The Danenberg Family

Mirdza Augusta Sirlaka

Mirdza Augusta Sirlaka 1916–2010

Peter's great-aunt.

Also recorded as Mirdza Gailīte; Mirdza Augeste Gailitis; Mirdza Sirlaks.

Mirdza Augusta Sirlaka was born on 17 Jan 1916 in Vinterkalns, Cēsis, Cēsis district, Vidzeme, Latvia2,3,4,5, the daughter of Mārtiņš Vilhelms Sirlaks and Emma Smukule20,21. She married Fricis Gailītis in May 1955 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada22. She left Bremen-Grohn (IRO emigration camp), Germany in Jan 194916. She died on 5 Jul 2010 in Windsor, Ontario, Canada17.

Family

Parents
Mārtiņš Vilhelms Sirlaks 1883–1942 and Emma Smukule 1886–1970 documented
Husband
Fricis Gailītis 1907–1969 · married in May 1955 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada22

Life events

EventDatePlace and details
Born17 Jan 1916Vinterkalns, Cēsis, Cēsis district, Vidzeme, Latvia2,3,4,5
Livedbet 1919 and 1934Cēsis, Cēsis district, Vidzeme, Latvia7
Livedbet 1 Jan 1938 and 1944Rīga, Vidzeme, Latvia8
Workbet 1944 and 1949'Sister of charity' at a sanatorium in Latvia (DP-2); 'Krankenschwester' (Augsburg card); 'Domestic' under a hospital-domestics scheme (1949 roll)2
Lived10 Dec 1944Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany9
Livedbet 23 Jul 1945 and 28 Dec 1948Haunstetten DP camp, Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany10
Lived1948Montreal, Quebec, Canada11
LeftJan 1949Bremen-Grohn (IRO emigration camp), Germany16
Lived6 Apr 1950Montreal, Quebec, Canada12
MarriedMay 1955with Fricis Gailītis
Toronto, Ontario, Canada22
Married1956with Fricis Gailītis
According to an online family tree23
Livedbet 1970 and 2000West Bloomfield, Michigan, United States13
Note4 Mar 1996Garezers (Latvian centre), near Three Rivers, Michigan, United States
Named in the 1996 obituary of Arvīds Danenbergs (pl-019) as "mirušā sievas māsa" (the deceased's wife's sister) among the speakers at the memorial hour at Garezers "Saulgrieži" on 4 March [1996], listed first, before the daughters Līga Šūbacha (Schubach) and Ilze Bērziņa. This is the page's only…19
Died5 Jul 2010Windsor, Ontario, Canada
Preferred version: Ours: 5 Jul 2010, Windsor. Raimonds's MyHeritage tree (2026) gives 10 Jul 2010, no record cited.17
Died10 Jul 2010According to an online family tree18
OriginLatvia
According to the family's 2015 tree6
Workparents: Mārtiņš Sirlaks and Emma. Emigrated with her mother (Canada, per our data).14
WorkŽēlsirdības māsa
According to an online family tree15

Photographs

Mirdza-Gailite-Sirlaka
Mirdza-Gailite-Sirlaka. MyHeritage family tree 'Dzimta' of Peter's third cousin (his family site), member GEDCOM export of 26 Oct 2026.
Sirlaks sisters - Biruta, Mirdza, Elvira
Sirlaks sisters - Biruta, Mirdza, Elvira. MyHeritage family tree 'Dzimta' of Peter's third cousin (his family site), member GEDCOM export of 26 Oct 2026.
Biruta Zeltīte Sirlaka · Mirdza Augusta Sirlaka · Elvīra Antonija Sirlaka
Vīstučos Sirlaka Emīļa unElzas kāzās
Vīstučos Sirlaka Emīļa unElzas kāzās. 1930. MyHeritage family tree 'Dzimta' of Peter's third cousin (his family site), member GEDCOM export of 26 Oct 2026.
Alma Leontīne Āboltiņa · Mirdza Augusta Sirlaka · Velta Skaidrīte Sirlaka · Valdis Laimdots Sirlaks · Dāvis Sirlaks · Aina Modrīte Sirlaka · Elvīra Antonija Sirlaka · Ilga Laimdota Sirlaka · Mārtiņš Vilhelms Sirlaks · Emma Smukule
iespejams Mirdza Gailīte
iespejams Mirdza Gailīte. 28. Maijs 1955. MyHeritage family tree 'Dzimta' of Peter's third cousin (his family site), member GEDCOM export of 26 Oct 2026.
Mirdza Augusta Sirlaka · Fricis Gailītis

