Nina Vanderlinden
(nee Biniowsky)
Born in Winnipeg, MB, the daughter of Michael and Dorothy Biniowsky (nee Slobidnyk), proud Ukrainian Canadians who supported their children’s interests in music and art.
Nina showed an early talent in drawing and sculpture, and art was a constant in her life.
In her teens, she also showed a gift for singing, with a rare and rich contralto voice. She received vocal training in Winnipeg
and even auditioned for the Metropolitan Opera Company where she was offered but declined a training opportunity in New York.
She was hired as contralto soloist at Westminster United Church in Winnipeg where her voice impressed everyone,
including choir member Graham Vanderlinden, a young medical student.
Nina and Graham eventually married and moved to Biggar, SK to start Graham’s practice and begin a family.
The young family later moved to Toronto where Graham began a residency in neurosurgery.
The family was complete with the birth of their third child in Toronto.
Through the years, Nina served as contralto soloist at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Holy Blossom Synagogue
and Forest Hill United Church in Toronto. She also sang in the Canadian Opera Company (COC) chorus and performed the role of
Erde in the COC’s 1972 production of Wagner’s Siegfried.
In 2000, when she retired from singing, she went back to her artistic roots, studying with a local Polish-Canadian artist.
She found great pleasure commuting weekly from her new home in Picton for her classes. She revealed a freedom of expression
in her many evocative paintings of Canadian landscapes and natural spaces many of which are proudly displayed in our homes.
She attributed her love of nature, trees and quiet places to having spent summers visiting her Baba’s farm in rural MB.
Nina suffered a major stroke in November 2020 just after her 90th birthday.
While she managed with home care, she couldn’t continue painting and eventually required care outside the home.
She passed away peacefully at HJ McFarland home in Picton
on December 26th, 2025, after a short illness.
She was predeceased by her parents and beloved brother Morris, a violinist with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra,
and sister-in-law Sonya. Nina will be dearly missed by the love of her life, husband (of 69 years) Graham,
daughters Loren (Marwin, grandsons Cameron and Joshua) and Kimberley (Peter, granddaughter Juliette, grandson Christian),
son Stewart (Angela), and her sister-in-law Kathy from Victoria. She also leaves loving niece Tatiana Morita (Glenn),
nephews Gregory and Ilya Biniowsky (Tanya) and their children.
We are grateful to the staff at HJ McFarland and Blessed Bridges
for the excellent care and kindness shown to Nina in her later years.
Arrangements in the care of the
Ainsworth Funeral Home, 288 Noxon Avenue, Wellington
Online condolences may be shared at www.ainsworthfuneralhome.com
