We sadly announce the passing of our beloved Gladys: wife, mother, grandmother, and mother-in-law at the Trillium Court wing of Wentworth Lodge long-term care home in Dundas, Ontario on Sunday, January 19, 2025, in her 79th year. Born in Mufulira, Zambia on September 16, 1945, she spent her youth in Lusaka, Zambia with her late parents Benjamin and Ita Szeftel and brothers Morris and Leslie Szeftel. After completing high school studies, she attended the University of Cape Town (UCT), South Africa, where she earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Sociology and Social Work. Gladys met her husband, John, while they were students at UCT. They married in Lusaka on February 4, 1969, before relocating to Windsor, Ontario, Canada in August 1969. There she practiced social work in an Ontario Government Agency. In 1972 they moved to Toronto and she continued her successful career at the Women’s Bureau in the Ontario Government Ministry of Labour. She was a wonderful caring mother who loved her two sons and took great pride in their many achievements.
Gladys was a beautiful, highly intelligent, and passionate person who is deeply missed by John, sons Daniel (Ann Louise), and David (Andreea), granddaughters (Audrey, Natalie), brothers Morris (London England) Leslie (Lusaka, Zambia), sister-in-law Peggy (Cascais, Portugal), nieces Margi (London, UK), and Regi (South Africa).
We are extremely grateful for the kindness and compassion afforded to Gladys during the four and a half years she spent as a resident of Wentworth Lodge. She was buried in a private funeral on January 24, 2025.
Gladys now rests peacefully in Grove Cemetery in Dundas.