GLAUSER, Berthe (nee Aeberhard) - Berthe Glauser peacefully passed away in her sleep at her home on April 16, 2021.
Berthe was born in the village of Ponthaux, in the Canton of Fribourg, Switzerland, on the last day of 1938, December 31. It was here during her childhood that she developed her love of nature, gardening and walking in the surrounding wooded areas with her grandfather and father. She was the eldest of four sisters.
As a young woman she wanted to explore life outside of farming and did not want the responsibility of taking over the farm. She was one of the first few women from her village to seek a profession. Against the will of her parents she trained for four years to become a nurse in Bern.
Once her nursing training was completed she wanted to explore the world and furthered her training at the Hospital of St. Joseph in Paris, France for a year. Following this she had a desire to learn English and spent three months in Bournemouth, England, and this is where she met her future husband, Hans.
Once married, they together decided to move to Canada for two years to further their careers and practice their English. They fell in love with this new country and decided to stay, settling down in the suburb of Scarborough and started to raise a family. The diversity in Canadian culture was something she loved.
Berthe obtained her RN certification with special focus on Obstetrics and Pediatric from Ryerson Polytechnical Institute (now University) in Toronto. She worked as an RN for 19 years and retired when it was mandatory. During her working career she was secretary for the local Ontario Nurses Association and later became the local’s president and continued to expand her career by taking courses in Nephrology and Human Resources.
With retirement Berthe found time to explore all the things she couldn’t while working full time including travel to new destinations. She loved the theatre and would head into Toronto or up to Penetanguishene area to explore what live events were available. Just like in her childhood she enjoyed the outdoors whether it was exploring the ravines close to home or the parks and trails in Ontario especially near Penetanguishene where together with Hans they built a cottage where many wonderful family memories were made.
In retirement she also became grandmother to Elizabeth and Audrey and enjoyed this new role immensely, enjoying any time she was able to spend with them. Gardening in her backyard and looking after flowers and plants indoors always was a love from childhood. She loved to give back to the community by volunteering at her church and at Providence Centre for more than 10 years. Even later in her retirement she found another hobby in stain glass and made many designs and objects which were passed on to many friends and family and her church. She was never one to sit still and always loved to experience new things.
Having survived many types of cancers (breast, bone and brain) over the years, her family is very grateful for the superb care provided by Toronto’s University Health Network and Dr. Chiriatto and the all the nurses at the Oncology/Palliative Care Unit at Centenary Hospital. Berthe also wanted to express a special thank you to Dr. Smith at Toronto Western Hospital. Berthe always considered herself a bit of a bionic woman from all the surgeries and her family is very grateful to you all for helping her have such a long life and full life with us.
Berthe is survived by her loving husband Hans, her daughter Claudia, her son Adrian and daughter-in-law, Susan, and her two grandchildren, Elizabeth and Audrey. She will be missed by her family and friends in Switzerland and Canada.
In lieu of flowers, Berthe had asked that donations be made to preserving the trails and bicycling paths along the lake from the Scarborough Bluffs to Pickering in hopes of keeping the natural ravine wilderness preserved for everyone. https://www.ontariotrails.on.ca/
Arrangements entrusted with Giffen-Mack funeral home, Scarborough.
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