Elizabeth Wrigglesworth-Schmidt

Elizabeth Wrigglesworth Schmidt
July 28, 1935 - January 19, 2025

Elizabeth Wrigglesworth Schmidt (nee Bittner) passed peacefully on Sunday January 19, 2025 in Toronto.

Born July 28, 1935 Baitzen, Silesia (now Poland), Elizabeth was the youngest of four children in a farming family who were displaced after World War II to Langenburg, West Germany. Following high school she trained as a seamstress and in 1957 immigrated to Canada with her only brother. During their first few years establishing their new lives in Toronto, Elizabeth had a typical immigrant experience; learning English, finding work, making friends. Many of the friendships from that time lasted throughout her life. One of these friends became her roommate and introduced Elizabeth to a coworker who was the mother of her future husband George Wrigglesworth.

Married October 1, 1960, Elizabeth and George raised four sons in their loving and busy home in Agincourt. She was active in her neighbourhood and St. Timothy’s Anglican Church where she continuously served on the altar guild, sewing and maintaining vestments, arranging flowers, and helping behind the scenes in many ways. She developed deep, life-long friendships with many parishioners and neighbours during that time in her life.

Elizabeth frequently took in sewing work through the years and, following George's death in 1986, she became sought after for her skilled sewing of wedding and bridesmaid dresses and other challenging projects.

Elizabeth and Heinrich Schmidt had been introduced through mutual friends and in 1987 began courting. They were married on December 29, 1989 and she moved to Heinz's home in Weston. Heinz was a retired tailor and together they sewed A LOT - for themselves and for their expanding family. As daughter in-laws and grandchildren joined the family, Oma and Opa's home became the place for birthday and holiday celebrations. 

Elizabeth and Heinz had a vibrant and active life together for almost 25 years. Their social circles combined and grew and kept them very busy. They travelled several times each year; to Europe, a warm place during winter, and had at least one other 'adventure' trip. During summers they spent much of their time at the family cottage where her favourite pastime was watching the sunset each evening, marvelling that it was different every day. This was a special time for all who were with her as everything slowed down for the few minutes as the sun lowered to the horizon. After moving to the west end, she joined St. Philip’s Anglican Church, serving for many years on the altar guild as well as with the community food bank. 

Elizabeth's life changed again in 2014 with the passing of Heinz; she moved to the Beaches area to be closer to 2 of her sons. She immediately joined St. Saviour's Anglican Church and was welcomed into that faith community. Unfortunately, her cognitive health began to decline and in November 2017 she moved into Main Street Terrace Long Term Care home. There she was provided with an increasing level of care to meet her needs by an incredible staff, many who have been with her for her entire 8 year stay there. Diagnosed with Alzheimer's, her decline was slow, with many plateaus, but her loss of capacity was inevitable. Thankfully, her personality didn't change and she remained positive, friendly, and loving throughout her days; even when she could no longer speak or recognise people, her eyes would light up whenever anyone entered her room. This was her blessing to everyone she was with.

Elizabeth is predeceased by her sisters Heidle and Kathe, her brother Georg, and her husbands George and Heinrich. She is survived by her cousin Bernhard in California; her sons Arthur (Irene), Gordon, Kenneth (Akemi), and Donald (Jill); grandchildren Alexander (Jennifer), Matthew (Sydney), Isabelle (Maxim), Nara, Aiya, Jackson, and Kailey; great grandchildren Alistair, William, Lillian, and Melanie. 

In Elizabeth's memory, donations to the Sick Kids Foundation would be appreciated by the family.

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