April 16, 1923 – July 24, 2019
With great sadness, the family of Heldur announce his passing at the age of 96. He was a loving and caring husband to his wife of 62 years, Silvia, now deceased. He will be greatly missed by his three children Ann (Aivo), Karl, and Kersti (John) and his seven grandchildren: Paul-Erik, Jüri, Leila, and Ryan, Kyle, Tyler, Bryant (their mother Stephanie) and remembered affectionately by friends and relatives in Canada, Estonia, Switzerland and Sweden.
Born in Võru, Estonia, Heldur started his medical studies at the University of Tartu, Estonia, during the Second World War, continuing studies with Silvia, who he married in 1946, at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, and graduating in 1950. They settled in Toronto in 1952 where he became a radiologist at the Toronto Western Hospital until 1995. As a researcher and Professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto, Heldur, in collaboration with his wife Dr. Silvia Meema, studied metabolic and endocrine diseases, including various forms of osteoporosis and chronic renal diseases. His first published paper in Canada in 1961 received The Certificate of Merit by the Canadian Association of Radiologists as “The Best and Most Original Paper of the Year.” He was the principle author or co-author of 124 peer reviewed scientific publications and was internationally recognized for his work in this area. For several years he was one of the directors of the Tartu College Foundation as well as an active member, and then Honorary Member, of the Estonian Fraternity “Fraternitas Estica” since 1952. Although we fondly remember him spending nights in his study doing his research and working on publications, he had a passion for classical music, opera and jazz, tennis, reading, watching hockey, baseball, and football (but only Toronto teams) and spending time at the family cottage in Jõekääru.
Many thanks for the wonderful, devoted care at Wyndham Manor Nursing home in Oakville for the last 6 years of his life. Special thanks to Josie Germano for dedicated physiotherapy care.
A funeral service will be held at 1:00 pm on Wednesday, July 31, at Mount Pleasant Funeral Centre, 375 Mount Pleasant Road. In lieu of flowers, donations to The National Estonian Foundation of Canada would be greatly appreciated by the family.
