Aina of Port Charlotte, FL, peacefully passed away on January 7, 2025. She was born in Plavinas, Latvia on June 14, 1929; her parents were Peteris and Emma Berzins, and brother, Osvalds. They lived in Latvia until 1944 when the Soviet Army seized the country from the German Army. The family left all possessions and escaped by ship to Germany. For five years, they were refugees, staying in a displaced persons' camp in Esslingen, near Stuttgart, Germany.

In 1949, Aina's family was able to get authorization to immigrate to the United States. They traveled by ship and landed in New Orleans. The family moved to California and Aina worked for a Capitol Records executive. In 1951, one of the family's close friends invited them to join them in New Jersey. So, they traveled by bus cross-country to the East Coast. In New York City, Aina studied in the medical profession and worked in Fitkin Hospital, and then for a pediatrician.

Aina's love for dancing lead her to an opportunity to teach Latvian folk dancing. She finally met her future husband (Janis Baumanis) in New York at a Latvian dance. They married and had their first child (Andra) in Neptune City, NJ. The new family moved to Chicago, IL in 1955, when they had their second child (Aivars). A year later, they bought and moved into a farmhouse with Aina's parents in Winfield, IL. Two years later, following many renovations to the home, their third child (Raimonds) was born. She faithfully cared for the children and Janis's drywall business, serving as his office manager. After the children became teenagers, Aina began to work as a medical assistant for a dermatologist, which lasted two decades. She wanted a less stressful job and was hired as a courier, picking up lab specimens from doctors' offices. But her passion for the medical field led her back to working in the laboratory at Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield. She retired from work in 2002.

During the next two years, Aina and Janis decided to sell their Winfield home of 48 years and move to Port Charlotte, Florida in January 2004. Even when Hurricane Charlie welcomed them to Florida in August 2004, they never changed from their desire to live there. Although far from family, they loved the warm weather and sunshine.

Aina is preceded in death by her brother, Osvalds (1994) and her husband, Janis (2022). She is survived by her daughter Andra and son-in-law Ed, son Aivars and daughter-in-law Isabelle, and son Raimonds (Ray) and daughter-in-law Christina; grandchildren, Rebecca, Brigitta, Marissa, Maraya, Kevin, and Emma; and great-grandsons Andrew and Nathaniel.

The funeral date for Aina is still to be determined. The family is requesting in lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Aina be given to the Mayo Clinic: https://give.mayoclinic.org/give/609586/#!/donation/checkout .