RIP Vesma Baltgailis (1950-2021)

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

Kevin Spraggett wrote about this on his facebook.


She passed away last Friday, December 3rd, 2021. There will be a funeral service at Fawcett Funeral Home on Monday, December 13th, 2021 at 3pm EST. The funeral will also be livestreamed for all those who wish to attend virtually.

Obituary at https://www.fawcettfuneralhomes.com/...7168/index.php

"Vesma will be well remembered for her amazing chess career. From the late 1970s to the early 1990s Vesma was one of Canada’s leading chess players. She played for Canada in the Women’s Chess Olympiads and was an international Chess Master. This career would allow Vesma to travel around the globe, where she enjoyed meeting new people and exploring new places."

Someone mention this: "Vesma was known to her Twitter family as Vesma@vesma23 ( twitter.com/Vesma23 ). She was very active on Twitter with over 4,000 followers. Vesma used her Twitter platform to exchange views with followers on politics, life, happiness, love and religion. She was known for her emotional and financial support to those in need. Several thousand tweets have been received expressing sadness on her passing. Vesma’s humor, personal stories and love will be missed, but never forgotten."

[Brad Thomson]

I am deeply saddened to hear that we have lost Vesma. She is a remarkable soul. My condolences to all who love her, I myself am one of them. I have many fond memories of the friendship her and I shared in the good old days, and the great times that we had along with the likes of Hal Bond, Bryon Nickoloff and others. Vesma is one of a kind. I hope to see her again.

[Frank Dixon]

This is very sad news. My sincere condolences to Vesma's family and friends.

I certainly didn't know her well. We had several coffee-and-quick-chess sessions, in Ottawa, Montreal, or Toronto, when there was a tournament on, between rounds, with some interesting discussion, circa late 1980s and early 1990s. I came out about even with her over the board; she was impressed with my standard given I hadn't played much tournament chess to that stage, and she encouraged me to play more, which I did. We never had a formal tournament game. I may have the score of one of the friendly games; I will take a look for it. I could tell right away that she was a strong player, and she had a buoyant, vibrant personality, which was quite a contrast to that of many other top players. She definitely loved her chess! Once met, Vesma was certainly never forgotten by most who knew her.

Rest In Peace, Vesma. You will be remembered fondly.

[Hans Jung]

I am very sorry to hear this. As a naive teenager Vesma and Angie Day enjoyed being witty with me and I learned alot. When Vesma found out my mother was Lithuanian she adopted me as her "baby brother". Twenty years later I recall a night out at Blue Mountain with Vesma and Liana MacMillan. Nick was there. Thats the night I discovered how much they all loved karaoke. The beer was flowing and the stories were fast and furious. How time flies! That was the last time with Vesma. Good times. 25 years, soon it will be my turn. Im glad Vesma had twitter and an extended community for her wit, knowledge and exuberance. I better quit now before I get maudlin. I'm going to have a drink for Vesma, she'd like that.