Jul 13, 1920 - May 6, 2018
Elise Hugi (Graf), age 97, passed away on May 6, 2018 at Mills Memorial Hospital where she was trying to recover from a femur fracture sustained during a minor fall while she was gardening.
Elise was born on July 13, 1920 in Basel, Switzerland and was processed through Pier 21 in Halifax in 1956 when she immigrated to Canada with her husband and two daughters. She lived in Thornhill since 1958 and raised a family there. She was a widow since 2001 when her husband, Rudolf Hugi, to whom she was devoted and married for 53 years, died.
During her lifetime, spanning almost a century, she witnessed tumultuous advances in technology, science and medicine and survived cultural upheavals. What grounded her were her Christian faith and love of gardening. She was able, in her garden, to cultivate the fastidious Edelweiss, the national flower of her beloved Switzerland.
Elise loved to climb Thornhill Mountain in her younger days and, in her latter years, go on day trips around the Terrace area - to Prince Rupert, Kitimat and the Nass. During these trips, she was always on the look- out for her favourite raptor, the Bald Eagle.
Elise is survived by three daughters - Magdalena Hansen (Svend Hansen), Maria Hugi (Joseph Litner), Susan Marchand (Mark Marchand) - nine grandchildren and a great grand-daughter and will be greatly missed.