Records

Scan of the record: AEF DP Registration Record, Sirlaks Mirdza Auguste, Reg. No. 902673064
AEF DP Registration Record, Sirlaks Mirdza Auguste, Reg. No. 902673064. .
Scan of the record: Augsburg resident-registration card, Sirlaks Mirdza
Augsburg resident-registration card, Sirlaks Mirdza. .
Scan of the record: Michigan, Wayne, Detroit, Manifests of Arrivals at the Port of Detroit, 1906-1956
Michigan, Wayne, Detroit, Manifests of Arrivals at the Port of Detroit, 1906-1956. .
Scan of the record: IRO nominal roll, SS Scythia, Bremen-Grohn to Canada, page 17
IRO nominal roll, SS Scythia, Bremen-Grohn to Canada, page 17. .
The full page of the record, with the part cited outlined in red: Pēc auto sadursmes miris agr. Arvīds Danenbergs, Laiks, 6 April 1996, p. 7
Pēc auto sadursmes miris agr. Arvīds Danenbergs, Laiks, 6 April 1996, p. 7. . The page, large, and the untouched original.

Open questions

Sources

  1. MyHeritage family tree 'Dzimta' of Peter's third cousin (his family site), member GEDCOM export of 26 Oct 2026, I500143 (person-6500143), GEDCOM lines 9830–9887.
    NAME Mirdza /Sirlaks/
  2. AEF DP Registration Record, Sirlaks Mirdza Auguste, Reg. No. 902673064, DE ITS 3.1.1.1, folder DP3761, DocID 69117904.
    Širlaks Mirdza Auguste | F | Single | 17.I.16 Cēsis Vidzeme Latvia | Luther. | Sirlaks Mārtiņš | Smukulis Emma | Rīga Vidzeme Latvia | Sister of charity | Sanatorium, Latvia | 23.VII.45 | [reverse] CM1 No. 855706 Res. CANADA on [?].12.48

    Full name Mirdza Auguste. The Augsburg registration card (DocID 74898631) also says 17.1.16 Wenden/Lettland.

  3. Obituary of Mirdza Gailīte — West Bloomfield residence, Laiks, Nr.35 (18.09.2010), p. 22, by Vilis Kalniņš.
    No mums šķīrusies Mirdza Gailīte (dzirn. [sic: dzim.] Sirlaks) dzimusi 1916. gada 17. janvāri Vidzemes skaistajā pilsētā Cēsis. … Pēc Otrā pasaules kara liktenis ģimeni aizveda uz Kanādu. … Pēc vīra aiziešanas mūžībā kādu laiku dzīvoja Detroitas apkaimē West Bloomfield savā dzīvoklī. Viņa 1990. gada sākumā iestājās Detroitas Daugavas Vanagu apvienībā … Mirdzas divas māsas arī dzīvoja West Bloomfield un Garezera (Long Lake) apkaimē. Pēc aiziešanas pensijā Mirdza Gailīte atgriezās Vindzorā, Kanādā … Mirdza Gailīte aizgāja mūžībā pēkšņi 2010. gada 5. jūlijā. Viņu izvadīja 10. jūlijā no Anderson Funeral Home Vindzorā. Nelaiķe guldīta smilšu kalniņā Toronto.
    Translation: Mirdza Gailīte (née Sirlaks) has left us. Born 17 January 1916 in the beautiful Vidzeme town of Cēsis. … After the Second World War fate took the family to Canada. … After her husband's death she lived for a while in her apartment in West Bloomfield, near Detroit. In early 1990 she joined the Detroit Daugavas Vanagi branch … Mirdza's two sisters also lived in West Bloomfield and near Garezers (Long Lake). After retiring Mirdza Gailīte returned to Windsor, Canada … She died suddenly on 5 July 2010. The funeral was on 10 July from Anderson Funeral Home, Windsor. She was laid to rest in Toronto.

