Silvija Zigrida (Vejins) Britton

Silvija was born on August 15th,1935 in Riga, Latvia to Valentine Vejins (Cers) and Osvalds Vejins. Silvija and her family survived seven displaced persons camps in Germany during WWII before coming to Canada at age 13. She left Latvia, out of necessity, in the middle of the night at age 8. She and her family came by ship to Canada via Italy after the Americans liberated her camp outside of Munich when the war ended in 1945. Her family all worked hard to learn English and to pay the Canadian government back for their passage to Canada. There were many funny stories about their arrival in Canada – they lived in a converted chicken coop in Weston, Ontario and learned English as quickly as possible, on top of the 5 languages that most people in her family already spoke.

Silvija was both a proud Latvian and a proud Canadian. She assimilated quickly to life in Canada but maintained connections to her Latvian roots and language. She met her brother Max’s (Maksis) best Canadian friend Jim (James) Russel Britton at the age of 15 and she married him at 21 in Toronto, Ontario. Jim got a job with Hudson’s Bay Oil & Gas and they moved to Calgary, Alberta shortly after their wedding where they raised their family. They were married for nearly 66 years. Silvija and Jim moved to Vancouver in 1985 and have lived there ever since.

Silvija was a passionate artist, as both a lifelong student and teacher of the subject. She won a scholarship to Central Tech Art School in Toronto in commercial art. While in Calgary, she studied fine arts at the University of Calgary and taught at the Allied Arts Centre and in after school programs. She was a member of the Yellow Door Art Group in North Vancouver.

Silvija put her heart and soul into every aspect of her life – she was extremely social, with an address book filled with people she maintained connections with from around the world; she read voraciously and was a member of two book clubs – one in English and one in Latvian; she sang in the Latvian choir at the Latvian church in Vancouver. Silvija was always elegant and thoughtful in her dress and her home design. She loved to cook, to dance, interior design and architecture, and always had the most beautiful tablescapes and many vases full of flowers on display in her home in West Vancouver.

Silvija was enthusiastic about life. She loved being outside, loved the mountains, forests and mushrooms, loved watching the ocean from her windows and was an avid skywatcher – sunsets being her favourite – for which Jim gave her the nickname “Silvija Skywatcher.” She also loved to travel, facilitated by being able to speak English, German and Latvian fluently. She had many adventures – London, Edinburgh, Riga, Munich for Oktoberfest, the south of France for art, Tahiti, France (Ile D’Arz and Paris), Porto Vallarta, Baltic cruises, Hawaii. Silvija prided herself on still driving at 90. Only a month ago she drove Jim from Vancouver to Langley, BC to fly his Stagger Wing aircraft on his 91st birthday.

She loved deeply and without judgment. She taught her children to be tolerant and kind, often saying “try walking in other people’s shoes.” She believed that the only thing that mattered was what was in your heart. She was always there for others and made time and a place at her table for everyone in her life. Her time in the camps taught her to look for beauty in the smallest of things and to embrace the fun of life. Her last words to the doctor were “Will you dance with me” … we hope that wherever Silvija is, she is smiling and dancing.

Silvija is survived by her husband Jim, her son Gregory Britton (Shirley Mah), her daughter Coby Schneider (Rob Purdy), her beloved grandchildren – Benjamin Britton (Heidi), Heidi Morefield, Erik Schneider (Lisandre), Nils Schneider and her six great-grandchildren – Gwendoline Britton, Leif and Vera Morefield, and Alice, Henrik and Judith Schneider. She was predeceased by her parents Osvalds and Valentine Vejins and her brother Maksis Vejins. Silvija’s legacy will live on in her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren – her great-grands are already exhibiting her intellectual, artistic and fashionista propensities.

Silvija was cremated September 9th, 2025 and will be honored with two Celebrations of Life– one in Vancouver and one in the spring in Toronto, where she will be interred with her brother’s ashes in Sanctuary Park Cemetery next to their parents. The family is currently making plans for these celebrations of life and further details will be shared soon.

We are grateful to the doctors, nurses and staff at Lionsgate Hospital and the North Shore Hospice who made our Mama as comfortable as possible before her passing. Also a heartfelt thank you to Laila, Dennis and Taavi Radage, and the Reichgeld/Radatzke and La Prairie families—lifelong family friends who were there with us in West Vancouver until the very end.

In lieu of flowers, the family would ask that you please make a donation in Silvija Britton's name either to the West Vancouver Memorial Library Foundation at https://westvanlibrary.ca/foundation under the ❤️Give tab - Ways to Give or to the Lionsgate Foundation for hospice and palliative care at https://lghfoundation.com/tributedonation/l with the notice email for either donation being [email protected]. Thank you.