Verena Maria Matheson

Verena Maria Matheson was born on December 5, 1946, in Feuchtwangen, Germany, and chose to die, as she wished, surrounded by her family, on April 12, 2025.

Her early years were marked by hardship—the poverty and hunger that followed the war, and the unspoken sorrow of never knowing her father. At the age of eight, she immigrated to Calgary, with her mother and adoptive father, and though the adjustment was difficult, and she remained attached to things German, she considered Canada “the best country in the world.”

She became a high school English teacher—a vocation that reflected her early love of reading, and the escape it offered her. Her students loved her. Her kindness, and love of teaching left a lasting mark on many young lives. Whenever she went out, there was a decent chance some former student would happily approach: “Mrs. Matheson!”

In 1987, she moved to Vancouver, and worked with ESL students and children with dyslexia. Verena was forced to stop teaching in her mid-forties after she was diagnosed with Menière’s disease, one of the many trials life held for her. But she met illness with grace, and her life was far more truly defined by joy, love, and devotion. Her great and sustaining love was her husband David, with whom she shared nearly 57 years of marriage. She often said how lucky she was to have found him. They were almost never apart. If more than an hour elapsed outside her company, David felt compelled to call. They shared everything: ideals, sense of humour, even politics—most of the time. Together they raised two sons, Spencer and Allan.

In the early years of their marriage, she put David through medical school—an act of support and belief that became one of the family’s founding stories. By walking into a branch and making her case, she also secured what was reportedly, the first ever Bank of Montreal mortgage given to a woman in Calgary.

She found particular joy in the companionship of her daughters-in-law, Sabine and Marilyn, whose presence she cherished.

Verena loved to walk in Pacific Spirit Park whose trees and silence gave her peace. She was a faithful member of the Our Lady of Perpetual Help parish, where she worshipped and volunteered for many years. She also volunteered for Battered Women’s Support Services, Hospice Opportunity Boutique (The Hob), and SOS Children's Villages Canada.

She carried herself with gentleness, thoughtfulness, and quiet resolve—meeting suffering, even the cruelty of Alzheimer’s at the end—with a kind of dignified reserve that never drew attention to itself, never hardened her warmth or her care for others.

Verena was wise, and had an incredible, almost uncanny sense of other people. She understood what was unsaid, what others felt before they could speak it. She was charismatic, and she was a force—powerful, unshakable in her values, and fiercely loving.

She was a joyful grandmother, and will be deeply missed by her six grandchildren: Jane, Elise, Jude, Brandon, Charles, and Colin. She told them stories in the inimitable, colourful way she had inherited from her mother, right up until the end.

A celebration of life will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Verena’s memory to SOS Children's Villages Canada.

She is mourned with deep love and gratitude.