    Elvīra's sister. The memoir says Mirdza was born at the rented house in Vinterkalns outside Cēsis, which fits.

  4. My Life and Times (1912–1949), ¶10.
    At first we lived in a rented house in the Vinterkalns area, several km outside of Cēsis. … Mirdza was born in this house.
  5. MyHeritage family tree 'Dzimta' of Peter's third cousin (his family site), member GEDCOM export of 26 Oct 2026, I500143 (person-6500143), GEDCOM lines 9830–9887.
    BIRT · 17 JAN 1916 · Cēsis, Latvija

    Date: a Gregorian date: the same day as ours.

  6. Peter's tree, danenberg.sql, 2007–2015, personae 18, provenance.
  7. Childhood and schooling in Cēsis.
    The road passing near the house led to Bērzaine high school, where I and my sisters Biruta and Mirdza spent 4 years. … Eventually, my parents bought a house in Cēsis – Lielās Katrines (Katherine the Great) Street number 13.

    Grew up at her parents' house at Lielā Katrīnas iela 13 in Cēsis and attended the Bērzaine secondary school (Cēsis State Gymnasium) before moving to Rīga.

  8. AEF DP Registration Record, Sirlaks Mirdza Auguste, Reg. No. 902673064, DocID 69117904.
    (2) Širlaks Mirdza Auguste | (13) LAST PERMANENT RESIDENCE OR RESIDENCE JANUARY 1, 1938: Rīga | Vidzeme | Latvia | (14) Sister of charity | (15) Sanatorium, Latvia

    Reported 'Rīga Vidzeme Latvia' as her residence on 1 January 1938 on her 23 July 1945 Haunstetten DP-2 registration card, working as a nurse ('Sister of charity / Sanatorium, Latvia') before fleeing to Germany in October 1944.

  9. Augsburg resident-registration card, Sirlaks Mirdza, DE ITS 2.2.2.1, DocID 74898631.
    Sirlaks / Mirdza / 17.1.16 Wenden/Lettland / Krankenschwester / kath. / led. / "Flüchtling" / 10.12.44 10.3.45 1.1.46

    Augsburg resident-registration card: 'Flüchtling', stateless (formerly Latvia), single, religion 'kath.' [sic; Lutheran elsewhere], dates 10.12.44, 10.3.45, 1.1.46. So she was in Augsburg before the family reached Haunstetten.

  10. AEF DP Registration Record, Sirlaks Mirdza Auguste, Reg. No. 902673064, DocID 69117904.
    (1) 902673064 | Date: 23.VII.45 | Assembly Center No. Haunstetten; reverse (p. 2): Area 5 | CM 1 No. 855706 | Res. CANADA on 28.12.48

    Registered on 23 July 1945 at the Haunstetten DP camp in Augsburg (Reg. No. 902673064) until departing on 28 December 1948 for the Bremen-Grohn resettlement center to emigrate to Canada.

  11. Montrealas Latviešu Palīdzības Biedrība, biedru saraksts 1948. gadā, Montreālas Latviešu Biedrības Ziņotājs, 1998-03-01.
    Sirlaks, Mirdza; Sirlaks, Velta;
    Translation: (membership list)

    'Sirlaks, Mirdza' and 'Sirlaks, Velta' appear next to each other in the 1948 membership list of the Montreal Latvian Relief Society (republished 1998). Probably Elvīra's sister Mirdza and their cousin Velta (Dāvis's daughter), who came to Canada together, ahead of Elvīra's 1949 emigration to the USA.

