Erica Audrey Gilbert

Erica was born on April 21, 1928 and passed away peacefully on July 24, 2025.

Her husband, Leslie passed away in 1996. Her son John passed away in 2020. She is survived by her two grandsons, Patrick and Raymond Price, and her daughter Joanne Gilbert and son-in-law James Rowed.

As per Erica's request, instead of a Celebration of Life, we have decided to honour her with an online memorial.

Please feel free to share photos and memories of Erica with her friends and loved ones on this site. There is no restricted access or cut-off dates.

Erica loved sweet tea; two sweeteners and one teaspoon of sugar. As a teenager she grew up in London during World War II and when she sat in the bomb shelter, they served hot, milky sweet tea. Consequently, a hot, sweet cuppa always comforted her.

Like a lot of English children, she was abandoned to a private boarding school in England. She left school and went to work as a teen. At 17 she met a handsome, charming Norwegian flyer named Harry. She became pregnant and had John. Harry, shortly thereafter, died in an air crash.

She was alone and frightened with a little boy to raise. However, Erica had the most indominable spirit. She went to work at a cigarette factory where she met Leslie, an accountant at the firm. He was just out of the war. He had been a sniper in the British army during the war. They married and had Joanne.

In the early fifties, they decided to immigrate to Canada and never looked back. Les worked for Noranda mines. As he climbed the corporate ladder he was transferred to various communities across Canada including Montreal, Northern Ontario, Vancouver and Toronto. Wherever the family landed Erica made friends and got on with her life. She loved gardening (winning prizes for her flowers), bridge and walking.

Overtime, Erica developed a passion for tennis. Erica served on the board of the Leaside Tennis Club in the 1960s including 3 terms as President and over 25 years as membership secretary. She was a founding member of the Toronto Ladies Tennis league where she sat on the board for over 40 years. She organized the Tennis Canada Junior Open which attracted young players across the country. For her lifetime of work as an umpire, Erica was inducted into the Tennis Canada Hall of Fame in 1998 and received the Ontario Tennis Association`s Distinguished Service Award in 2013. At which time she was also recognized, by the Canadian Federal Government, and was inducted into the Leaside Hall of fame.

Erica lost her sight in 2013 and moved from Toronto to Vancouver to be close to her son, John and daughter, Joanne. She was an inspiring woman, in that she always persevered no matter what. Arriving in Vancouver, she hit the ground running, joining book clubs and walking groups, attending plays and movies and taking university classes. We will all miss her. She was intrepid and as she said when she was dying in the hospital, "I've had a good run."