Alide

Other Events:

• Name: Alide Waimel
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-202601

Alide — George Waimel. George was born CA 1890; died Yes, date unknown. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-202604

Notes:

ROBERTSON, Helen Waimel, A.O.C.A. - on Wednesday, May 22nd, at the Greater Niagara General Hospital, daughter of the late George and Alide Waimel, wife of the late A. Blake Robertson, predeceased by her daughter , Linda Staebler, sister to Endla Loney of Kitchener , and the late Hants and Olaf Waimel, sister-in-law to the late Vera Haist. Stepmother of John and his wife Yvonne Robertson, the late Jane Snyder Beckett and her husband Ray, Judy and her late husband Ted White, Lon and his wife Margaret Robertson and Margaret and her husband Ray Nagy. Also survived by her nieces and nephews Gioja Loney, Michael Loney, Sherry Curnew, Gayle Waimel, Endla Anderson, Victor Waimel, Anita Bateman, and 15 grandchildren and 17 great grandchildren.

Helen, a renowned sculptor, was born in Tartu, Estonia in 1917 and emigrated to Canada in 1926. At the age of 13, Helen won a scholarship to the Ontario College of Art where she graduated form the four year program in three years and was awarded the Governor General?s Gold Medal. Helen was a member of the Sculptors? Society of Canada and made a considerable contribution to the sculptor scene in Canada. Her commissions included: Crest for the Niagara Falls City Hall; twelve Canada Coats of Arms and all ten Provincial Coats of Arms; Shields of Arms for Ontario Law Courts for various cities; architectural and ornamental sculpture for Workman?s Compensation Rehabilitation Centre; sculpture for Cobourg Municipal Building; Stations for the Cross for St. Kevin?s Roman Catholic Church, Welland; work for St. Denis School, St. Catharines; large mural, 30 x 10 feet for Ryerson Institute of Technology, Toronto; Goddess suspended over pool in the Colonnade, Toronto. She also created many donated works of art and has numerous pieces in private collections. Many of her artistic works will be preserved at Rodman Hall in St. Catharines, the Niagara Parks Commission Greenhouse, and in the Kitchener/Waterloo area. A publication in the Niagara Falls Public Library describes in more detail the extent of Helen?s work.

The family invites friends to the MORSE & SON CHAPEL (Family Centre) 5917 Main Street, Niagara Falls (905) 356-3550, on Saturday May 25th at 1 p.m. As an expression of sympathy, those who wish may make a memorial donation to a charity of their choice.
On-line guest register at www.morganfuneral.com

Helen ROBERTSON Obituary - Niagara Falls, ON | ObitTree™. (2019). Obittree.com. Retrieved 30 January 2019, from https://obittree.com/obituary/ca/ontario/niagara-falls/morse--son-funeral-home/helen-robertson/111202/

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-202597
• Business: 1948, Preston (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Leisure Lodge

Other Events:

• Business: Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Rockway Drive Bed and Breakfast
• Name: Endla Virve Loney
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-202599

Notes:

LONEY, Endla Virve Peacefully, at Freeport Health Centre of Grand River Hospital, after a lengthy illness, on Friday, July 29, 2011, at the age of 79. Much loved wife of the late Escott "Darby" Loney (1982). Endla is deeply missed by her son Michael Loney, and daughter Gioja Loney (Ross Phillips), and by granddaughter Michelle Loney. Missed by stepson-in-law Doug Couke (the late Mary Couke) and their children John, Susan, Debbie, Jenny and David. Sadly missed by "Canadian grandson" Terrence Zheng and family. Also sadly missed by her nieces, Gayle Waimel, Sherry Curnew, Endla Anderson, Anita Cowan, and nephew Victor Waimel, grand-nieces Jenny Watt, Sarah and Courtney Curnew and by grand-nephews Chris and Alex Blackwell. Endla was predeceased by her parents Alide and George Waimel, sister, Helen Waimel Robertson and by her brothers Olaf Waimel and Hants Waimel. A Kitchener born artist, she was a graduate of the Ontario College of Art and currently has her sculptures on display at the Homer Watson House and Gallery, 1754 Old Mill Road, Kitchener until August 14, 2011. After raising her family in Toronto, she returned to the Kitchener area where she became actively involved in her community, touching the lives of many friends and neighbours. At her Kitchener home she ran Rockway Drive Bed and Breakfast, forming life-long friendships with many of her guests both from within Canada and abroad. Family and friends will be received at Robert Ruggle Funeral Home, 617 King St. N, Waterloo, on Friday, August 5, 2011 from 11-1 p.m. The funeral service will immediately follow in the funeral home chapel at 1 p.m. Reception to follow. Interment in Memory Gardens, Breslau. As expressions of sympathy, donations to Homer Watson House and Gallery, Humane Society Kitchener-Waterloo or a charity of your choice would be appreciated by the family and may be arranged by contacting the funeral home at 519-888-7700. Tributes may be made on-line at: www.robertrugglefuneralhome.com

Waterlo Region Record 29 Jul 2011

______________________________


Lifetimes: Artist always on the go

Sep 19, 2011 Waterloo Region Record

Endla Loney of Kitchener; Born: July 4, 1932 in Kitchener; Died: July 29, 2011 of a blood disorder

Faith Hieblinger was chatting to an artist about restoring sculptures by deceased Canadian artist Helen Waimel Robertson when something odd happened.