  12. S-fs-K8MZ-L8N.
    SIRLAKS, Mirdza Auguste … nurse's aid … 2475 Quesnel St., Montreal, Quebec … 1/17/16, Cesis, Latvia … Stateless … To visit mother. 10 days … c/o E.Sirlaks-D.R.Smalley Farms,Rockford, Ohio

    Detroit border-crossing card (temporary visitor), 6 Apr 1950: nurse's aid; born 1/17/16, Cēsis; single; brown hair, blue eyes, 5 ft 6 in; stateless, Latvian; never in the US before; "To visit mother, 10 days", destined "c/o E. Sirlaks - D. R. Smalley Farms, Rockford, Ohio"; nearest relative "cousin - Velta Sirlaks - c/o Homeopathic Hosp. Montreal"; travel document an affidavit in lieu of passport issued by Gertrude Lawrence, Comm. Sup. Court, Mtl., 4/6/50. Also an Ohio naturalization index entry, QG1L-RKK8, as a child on Emma's file. The Find a Grave "Mirdza Augeste Gailitis" (1916-2010, Toronto) is probably her married name (Fricis Gailītis). Medium, unverified.

  13. Obituary of Mirdza Gailīte — West Bloomfield residence.
    Pēc vīra aiziešanas mūžībā kādu laiku dzīvoja Detroitas apkaimē West Bloomfield savā dzīvoklī. Viņa 1990. gada sākumā iestājās Detroitas Daugavas Vanagu apvienībā … Mirdzas divas māsas arī dzīvoja West Bloomfield un Garezera (Long Lake) apkaimē.

    After the deaths of her husband Fricis Gailītis (1969) and mother Emma Sirlaka (1970) in Toronto, she lived in her own apartment in West Bloomfield, Oakland County, Michigan (near her sisters Biruta Balka and Elvīra Danenberga), joining the Detroit Daugavas Vanagi branch in early 1990 before returning to Ontario after retirement and spending her final years in Windsor.

  14. Ainas Sirlakas atmiņas ("Vīstuči"), Aina Jurciņa née Sirlaka, Priekuļi, 1998, p. 9, section "PAR PĒTERA UN MARIJAS CETURTO BĒRNU MĀRTIŅU".
    Mirdza žēlsirdības māsa
    Translation: Mirdza [became] a nurse (Sister of Mercy)

    parents: Mārtiņš Sirlaks and Emma. Emigrated with her mother (Canada, per our data).

  15. MyHeritage family tree 'Dzimta' of Peter's third cousin (his family site), member GEDCOM export of 26 Oct 2026, I500143 (person-6500143), GEDCOM lines 9830–9887.
    OCCU · Žēlsirdības māsa
  16. IRO nominal roll, SS Scythia, Bremen-Grohn to Canada, page 17, DE ITS 3.1.3.2, ref. 8307630, DocID 81713787.
    412. 668673 SIRLAKS Mierdza C Latvia R.C. S F 32 Latvia Domestic G.A.Z.

    SS Scythia (IRO unit 8307630, dated 1949-01-13/14); roll no. 412, ID 668673, 'Scheme Hospital Domestics, Munich'; R.C. [sic]; single; 32. Her DP card says 'Res. CANADA on [?].12.48'. NB the tree has her married to Fricis Gailītis: she was still single in Jan 1949.

  17. Obituary of Mirdza Gailīte — West Bloomfield residence, Laiks, Nr.35 (18.09.2010), p. 22.
    Mirdza Gailīte aizgāja mūžībā pēkšņi 2010. gada 5. jūlijā. Viņu izvadīja 10. jūlijā no Anderson Funeral Home Vindzorā. Nelaiķe guldīta smilšu kalniņā Toronto.
    Translation: Mirdza Gailīte died suddenly on 5 July 2010. The funeral was on 10 July from Anderson Funeral Home in Windsor. She was buried in Toronto.

