Helje Porré (1933-2023)

Helje passed away peacefully in Toronto on Thursday, July 13, with close friends at her side.

Helje was the daughter of Paul Porré and Salma Hansmann. She leaves her friend of over 60 years, Jane Couchman, her cousin Jutta Soodla and Jutta’s daughter Marika Viidik in Estonia, and her step-grand-niece, Kaire Jogi in Sweden, as well as many beloved friends, former students, and colleagues.

Helje was born in Tallinn, Estonia on October 28, 1933. In 1944, when Russian troups arrived in Estonia, Helje and her mother fled to Sweden in an open boat. Her birth father disappeared and was presumed dead. Her mother remarried and they moved to Canada. Helje reconnected with her birth father after the fall of the Berlin wall, and visited him twice before his death. During the war, he had been incarcerated in Siberia. He was admired in Estonia as a war-hero and freedom fighter.

Helje graduated with a BA from the University of Toronto and teaching credentials from the U. of T. Faculty of Education. She taught French at Jarvis Collegiate for 6 years while completing her MA part-time, then took up full-time study for her PhD. Her thesis was on 17th-century French theatre. She was appointed to the Département d’Études françaises at Glendon College, York University, in 1969 and was a Professor there until 1998. She was a beloved teacher, earning the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) Award for excellence in University teaching.

Helje travelled widely (Egypt, China, Greece, Israel) and spent many summers and sabbaticals in France, England, and Sweden. She loved music, live theatre, and good food, fine wine and spirits (in the company of friends). She volunteered for over 25 years at Belmont House, and for many years with the Friends of the Victoria College Library, pricing books and assisting at their annual book sale.

Helje would want us to express our gratitude on her behalf to those who have cared for her so generously over the past 8 years: Dr. David Tang-Wai at the Memory Clinic, Krembil Brain Institute, Toronto Western Hospital, and Maria Martinez, Social Worker at the Memory Clinic; the many devoted carers at Davenhill Senior Living, at Revera Leaside Retirement Home, and at Michael Garron Hospital.

Although we gradually “lost” the Helje we knew after she developed Alzheimer’s disease in 2014-15, her graciousness and her gift of friendship remained with her until the end. May she rest in peace.

Arrangements
At Helje’s request, there will be no funeral. Her ashes will be scattered in a forested part of the Mount Pleasant Cemetery.

Helje requested that her friends gather “with good food, wine and scotch and music—Mozart, Bach, some early and baroque music”. Her Celebration of Life is tentatively scheduled for the afternoon of Saturday, October 28, 2023, which would have been her 90th birthday. Place and exact time to be announced.

Donations in Helje’s memory can be made to
• The “Prix Molière” (a prize Helje established for students in the theatre programme at Glendon College, York University). Please visit https://giving.yorku.ca/HeljePorre

• The Canadian Opera Company. Please visit https://my.coc.ca/donate/i/14

• the Krembil Research Fund (Tang-Wai), at UHN Foundation. (Helje received wonderful care from Dr. Tang-Wai at the Krembil.)
Please visit www.uhnfoundation.ca/tribute or call 416-603-5300

• Or a charity of your choice.