The executive director at Homer Watson House & Gallery recalled "he said he couldn't really restore them without an (original) image.

"I had no idea if there were pictures or not." So Faith did what most staffers do at Homer Watson House when faced with a dilemma. "We asked Phoebe, our ghost."

Within minutes, there was a knock at the door and there stood Endla Loney, Helen's sister holding a folder of photos, the exact photos the artist required.

Endla had come to the gallery inquiring about purchasing the long abandoned Homer Watson homestead on Tilt Road and the fact she was carrying photos of Helen's sculptures was completely co-incidental.

Faith remembers that the folder also held images of Endla's sculptures. "I didn't even know she was an artist."

That encounter eventually resulted in an exhibit of Endla's sculptures. "People came to the exhibit and wanted to purchase pieces," said Faith. But it was too late. Endla had a fatal blood disorder and couldn't even attend the exhibit opening, after two years of planning.

"I just wished she had allowed herself to be exhibited and accepted herself as an artist," said Faith, recalling how Endla was modest about her work.

Daughter Gioja Loney said her mother didn't consider herself in the same league as Helen. "She never really thought it was good enough," said Gioja. "She was probably as equally talented, but in a different way."



Endla was the only one of five children born in Canada to their Estonian immigrant parents who arrived in Canada in the mid 1920s. Her father, a pharmacist in Estonia, took a job in Cambridge foundry and Gioja believes the sisters inherited his artistic ability. "He was a good artist as well."

Endla attended the Ontario College of Art and in the 1960s, took a job hand drawing business charts. It was detailed, boring work and Endla soon left, joining a Toronto architecture firm as partner.

Gioja's memories are of an energetic, creative, often flamboyant mother who always had a project on the go. When her brother Olaf Waimel built Leisure Lodge in the 1940s, Endla did the artwork for the popular Cambridge nightclub.

Gioja said "My mom always worked. I thought it was strange, but now I'm grateful we had these experiences. It made life interesting. Everything was a big production."

Endla married Escott "Darby" Loney, a general manager for a Toronto firm, in 1953. The couple had two children and after he died in 1982 and her business closed, Endla retired, moving to a home on Rockway Drive in Kitchener where she ran a bed and breakfast. Gioja said her mother often took in international students studying at Eastwood Collegiate Institute and several became lifelong friends.

"She always looked after everybody," said Gioja. "She was very, very kind and was always there to help anybody.

"She was actively involved in the community and was interested in what other people were doing. She loved animals and was interested in animal rights."

Endla was also interested in history and when son Michael Loney wanted to purchase and restore the 1800s birth home of Canadian artist Homer Watson, she became the home's advocate.

While the board of directors at Homer Watson House saw the old house as a hopeless case, Endla did not and after purchasing the building in 2003 with her son, they spent the next five years restoring the home.

"I thought it was fraught with problems," admitted John Rutledge, of the Goderich based firm John Rutledge Architect.

John is a volunteer with the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario, an organization that provides professional services for restoration projects. He said he changed his mind about the impossibility of the project once "I realized Endla's determination."

The mostly plank and plaster house had been uninhabited for a couple of decades, closed up tight, damp and rotting. His job was to find a way to restore the home, regardless of his initial reaction to its decay.

Regional councilor Jean Haalboom suggested that Endla deserved a medal for having the vision to see beyond what other people saw: that Homer Watson's birthplace needed a wrecking ball. "For her, Homer's birth house symbolized Canada's beginning on the stage of international landscape painting." Jean also said that restoring the old house became a "significant key to the story of Homer Watson" on the international stage.

Homer Watson House & Gallery's curator, Sandu Sindile, said the exhibit of Endla's work in August, entitled Reflections, featured 10 sculptures in plaster, terracotta and bronze. "There is a powerful connection between Homer Watson and Endla Loney," said Sandu.

Jean added that aside from the Homer Watson house project, Endla's dream was to have the Bullas nymphs sculptures restored and displayed after years of sitting in storage.

"Her sister was the sculptress," said Jean. "It was constantly on her mind. We had many talks: who, where and how to get them in the public eye. She was their champion."

The nymphs, commissioned in 1940 for Bullas Bros., on Charles Street, were restored and placed at Centre in the Square, Feb. 26, 2011, a testament to both Endla's determination and her love of artistic expression.

vhill@therecord.com

Lifetimes: Artist always on the go. (2011). TheRecord.com. Retrieved 30 January 2019, from https://www.therecord.com/living-story/2587122-lifetimes-artist-always-on-the-go/

Endla — Escott Darby "Darby" Loney. Escott died 1982. [Group Sheet]