Sunny Dicum was born Singrida Saulė Ančevčiūtė (Ancevich) on February 11, 1937, in Vilnius, now part of Lithuania. Her childhood was shaped by World War II as her family fled an array of horrors: Nazis, Allied bombing, and finally advancing Soviets. After four years in refugee camps in Germany, the family, which included her parents Pauline and Pranas and her siblings Ingrid and John, crossed the Atlantic on a heaving ship to Canada. Sunny never forgot her first sight of Canada: it was autumn and the coast was aflame with red and orange in the dawn light.

The family settled in Oakville, Ontario. Sunny attended Trinity College at the University of Toronto and later earned a Master's degree in Psychology from Queen's University. She devoted her professional life to helping others through her work at Bloorview Children's Hospital, the Toronto District School Board, the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, and other organizations.

In 1965 she married Dr. Frank Dicum, her Trinity classmate. Together they shared 61 years of marriage, raising two children while traveling widely and embracing life with curiosity, intelligence, and enthusiasm.

Sunny was an open-minded lover of the arts, an avid adventurer, and a woman of strong convictions. She helped shape the diverse and inclusive Canada we know today.

Sunny is survived by her husband Frank; her children, Gregory and Julia; her daughter-in-law Nina; and her grandson Xeno.
A Celebration of Sunny’s Life will be held at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Toronto at 12:30pm on Sunday May 7.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Trinity College or the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.