Miriam Milner Avotins

Died in London, Ontario on Tuesday, November 30, 2021, after a long illness. She was born in Boston, Massachusetts on October 13, 1943. Because her beloved father, Leo, was serving in the Pacific theater in World War II when she was born, Miriam initially met only her mother Esther and her brother Lee. (Lee, whom she adored, died in 2020.) Miriam is survived by her loving family in the United States: Lee’s spouse, Anna; niece, Jenn (Chris); nephew, Matt (Cynthia); Matt and Jenn’s mother, Keren Oberfield; and Matt’s children, Diego and Valentina. Miriam also leaves special friends, Monika and Uwe Godau; and a loving team of aides who worked with her for many years and who became dear and trusted companions.
Miriam’s facility with languages was prodigious. Her academic accomplishments included membership in Phi Beta Kappa at Radcliffe, where she studied Russian and other Slavic languages and graduated magna cum laude in 1963. Stanford University published her manuscript about Russian suffixes, but her early success in academia was cut short by two detached retinas. Although legally blind, for most of her life Miriam continued to read Russian novels one paragraph at a time, using a magnifying glass.
Ivars Avotins was a Classics scholar doing graduate work at Harvard. In family lore, Miriam and Ivars created a shock in the Milner family when they showed up on his motorcycle. They married and were inseparable until Ivars’ death in 2013, building a lifetime of companionable routines that included walking the dog, watching sitcoms, and speaking to one another in Latvian and classical Greek. After 2 years in the Bay Area (near San Francisco), Miriam and Ivars lived the rest of their lives in London, Ontario, where Ivars taught at the University of Western Ontario. Miriam contributed to and is credited as a co-author on several of Ivars’ volumes, including: An Index to the Lives of the Sophists of Philostratus.
Called Merm by her loving family, Miriam was renowned for her sense of humour and what her friend Dennis Koopman has called “no off switch.” She lit up around children, and even at the end of her life, she took pleasure in a Zoom meeting with her great-nephew Diego. She was passionate about her dogs, who included Mfalme, Alex, Nimrod, Piper, and Hailey. On frequent walks around her neighbourhood with each canine companion, she befriended generations of children. Whether it was in the neighbourhood, the bagel shop, or the grocery store, Miriam’s routines brought her into contact with adults, too, with whom she formed a special connection.
In the final years of her life, Miriam found great joy in her relationships with Heather and her team from At Your Service for Seniors: Barb, Tracy, Dennis, Carol, Terez, and Soraya. Their genuine affection permeated everything they did with and for her. Miriam’s family would like to express sincere gratitude for each team member’s selfless care, generosity, and dedication to Miriam. (Photo by Barb McIntyre.)