Ursula Held

Beloved wife to Egon for sixty-four years, much-loved mother and mother-in-law to Randy (Ginny), loving Oma to Matthew (Livia) & “Oma” to great-granddaughter Silvie. She is predeceased by her husband Egon, her mother Alma, her father Fritz, and stepfather Willi. She is survived by her half-sister Christel, nieces Bettina & Andrea (Sascha), nephew Roger (Karin), niece Andrea (Thomas), nephew Thorsten and many more relatives and friends.

Born in 1936, in Herford, Germany, Ursula was the eldest sibling, with half sister Christel arriving 8 years later. Times were understandably tough during World War II, where Ursula was sent to her grandparent’s farm to avoid the bombing in her hometown. Once the war was over it allowed Ursula to return to school in Herford followed by hairdressing school where she graduated in 1953. When the decision was made by Egon to immigrate to Canada in June 1954 Ursula followed him the following year as his 19-year-old fiancé. She left Bremerhaven, Germany, without her parent’s blessing, on April 1, 1955, on the SS Arosa Kulm and arrived in Quebec City after a rough crossing on April 14th with $45.00 to her name. Egon picked her up in his 1952 Volkswagen Beetle and they made the trip to Toronto. Once in Toronto they found out the Canadian government required that they marry and so they were married ‘officially’ in a Toronto City Hall service on May 25, 1955. They followed that with a traditional church service later that year in October. She immediately found work at a hairdressing salon and began adjusting to her new life in Canada. Their family grew in June 1956 with the birth of their only child, their son Randy. The following years were spent parenting, living life, working hard, and playing hard. Together they hosted many parties, listened to plenty of big band music, danced and enjoyed the social activities with friends at The German Club in Toronto. Ursula was a good audience for Egon’s endless jokes and enjoyed keeping house and cooking traditional German food for family and friends.

In 1968 the decision was made to purchase a cottage property on Clear Lake in Muskoka. Weekends were then spent improving the 3 cottages and enjoying what the cottage lifestyle had to offer. The family continued to grow with the marriage of their son Randy to Ginny and the birth of their first and only grandchild Matthew, as well as their circle of extended family and friends.

Ursula was a loving, caring and devoted wife and mother and enjoyed time with her family first and foremost as well as their close-knit circle of friends. She had a big heart and generous spirit and will be deeply and affectionately missed and remembered by many as ‘Oma’ to anyone who knew her.

After Egon’s death on February 27, 2020, Ursula remained in convalescent care at Scarborough Extendicare until April, still recovering from a fall at home the previous October. Thankfully, and due to the staff’s caring efforts, they had been roommates and were able to spend the last 5 weeks of Egon’s life enjoying precious time together and reminiscing about their life together.

The next few years were quiet ones for Ursula, who still missed her husband dearly. Her health was gradually deteriorating but she always looked forward to her daily visits from Josephine and much time spent with family, especially at the cottage, including this past summer with Lena. On Thanksgiving weekend, after enjoying a large family gathering at the cottage, she fell ill and was hospitalized the following day at Scarborough General Hospital on Monday, October 9th. A few weeks later she became a patient of the Palliative Care ward on the 6th Floor.

The family would like to express their sincere gratitude to all the amazing staff of Scarborough General Hospital’s Palliative Care Ward, 4th Floor Medical Ward, ICU and Emergency’s Critical Care Unit for their compassion and tender loving care during her stay there. We can’t say enough good things about the care Ursula received there with special mention to Dr. Cam and Dr. Cass.

A Celebration of Life drop-in for Ursula will be held Sunday, November 26th from 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. at Giffen-Mack Funeral Home & Cremation Centre, 4115 Lawrence Avenue East (near Kingston Road), Scarborough, Ontario, M1E 2S2.

In lieu of flowers donations to Parkinson Canada (www.Parkinson.ca), Diabetes Canada (www.diabetes.ca) and the Heart and Stroke Foundation (www.heartandstroke.ca) would be greatly appreciated.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.giffenmackscarborough.com for the Held family.