A 108-year-old woman, who was likely Chilliwack’s oldest resident, has died.

After living an active life for more than a century, Hedy Sutulov passed away on Jan. 6.

She was born in Vienna, Austria on Aug. 18, 1914 and moved to Chilliwack more than 40 years ago because the mountains reminded her of home.

Sutulov embraced the Canadian mountains like her own. She hiked to the top of Mt. Cheam at age 85 and went up again (though not to the summit) at the age of 90. She continued to hike until she was 95.

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Although she never had any children, she did have two close family members – nephew Paul Atkinson and niece Pia Davis, both who live in the U.S.

Atkinson said he will miss watching operas with his aunt and reminiscing about Vienna.

“Part of her heart was still in the Vienna she grew up in,” he said.

He would make the three-day drive from his California home three times a year to see Aunt Hedy. The last time he saw her was in mid-December.

Christmas was a magical time for her.

It was the “spirit of the season and the magic of all the lights and decorations,” that she loved most about the holidays, Atkinson said.

Hedy Sutulov is seen here on Aug. 12, 2021 with friend Leasl White who called Sutulov “feisty.” (Jenna Hauck/ Chilliwack Progress file)

He described his aunt as “upbeat, resilient and content” and said she was always wanting to learn and try new things.

“When I reflect on my time with her, what I come away with is the resiliency she had. She experienced a great many types of change – some of which were not pleasant.”

She was born just weeks after the start of the First World War. Her father was in the army and was injured years later while fighting. He was brought back to Vienna and Sutulov vividly remembered visiting him and seeing the shrapnel in his back as her mother helped lift him out of the bathtub, she said in an interview with The Progress in 2021.

He died two weeks before the end of the war when she was just four years old. As an only child, Sutulov was left with just her mother and grandmother.

She grew up to become an X-ray technician and worked for decades in her field, first in Vienna and then in Quebec where she was brought in 1951 by the International Refugee Organization.

Those first two years were not pleasant when it came to work. She was a cook and her husband was a servant in an English household. She was treated poorly, but after she and her husband saved up enough money, they both returned to their careers of X-ray technician and musician.

She even had her Jeep stolen when she was 101 years old.

“She would say ‘What can you do? You just move on.’ And she didn’t just say it, she’d do it,” Atkinson said.

Hedy Sutulov tastes the icing on her cupcake while celebrating her 108th birthday with her friends on Aug. 10, 2022 at Chartwell Birchwood Retirement Residence. (Jenna Hauck/ Chilliwack Progress file)

His aunt was also a very good role model at letting go.

“She wouldn’t simply throw something away, but would attempt to find it a good home,” he added.

Sutulov moved into hospice care in September. When she left her home at Chartwell Birchwood Retirement Residence, many of the staff were there to say goodbye.

“I was able to experience and observe the loving care that she received by the staff at the retirement home and at hospice,” Atkinson said. “They were just outstanding… absolutely caring and wonderful and really good to her.”

On Jan. 6, at the age of 108 years, four months and 19 days, Hedy Irina Sutulov died.

“I think she was happy,” he said.

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