Ursula Gerda Drehlich

It is with sadness that Ursula Drehlich’s family announce her passing on April 23 2020 after succumbing to the Covid-19 virus. Ursula was just short of her 81st birthday which would have been on May 11th. Ursula was preceded by her parents Herbert & Else Misch (née Kern), and her husband Alfred Drehlich in 2016. She leaves behind her daughter Sylvia (Robert) Lyon, dear brother Dieter (Barbara) Misch, nieces Cindy (Douglas) Ryan and Christiné (Christopher) Derochie, and many cousins, nephews and nieces in Germany. Born in Breslau, Germany, Ursula fled with her parents and Dieter as refugees after losing their homeland of Silesia, to Thuringia where they lived for several years before coming to Canada in 1953. The family lived in North Bay, Ontario where Ursula’s parents were indentured as a labourer and a domestic while paying back the family’s boat passage to their sponsor, the Lutheran Church of Canada. In 1955, Ursula married Gabriel Moroch and they had one daughter, Sylvia. In 1965, Ursula and Sylvia joined Ursula’s second husband Alfred (“Freddy”) in Toronto, where Ursula trained as a bookkeeper. Her career was shortened by brain cancer in 1974. She was a survivor, but treatments left a latent physical impact: she eventually became completely deaf and could hear only with aid of a cochlear implant and her balance became so compromised that in her last years she was wheelchair-bound. Yet despite her health challenges, she remained a determined person who persevered and was able to enjoy years of dancing, social activities and travelling with her beloved, outgoing Freddy. She loved her home, playing cards, helping Freddy with his jewelry business, and hosting dinner parties for their many friends. Sylvia and Robert sincerely thank the front-line staff of Orchard Villa LTC, Pickering, for their dedicated care of Ursula for the past 6 1/2 years, in particular Rozina (who so compassionately helped Ursula grieve the loss of Alfred) and Ann-Christine who stalwartly and so kindly oversaw Ursula’s complex daily care. Because of the Covid-19 crisis, there will be no funeral, but your good wishes and kind words mean so very much to the family. May God bless all of you and keep you safe.