In Memory of Ann Wiggers (1931-2022)

On the morning of Thursday, September 29, Ann Veronica Wiggers (born Appel) passed away quietly in her sleep. Our mother was just one month away from celebrating her 91st birthday. She lived a full and giving life. She and our dad, John, immigrated to Canada from the Netherlands in the late 1950s, started and ran a successful custom furniture business in Whitby, and raised three sons – John, Richard and Darryl (who were later joined by their partners Teresa, Caroline and Catia). Ann was also grandmother to Brad, Kevin and Alison, and most recently great-grandmother to Cameron.

Our parents met in Groenlo in the Netherlands when our mother was studying to be the equivalent of a Personal Support Worker (PSW). That was also her first position when she emigrated to Canada. Later in her life, she relied on and benefitted greatly from the support, compassion and professionalism of PSWs both in her own home while she was still living independently, and later when she moved into two different senior living facilities in the Durham region from 2019 - 2022 through the worst of the COVID pandemic.

We are asking Ann's friends and family to consider -- in lieu of flowers or other gifts --donating funds here towards establishing a scholarship fund. This endowment would be dedicated to future generations of Personal Support Worker (PSW) students and developed in her memory at a local Ontario college.