Donor Profile: Ago Peters
- ellenvalter
- May 2
- 5 min read
Update # 246
The 12 year-old boy from Pärnu who never forgot his roots becomes newest Kalevipoja Laud donor
Dr. Ago Peters believes in fate. From the moment he escaped with his family from their home in Pärnu, Estonia on a fishing boat named ‘Urve’ he believes his path in life unfolded as it was meant to.
This path has now led him to help shape the future longevity of Estonia’s culture by becoming the newest member of the KESKUS Kalevipoja Laud donor family.
He recalls the day the family left Pärnu. His father Anton knew the boat’s captain and 12 year-old Ago, his mother Maimu and nine year-old sister Aime, boarded the vessel from the dock in Pärnu and headed to Sweden on September 21,1944 when the Soviet army invaded Estonia. They never looked back.
“I wasn’t scared, just curious, and I remember actually enjoying the journey,” Ago said, a pragmatic approach that would serve him well in the coming decades. The family settled in a boarding house in the city of Gävle with other Estonians who had fled a perilous situation in their homeland and started to rebuild their lives, day by day.
Anton got work with a farmer, milking cows, and the two worked together there until it was time for Ago to attend the Estonian school in Gothenburg.
Journey to Canada came next
The journey to Canada took place via the ship Gripsholm in 1951 and the family settled in London, Ontario where Ago’s cousin sponsored them. Anton and Ago again went to work together, this time at an auto body garage.
“One day my father came home and announced that he had bought a house!” Ago said. “He didn’t speak a word of English, but somehow made it happen. It was a building with several units and we became landlords.”
Their Canadian lives were well underway, and soon it was time for Ago to think of his future vocation.
“My father wanted me to study to become a dentist, but thankfully this was not offered at the University of Western Ontario,” he laughed. “I was very happy to study medicine.” In the summers, he worked at Labatt Brewery, and earned enough to pay the way through his school years.
A life of medical service unfolded
Ago earned his Doctor of Medicine degree at the University of Western Ontario in 1958 and interned at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto. He recalls spending many nights at the hospital on night call in those early intense years. He went on to practice as a family physician in the west end of Toronto.
He was recruited by Kodak Canada to become the head of their health department. At that time, the company employed over 3,000 people and having an in-house physician was a priority.
Ago recalls, however, that not surprisingly many of his patients didn’t want to switch to another doctor so he maintained his practice as a family physician as well.
Time for family life and Estonian activities
Ago met his wife Tea Kosenkranius, the daughter of the owners of Poko’s delicatessen, a well-known and loved mainstay of Estonian products in Toronto, through a mutual friend. There were few families who did not frequent the popular stores on College Street and Mount Pleasant Avenue.
Ago had started his love affair with opera around that time, listening to radio broadcasts, and when he heard that the Metropolitan Opera would be performing Faust in Toronto at Maple Leaf Gardens, he wrote to Tea and asked if she would procure a ticket for him.
“She ended up buying two tickets,” he smiled and the rest, as they say, is history. The couple married in 1957. He and Tea shared many travels to hear opera performances, including in Estonia and Finland.
Now 93 years of age, Ago still lives in the family home in Toronto’s scenic Baby Point area where he and Tea lived together for 62 years and raised two children. Both live in Toronto: daughter Norma Elisabet and partner Angela and son Mark Allan, who has four children with wife Peri.
Tea established a dental ceramics business, working in a converted closet in their first apartment. It grew into Peters Dental Ceramic Studio Ltd., a thriving full service laboratory that operates today in Toronto’s west end by Mark and Norma.
Ago also found time to be involved with Estonian activities. A memorable session making verivorst (blood sausage) that included his daughter was a highlight. He also served as physician at the Kotkajärve guide/scout camp and took part in various sports. He says he owes his longevity to staying active, including playing tennis into his early 80s.
It’s in our DNA to support each other
Why is he supporting KESKUS? Again, fate has led the way.
“I’ve been reading Eesti Elu and following the story of how KESKUS is coming together,” he said. “And I thought to myself oi, oi, oi…this is something every Estonian needs to support.”
“It’s so interesting, and located right in the heart of the city!” he enthuses. “And it’s important that the word ‘Estonian’ is in the name that is right on the building. We come from a very small nation that has been under threat, we need to stay visible.”
“We need a home in Canada that recognises our country.”
And not only that. He believes it is inherent in each of us to stick together.
“It’s in our DNA to stay connected,” he said. “There is simply no other way, and I would happily give more.”
The spirit of the boy from Pärnu lives on
More than 80 years later, Ago’s early memories and sense of homeland are as strong as ever.
“I feel I am a ‘pärnakas’,” he says of the renowned seaside city of Estonia where he was born. “Both my parents were from Pärnu, that is where my roots are, and all my life my true friends have been other Estonians.”
On the way out the door, Ago asks his visitor if all is well with her health-wise. He remains caring, interested and engaged in his persona of one who looks after the health and well-being of the people around him. As a donor, he is continuing to do so.
In contributing so generously Ago helps lay another new cornerstone for KESKUS. His strong, cheerful and warm spirit will be imbued into the very steel and brick of this remarkable new building.
Discover the benefits of giving wisely
Please join the growing list of KESKUS capital campaign donors to help bring this extraordinary project to completion. KESKUS leadership donors are recognized here.
There are many ways to make a contribution to KESKUS.
To donate, click here, or call +1.647.250.7136 or email donations@estoniancentre.ca. Donations may be made as a family gift, or in honour of an individual or family. All donations are issued a tax receipt, in Canada via Estonian Arts Centre, US tax receipts via Myriad USA and Estonian tax receipts via Eesti Rahvuskultuuri Fond. Donations by credit card may be made here.
Legacy gifts made to the Estonian Arts Centre, the charity associated with KESKUS, are creative and tax-effective ways to provide support. These are known as “planned gifts” because with thoughtful planning, we create a win-win situation that benefits both you and our community for generations to come. Find out how to provide a bequest in your will by going to www.estoniancentre.ca/bequest.
For information on making other types of planned gifts, including gifts of appreciated securities or insurance policies, or if you have any other questions, please contact EAC Donations Manager Taimi Hooper via email at donations@estoniancentre.ca or phone +1.647.250.7136.
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