DZENIS o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2008-01-14 published
BORISS,
Nikolajs
Farmer, refugee, gardener, singer, husband, father, uncle, vecpapa.
Born April 1, 1913, in Rezekne, Latvia. Died September 7, 2007,
in Barrie, Ontario, of a stroke, aged 94.
By Karen BORISS and Donna
DOUGLAS/DOUGLASS,
Page L6
'Grow where you're planted." Fresh potatoes, warm from the earth,
ripe tomatoes from his own vines, salads from his garden - life's
riches were simply grand for our vecpapa, Nikolajs (Nick)
BORISS,
who was forced to turn his back on his country and begin again.
Nick grew up on a prosperous farm in Rezekne, Latvia. The only
one in his family of nine children to attend university, Nick
studied at the Agricultural College in Jelgava, Latvia. While
there, he met the love of his life, Emma
DZENIS.
They were married
in March, 1940. By July, the first Soviet occupation of Latvia
had begun.
Nick and Emma knew that they should leave the country in order
to survive, but finishing their education was just as important.
They continued to study and attempted to find joy in wartime
life wherever they could.
In 1943, they decided to flee their beloved country in advance
of the invading Russian army. Nick asked his parents to leave
as well and to meet them on the shore that night - they didn't.
He never saw them again.
With a newborn baby and only the clothes on their backs, Nick
and Emma and Nick's sister Zenija travelled across the Baltic
Sea in the middle of the night on an overloaded fishing boat
with hundreds of others. After several days, they finally landed
in Sweden and welcomed a new life, and another son, shortly afterward.
In 1949, still afraid of the proximity of Soviet influence, they
decided to move to Canada. Nick, Emma and their sons Uldis (Richard)
and Ivar eventually settled on a farm just west of Orangeville,
Ontario Daily demands of a dairy herd, mixed grains and chickens
meant life was busy and full.
Above all, Nick and Emma gardened. They grew hundreds of flower
beds. Retirement at 65 was well deserved and they gardened to
their heart's content.
A miraculous day in 1997 brought the news that one of Nick's
brothers had survived Soviet internment, and although he had
passed away since, he had two sons who lived in Chicago. A reunion
with his nephews Bruno and Aleks blessed Nick's family with many
cherished visits full of singing, drinking and Latvian storytelling.
Sadly, Emma died suddenly in 1998.
Nick's children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren brought
out his humour and ability to relate, with a laugh, a wink or
his famous ear wiggles.
Karen BORISS is Nick's eldest granddaughter and Donna
DOUGLAS/DOUGLASS
is his daughter-in-law.
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