Browse the obituary of residing in the province of Ontario for funeral details
Vesna Walmsley 09/12/1938- 10/27/2024
Vesna Stephanie Walmsley was born Vesna Stefanija Gorup-Rozic on September 12,1938 in
Zagreb, Croatia later taking on her father’s surname, becoming Vesna Stefanija Bojanic in her
teens.
She was raised by her mother Veronika, with help from her Aunt ‘Teta Anka’ in her earlier
years. Vesna’s younger sister, Mirjana, sadly died very young during WW2, and the hardships
of Vesna’s early life shaped her into a very loving, hard-working and strong individual.
She flourished at school and attended Zagreb University to study Languages, becoming fluent
in several. At 22, she was discovered in a restaurant in Zagreb by famed local director Fadil
Hadzic, who cast her in his first directorial debut and propelled her into local stardom.
She also began working as a model during this time, and travelled around Europe on a tour
with Vidal Sassoon, before settling in London in the 1960s. There she met her husband,
Michael Walmsley, a young medical doctor and musician.
They were soon married and brought Vesna’s mother, fondly known as Baba, over to live
with them in Manchester, where their first two children, Stefan and Sarah-Jane, were born.
All the family then travelled to Jamaica, where Vesna continued to work as a model, before
finally settling in Ontario, Canada. when Michael got a job as a General Surgeon at The
Mississauga Hospital.
Vesna began exploring the local area, looking for a family home, and fell in love with the
natural beauty of Mineola, moving the family there in 1972, with daughters Michelle and
Sophie arriving later on during this decade. During this time, Vesna had obtained her Real
Estate license, and went on to enjoy a busy and successful career as a realtor, working into
her 80s.
Vesna was not only talented academically, she also had a keen interest in chess and classical
music, she loved fashion, travel, interior design, dancing, gardening and animals, particularly
horses, a passion from her teenage years which she went on to further develop with Michael,
Michelle and Sophie, owning horses and riding not only in competitions here in Canada, but
also on numerous adventurous horseriding holidays in Europe and the Caribbean.
Vesna loved her friends and neighbours. She was generous, warm and loyal, making many
friends in the local area – Mary, Susan and Poul, June and Jim, Mirjana and Zeljko, Rina,
along with those she kept in touch with from overseas, Radmila from Croatia and Pam her
roommate from London.
She was a loving wife of 58 years to her husband Michael, an exceptionally proud mother to
her four children, always very close to them and involved in all their lives, visiting, and
speaking daily despite the distances between some of them.
She was overjoyed to become a grandmother- calling herself Noni- and adored all of her six
grandchildren: Stefan’s daughters Sage and Blaire; Sarah-Jane’s children George, Josie and
Matthew; and Sophie’s son Remy.
She enjoyed her home life with Michael, and Michelle in her later years, always happy to be
home in her ‘oasis’ with them and their two cats, who loved her dearly as well, and saw her
as the head of the family.
She passed away peacefully on Sunday October 27, 2024, surrounded by family.
She was the most beautiful woman- both inside and out, and will always be remembered for
her kindness, her warmth and the love she gave to her friends and family. She was greatly
loved and will be dearly missed by all of us.
Sunday October 27th 2024
skinner and middlebrook funeral home
Death notice for the town of: Mississauga, Province: Ontario
death notice Vesna Stephanie Walmsley Sunday October 27th 2024
obituaries notice Vesna Stephanie Walmsley Sunday October 27th 2024
We offer our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Vesna Stephanie Walmsley Sunday October 27th 2024 and hope that their memory may be a source of comfort during this difficult time. Your thoughts and kind words are greatly appreciated.
