Zona Wale died in her sleep on Friday, August 15, 2014 in Chilliwack, BC at age 83. Born in 1930 in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, Zona survived German occupation and tuberculosis at 16. She graduated from Belgrade University with a degree in literature and linguistics, and escaped Serbia for England in 1957 by bribing Communist officials. David Wale married her soon after she arrived in London, England, following a search for the beautiful translator he had met the previous year while on a medical practicum at a Belgrade hospital.
Together they had three children and travelled extensively in Europe where Major David Wale served as a physician with the British Army. In 1969 the Wale family moved to Canada and settled in Regina, Saskatchewan. During the 1980s, Zona began painting and studied under teachers in Belgrade and Regina; she learned Spanish, her fifth language, to study art in Spain and Mexico. Painting, and her passion for art, gave her life new purpose when David died in 1991; her son James died shortly after her move to Chilliwack in 1996. A founding member of the Chilliwack Arts Society, Zona's last solo art show in May was very well received by the Chilliwack arts community. Zona is survived by her son Richard (Brenda), daughter Gillian (Rockland), four grandchildren: Helen, Emily, Matthew and David, grandnieces and nephews in Europe and friends in Regina and Chilliwack, including her very dear and faithful friend, Albert Raverat.
A funeral will be held at Henderson's Funeral Home, 45901 Victoria Avenue, Chilliwack, at 11:00 a.m., Thursday, August 21. Reception, to follow at Henderson's Tea Room. Burial to take place at Chilliwack Cemeteries.
Henderson's Funeral Homes & Crematorium in care of arrangements,604-792-1344. www.hendersonsfunerals.com