Wow, how interesting that your grandfather was her neighbor. Did he tell you any interesting anecdotes you'd care to share with us?
There's not a lot of first hand info floating around since they all passed so long ago.
My grandfather died when I was still a small child, and since he didn't speak English well, and I didn't speak Polish well (and have since forgotton everything I did know), we didn't really talk.
My father used to visit my grandfather in that neighborhood, and I've tried to get stories from him. All he says is that she was just like everybody else who lived there. She wasn't paid any more or any less attention to than the next person. My grandfather was far from a fan of Imprerial Russia (he was in the Tsarist Army in WWI and blamed the Tsar for much), so he didn't really have anything to do with her.
However, I think knowing that she was just like any other joe-schmo on the block speaks volumes on her. No pretension, no expectations of being treated differently. She was just any other Russian or Polish emigre who ended up in Toronto.
Next time I talk to my dad (probably this weekend) I'll see if I can get anything else from him.
Alexa