AUGAITIS, Sofija (Zose) - It is with great sadness that we announce the death of our mother, grandmother and great-grandmother on January 10, 2024, at the age of 104.
She is survived by her loving daughters, Betty (George) and Daina (Andy and his daughter Celia); her cherished granddaughter, Kristina (Michael) and grandson, Wynn; nieces, nephews and cousins in Canada, Lithuania and USA. Sofija was predeceased by her husband Peter and four siblings.
Born in Lithuania, Sofija was the first in her family to graduate from Vilnius University and became a teacher.
During WWII, she fled her home and ended up in a series of displaced persons camps in Germany where she met and married her husband, Peter, and gave birth to their first daughter, Betty.
In 1948, they emigrated as refugees to Canada, began farming tobacco in the Delhi-Tillsonburg region of Ontario and welcomed their second daughter, Daina.
Sofija became a pillar of the Lithuanian-Canadian community that sprang up with the arrival of more immigrants.
She was instrumental in founding a Lithuanian Saturday school for children and active in establishing St. Casimir's Lithuanian Roman Catholic Parish where she sang in the choir, and was one of the founders of a Delhi branch of the Catholic Women's League where she volunteered for 35 years in various executive positions.
Sofija never forgot her homeland and the family she left behind.
Sustaining family members in Lithuania with parcels throughout the years, raising and donating funds for the liberation of Lithuania from Soviet rule, and marching on Congress in Washington to keep the attention of the world on the plight of the Baltic nations.
Sofija was acknowledged by the Lithuanian President Grybauskaite in 2019 for her active involvement in fostering Lithuanian nationhood.
As a committed community leader, a hard-working and caring mother, a terrific cook, a determined individual and family matriarch, she will remain an inspiration to the friends and family she leaves behind.
The family extends its gratitude to all the staff at Presentation Manor who cared for Sofija during the last five years of her life, especially the 3rd floor Assisted Living staff and Nicole Cote-Jeffrey, and the palliative care team members from The Temmy Latner Centre for Palliative Care's outpatient clinic.
A visitation will be held from 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, January 16th at the Roman Catholic Church of the Resurrection, 1 Resurrection Road, Toronto. A funeral service will follow. Following the service, there will be an interment at St. John's Lithuanian Cemetery, 2185 Stavebank Road, Mississauga and a reception at Anapilis Hall adjacent to the cemetery.
If desired, donations may be made to the RC Parish of the Resurrection or a Charity of Your Choice.
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