In Loving Memory of
Diana Lavrova
July 17, 1935 – May 4, 2015
Diana Lavrova, my mama and grandma – babushka – to Irina and Arianna, left us at the age of 79 on May 4, 2015, peacefully in her sleep, in our home in Gatineau, Quebec.
Diana, known as Dina to family and friends, was born on July 17, 1935, in Pushkinskiye Gory, Pskov region of Russia, to Zhenya and Yevgenyi Botvin. Her father was a teacher who came from a mixed Russian and Roma family. Her mother was a chef who came from a large family of renowned craftsmen. When Dina was 4, her father was called to the army, and they moved to Finland.
World War II marked Diana’s childhood: Nazi occupation on June 22, 1941 that lasted for almost four years; death of her two uncles on the frontlines, her own family broken by war.
In 1952 Diana joined her father’s 2nd family in Kyiv. She studied electrical engineering and telephony; growing up as one of three sisters. On the train Kyiv-St. Petersburg in 1958, while travelling home to visit her mother, she met Illiodor Lavrov. They married on June 25, 1959. On June 4, 1960 their only daughter Marina was born in Kyiv.
Diana spent her career working in industrial design bureaus, while her husband managed a large mechanical manufacturing production at one of the historic plants in Kyiv. Illiodor sang in a college choir, while Diana danced in a college folk dance ensemble.
Diana loved dancing, mushroom picking, flowers and entertaining friends.
Mrs. Lavrova is survived by her daughter, Marina Lavrow (Rejean Hallee), her granddaughters Irina Lysenko and Arianna Hallee, as well as extended family in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus and dear friends in Ukraine, Canada and the USA.
Mrs. Lavrova will be interred at the Ukrainian Orthodox Cemetery, 1888 Merivale Road, Ottawa, ON, K2G 1E6
Donations can be sent to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral, 1000 Byron Ave, Ottawa, ON