| Obituary |
It is with heavy hearts and profound sadness that the family of Dianne Borshy announce her peaceful passing on Wednesday, May 27, 2020 with her children digitally by her side, after a short bout with COVID-19. Born in Montreal, she was the daughter of the late Henry and Roz (Goodman) Borshy. She grew up in Snowdon, attended Northmount High School, and later went on to graduate from Concordia University with a degree in sociology. She loved spending summers in the country with her family until she was 9 years old, and her elder years at Camp B’nai Brith in the Laurentians. She spent her adolescence playing sports and especially loved field hockey, volleyball, swimming and ice-skating. Dianne was an avid life-long Montreal Canadians fan and her favorite player was Jean Beliveau. Dianne also had a passion for travelling - backpacking and hitchhiking with her twin sister Hilary through Europe at 19 and 20 years old. Later in her life, she explored the world visiting countries throughout Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Australia. She spent 25 years in the United States; there she worked at Aetna Insurance Company and as a substitute teacher, and raised her two children, Katie and Richard. Despite being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis at the age of 28, she remained active for many years. In 2003, she moved back to Montreal to be closer to her family. For the past 15 years she has lived at the Donald Berman Maimonides Geriatrics Centre in Cote St. Luc. Dianne was a loving and devoted Bubby to Ella (8), Mickey (5), Asher (2) Schaeffer and Lincoln Sowalsky (1) – the true loves of her life. She was a loyal mother to Kathryn and Paul (Schaeffer) of West Hartford, CT, Richard and Stephanie (Sowalsky) of Philadelphia, PA; loving sister of Leslie and Eve of DDO, Quebec, and Ron and Hillary (Grossman) of Ottawa, Ontario; cherished aunt to Dana, Jonathan, Kara, Daniel, Noah, Joshua and their children and respective spouses. Katie and Richard extend a sincere and special thank you to Uncle Leslie and Auntie Eve for being a great big brother and sister to our mother as we lived far away in the United States. The family would like to express their deep gratitude to her caregiver and friend, Judy Pilgrim, who was her companion and loved Dianne for 10 years. They also want to thank the staff at Maimonides for their care, kindness and devotion and the doctors, nurses and staff at McGill University Health Centre for their outstanding comfort and care at the end of her life. There will be a private graveside service. Donations in Dianne’s memory can be made to the Donald Berman Maimonides Foundation, (514) 483-2121 ext. 2207 or the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada at https://mssociety.ca. |
