It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Anya Ruth Seerveld on February 1, 2025. Anya died peacefully at her home in Toronto, Ontario. She leaves behind her loving husband of 32 years, G. Ian Jameson. She is also survived by her father, Calvin G. Seerveld, sister Gioia (Hugh), brother Luke (Jan), sister-in-law Colleen (Peter), nephew Ben (Naomi), and niece Mary (Michael) and nibling Hannah (Kate, Josie). Anya was predeceased by her mother, Ines Naudin ten Cate, in October 2021.
Anya was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1960 and moved with her family to Canada in 1971 when her father took a position at the Institute for Christian Studies in Toronto. She graduated from Dordt University in 1982 and obtained a Master’s degree from York University in 1983. She and business partner Loreen Krivy (Teoli) ran a popular independent coffee shop called “Coffee Coffee To Go Go” at Yonge and Bloor Street East. She later attended Sutherland-Chan Massage School and became a Registered Massage Therapist in 1991. Anya operated a successful Massage Therapy practice in her home from 1991 until she retired in 2022.
Anya and Ian met at the Toronto Bicycling Network Dinner Dance on November 16, 1991, and were married on July 4, 1992, in Serena Gundy Park in Toronto. They purchased their first tandem bicycle the following spring and cycled together ever after, with Anya captaining their tandem on the front and Ian providing navigation from the stoker position. Their second tandem could be taken apart and packed in suitcases, allowing them to travel by bicycle through Europe and North America, as well as wherever they could drive to.
In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Anya Seerveld can be made to the Sunnybrook Research Institute Odette Cancer Research Centre or to the Canadian Cancer Society. Donations will help researchers find a way to correct the Wild Type TP-53 gene mutation that caused Anya’s endometrial cancer to advance so quickly.
According to Anya’s wishes, there will be no funeral service. A Celebration of Life service will be planned for warmer weather in the spring, when loved ones can gather outside, thinking of Anya riding through the galaxies, spring flowers in her basket and headlight on.
