Gertrude 'Trudy' Hieber

It is with heavy hearts that the family announces the peaceful passing of Trudy Hieber (nee Gertrude Schuller) who had a compromised heart since childhood due to complications of rheumatic fever. Trudy passed away on the evening of April 18, 2024 at the age of 87.

Trudy was born in what was known as the agricultural town of Rode (now Zagar), Romania on November 18, 1936. She and her brother Martin were mere children during World War II (1939-1945) and were survivors of many adversities: the death of their birth mother, the separation of their father taken as a prisoner of war, and the disruption of constant displacement to flee from the conflict. Her father reunited with his two children after years of searching, remarried Sara Gabber who came from the same small Romanian community, and eventually immigrated to Canada in 1949 under the sponsorship of the Lutheran church.

Her father worked hard to earn money to get out of indentured service to the church, to buy farming property in Hythe, Alberta, and to build his family a new home. Trudy’s half brother John, now the only surviving sibling, was born in 1950.

Trudy worked as a nursemaid for a widow to help fund her way through school and chose a bookkeeping career because she wanted a job where she could dress up. She forsook any destiny of becoming a farmer’s wife and met her husband, Heinz, also an immigrant of German descent, at a community dance. His persistent attention ended in them getting married in 1957 and moving to Burnaby immediately afterwards where her eldest son, Donald, was born. Heinz worked construction and moves to Prince George, Dawson Creek, Taylor and Hudson’s Hope followed.

Trudy gave birth to five children within the space of seven years. Tragically, her youngest son Gilbert died in childbirth, and she lost her second son James in his late twenties from a brain aneurysm in 1988.

Trudy’s life centered around providing a secure, stable home for her children and husband. It may not have been the fairy tale life she had envisioned, but she and Heinz made it work by sharing big plans, risking a variety of business ventures, and remaining loyal and devoted to each other. They stayed in the  Peace area for thirty years before moving to the Okanagan to realize their dream of running a motel. After five years, they retired to enjoy building relationships with their grandchildren and to travel the world together.

In 2007, she underwent two back-to-back open heart surgeries and barely survived the ordeal. Her deteriorating health and devotion to her husband made her choose to enter an assisted living unit in the Village at Smith Creek in 2020, the same facility where Heinz was already committed in long term care, and where he eventually succumbed to Alzheimer’s in March 2022.

Trudy faced all the challenges of her Sunset Years stoically and with dignity. She lived for the moment and not in the past. She deeply loved her surviving children: Don (Heather), Gloria (Alain), and Angela (Russ); her grandchildren: Joël (Samantha), Rémi (Joel), Hunter (Kate), McConnell (Meagan), Carly (Josh); and her great grandchildren: Gabriel, Sabine and Cecilia, all equally and unconditionally, and they reciprocated. She was an inspiration: a beautiful, gentle woman with exceptional grace, fashion-sense, and poise. She had a sharp mind, an amazing memory, and a strong will to enjoy every breath she took. She took her last breath on April 18th, the same day her own dear father had passed away 56 years before.

We are extremely grateful to all the staff of the Village at Smith Creek where she spent three and a half years, to the medical teams coordinated by Interior Heath, to the many specialists and nurses at Kelowna General Hospital where she was a frequent patient, and to her long-standing family doctor, Dr. Sorestad, for having sincere compassion and doing all they could to make Trudy comfortable.

Trudy and Heinz’s cremated remains will be interred together in the Hythe cemetery near the Schuller family plot at a future date. A service at that time will be open to the public for anyone wishing to attend. 

The family thanks all who have reached out to send messages of condolence.