Anita Spenser

Anita was born February 21st 1926 in Brno Moravia to a loving family. Her parents Karol and Helena Fuchs lived in an apartment on the first floor with Anita’s maternal grandmother Rosalie Saxl and two single aunts lived in an apartment on the same floor. Anita had very happy memories of her early years being the center of attention, in a home that lacked for nothing, going from apartment to apartment feeling very loved as she was given the option of which cooked meal offered was most to her liking.

Anita’s only brother, Jiri later to be called George Fuller was born the 17th of September 1930 and though initially competitors for their parents’ love, George and Anita remained close until George’s death in 2016. Anita’s Father and his brothers were glaziers running a successful business known as Bratri Fuchsova Bruder Fuchs in Brno, Prague and Bratislava. This likely explained Anita’s life- long love of hand- blown glass. Anita commented in her biography that her mother was a beautiful woman who loved fashion. Each year Helena would draw the latest fashions and her dressmaker would move in for a week and create a new wardrobe. My cousins (George’s children Naomi, -Julian, Miriam and Kam) have often commented on my mother’s hereditary love of fine fashion and I would also add that like her mother, Anita too was a beautiful woman. Anita commented that her highlight of the week was on Saturday when her father took her to the cinema and she also enjoyed family summer vacations to Yugoslavia, Hungary and Northern Bohemia.

I believe that these happy twelve years for Anita set the stage for the resilience that she demonstrated in spite of the tragedy that followed and allowed her years later after emigrating to Canada to lead a successful and productive life.

Anita and George’s parents took the family to Prague in March 1939 because of news that the Nazis were going to occupy Brno. In June 1939 George and Anita had a gut- wrenching separation from their parents when they were along with 600 other Czech children offered the opportunity arranged by business man Nicholas Winton on a “Kindertransport” to England to keep the children safe. The goodbyes at the train station turned out to be the last contact that George and Anita would have with their parents. George and Anita were separated in England and Adjustment was understandably difficult for both of them though reading between the lines I think that George eventually landed healthier families.

Fortunately, Anita had a very positive school experience at the Varndeen School for girls with many friends and a headmistress, Miss Warmington, who recognized her talent and rescued Anita from a miserable trajectory towards secretarial school. She was directed towards Social Work at Birmingham University which led her to a life- long satisfying career. Anita received word of her parents’ deaths from the Red Cross in 1944 .

Ian and Anita met at Birmingham University and married in 1951Helen was born in 1955 and the family moved to Canada in 1957 Where Ian took a position in the McMaster University Chemistry Department. Paul was born soon afterwards in 1958.

Anita went back to work in the 1960’s beginning what became a rewarding career as a psychiatric social worker an Associate Professorship at McMaster University. She developed an expertise in Group Studies supervising many psychiatry residents and social work students. Anita retired June 2st 1990after more than 20 years at St Joseph’s Hospital outpatient psychiatry in Hamilton. An annual lectureship in Clinical Behavioral Science has been established in her name at McMaster University department of Psychiatry.

At first Anita walled off her past as a means of coping. In 1996 she participated in the Shoah Visual History foundation where she was interviewed about the experience of losing her parents and her life pre and post. Although she cried through the interview, following this it opened her to visiting high schools to give talks to students about the Holocaust.

Anita loved the family cottage in Minden and all of the close community of the Heaven clan and friends with whom she and Ian socialized for many years. Anita designed the cottage herself to facilitate her love of sunbathing and spent many happy summers exploring the area with friends and reading in her rubber dingy.

Anita accompanied Ian on several sabbaticals to Denmark, Switzerland and Germany and attended many conferences with him to places such as Japan, fuelling her love of travel. The travel continued into her eighties with her son Paul with whom she went on many cruises through the Panama Canal, to Hawaii, Vietnam and the Caribbean.

As Anita’s health declined her son Paul moved to Dundas from Toronto to look after her until she moved into Amica where Ian had been for several years as he became blind. Paul lovingly cooked for Anita and looked after the condo until January of 2023 when we moved her into Amica following Ian’s death in December 2023. Paul continued to visit her daily until his untimely death March 8th 2024.

In spite of her dementia, Anita continued to be very good natured and enjoyed eating and visiting people as well as looking at photographs and reading out-loud.

She moved to Ottawa Peter D Clarke Long Term Care in Dundas just before her 100th birthday. She remained good natured and had some wonderful attentive private care givers. Special mention of the amazing Freni who shared Anita’s joyful temperament and Imane and thanks to the staff of Peter Clarke for their individualized care especially nurses Joshna and Lan. Anita was happy and alert until the weekend of October 17th.

An informal drop in celebration will be held on December 5th between 2 and 5pm at the Marlatt Funeral Home (in reception house), 195 King Street West, Dundas. Donations in Anita’s name are welcome at Wellwood.ca or Doctors without Borders. (action.msf.ca)