Church on Christmas Eve they would ask to drive by this home which they had seen on an earlier tour of the lights,” one resident said on Facebook. “When they were little the look of enchantment on their faces was priceless. I am so grateful to this wonderful man for bringing such joy to my children. I pray that his family will receive comfort in knowing how special he was to the community.”
Reis also began collecting donations for the Newmarket Food Pantry the past few years, receiving an “overwhelming response.” Paz Homem said the family plans to set out a collection bin soon for that.
The family plans to host a public celebration of life next spring or summer, she said.
“He loved this community so much,” Paz Homem said. “This is what he did it for.”