    Funeral 10 July 2010 from Anderson Funeral Home, Windsor; buried in Toronto (probably York Cemetery, Latvian section, beside Fricis Gailītis and her mother Emma: to verify).

  18. MyHeritage family tree 'Dzimta' of Peter's third cousin (his family site), member GEDCOM export of 26 Oct 2026, I500143 (person-6500143), GEDCOM lines 9830–9887.
    DEAT · 10 JUL 2010 · AGE 94
  19. Pēc auto sadursmes miris agr. Arvīds Danenbergs, Laiks, 6 April 1996, p. 7, Laiks, Periodika issue 748337, p. 7, article DIVL279 (see pl-019). Issue date per Periodika 06.04.1996; masthead not read..
    Pēc noslēgumā nodziedātās Latvijas himnas, aizgājēju atcerējās un atvadu vārdus teica mirušā sievas māsa Mirdza Gailīte, meitas: Līga Šūbacha (Schubach) un Ilze Bērziņa, Auseklis Elksnis runāja Agronomu biedrības, Kalamazū Latviešu biedrības un DV apvienības Kalamazū vārdā
    Translation: After the Latvian anthem sung at the close, the deceased was remembered and farewell words were spoken by the deceased's wife's sister Mirdza Gailīte, the daughters Līga Šūbacha (Schubach) and Ilze Bērziņa; Auseklis Elksnis spoke on behalf of the Agronomists' Society, the Kalamazoo Latvian Society and the DV branch in Kalamazoo

    Named in the 1996 obituary of Arvīds Danenbergs (pl-019) as "mirušā sievas māsa" (the deceased's wife's sister) among the speakers at the memorial hour at Garezers "Saulgrieži" on 4 March [1996], listed first, before the daughters Līga Šūbacha (Schubach) and Ilze Bērziņa. This is the page's only statement of her relation: she is sister of Elvīra, the widow. The page does not say where she lives or that she travelled to Kalamazoo (the sweep said Kalamazoo, 2 March; the page says the memorial was at Garezers on 4 March). The 1969 obituary of Fricis Gailītis (pl-064) prints only "dzīves biedre Mirdza" in Toronto, with no surname; the 1970 obituary of Emma Sirlaka (pl-066) prints "meitas Mirdzas Gailītes un znota ... Friča Gailīša" in Toronto. Together the three items fit the sweep's Mirdza Gailīte (wife of Fricis, daughter of Emma, sister of Elvīra), but only the 1970 and 1996 items print the surname, and the 1969 item cannot by itself be tied to the Sirlakas.

  20. Peter's tree, danenberg.sql, 2007–2015, parentages 34.
  21. My Life and Times (1912–1949), ¶10.
    my sisters Biruta and Mirdza
  22. Kanada 7 dienās, Jaunais Apskats, Nr.17 (03.06.1955), p. 2.
    Laulāti Fricis GailītrM [sic] ar Mirdzu Sirlaks, Vilnis Brastiņš ar Dagmāru Dadzi - Pūriņu.
    Translation: Married: Fricis Gailītis to Mirdza Sirlaks; Vilnis Brastiņš to Dagmāra Dadze-Pūriņa.

    Married Fricis Gailītis; listed in the Toronto church news (Rev. A. Cops is named just before the list). Fricis Gailītis, a mathematics teacher, died in September 1969 (Laiks, 1970-10-17).

  23. MyHeritage family tree 'Dzimta' of Peter's third cousin (his family site), member GEDCOM export of 26 Oct 2026, family F41 (I142 Fricis Gailītis × I500143 Mirdza Augusta Sirlaka).
    MARR 1956

See in the family tree