Yvonne was born in Lethbridge, AB and died on the first day of spring at Nanaimo Hospital (NRGH), suddenly and unexpectedly after a brief attack by a rare cancer as unique as she was. Yvonne will be lovingly remembered and missed by her husband of 65 years, Francis Leonard Cyril Hooper (Len), her four children Trevor, Jon, Janette, Kara, daughter-in-law Laurie, her grandchildren D’laine, Declynn, Morgan and Elissa, and her great-grandchild Euan. Yvonne was a strong and generous person, unassuming, but with tremendous impact. She touched many lives during her 81 years, including both family and community. Some of her fellow kitchen volunteers remember her as “wonderful and selfless … an outstanding example of what a human being should aspire to be”. She embodied the “think of others before yourself” motto from Girl Guides (she was a long-time leader and eventually rose to Commissioner for the Northwest Territories) and was always looking for ways to ‘make yourself useful’. She was a steady, anchoring presence for the Hooper family in Qualicum Beach and across the country, and a devoted caretaker to her parents Stan and Elsie Bowen. Yvonne worked to have as small an environmental footprint as possible with her “every little bit counts” philosophy and encouraged those around her to do the same. She was an avid up-cycler, always finding ways to ‘reuse and reduce’ in her art and home projects as well as driving their original hybrid car for almost 20 years and installing solar panels on her home in overcast Qualicum Beach. She was also an avid supporter of the arts, and an artist in her own right: she could make anything and make it beautiful. She was a talented woodworker and carpenter, building cabinetry, exquisite finishes and art pieces to make houses feel like homes. She was deeply involved in the local arts scene, including commissioning pieces of art and contributing in many ways to running of The Old School House Arts Centre, as well as the Dickens Festival and Gingerbread House Competition, and the Festival of Trees. Yvonne married Len on July 2, 1960 in Sedgewick AB, and shortly thereafter moved to Fort Smith, NWT. While ‘up North’, Yvonne was involved with Girl Guides and Square Dancing. She became renowned for her creative floats in the annual July 1st Parade, including a life-sized paper-mache Muffaloose. She was elected to town council, became chairman of the building committee for a new Health Centre and acted as the chair of the board of directors for the completed Centre. Yvonne leveraged her know-how to design and build an energy efficient family home with Len and her dad, Stan. Through these various endeavours, Yvonne raised her four children to become independent, resourceful people. Yvonne had an incredible ability to source and create things – living up north, you had to be able to do-it-yourself! Very entrepreneurial, she first opened a dress shop where she sold fabric and created bespoke clothing, which expanded to include custom picture framing and a gift shop. When her children were in high school, she founded Taiga Enterprises Inc. so she and the family could provide custodial services to government offices as well as catering for events in town and the college cafeteria. They produced and published the town’s weekly newspaper, the Slave River Journal, and provided DJ/Disco for events. When the kids left home, she and Len ran a bed and breakfast for tourists coming to enjoy the NWT wilderness. Upon leaving the Northwest Territories in 1990 for the warmer climate of Qualicum Beach, BC, Yvonne and Len designed, built and ran the 5-Star Bahari Bed & Breakfast from 1990 to 2011. Yvonne’s grandchildren have treasured childhood memories of the hot tub she built, located on a cliff nestled amongst the mature trees and looking out over the beach below. On each visit, they would wrap up in the warm robes Yvonne had made and visit their own little paradise. Remembered for being quietly supportive, Yvonne worked social justice into her life in many ways, including prioritizing rentals of her duplex to single mothers. Yvonne had recently started volunteering at the kitchens of the Qualicum Beach Senior’s Centre and the Bradley Center and rekindled a love of dancing, taking ballroom dance lessons with Len. She was the planner of many wonderful events for the Hooper family, including a 3-day family reunion celebrating birthdays for Len and her mom. She made the cakes and hors d’oeuvres, decorated two venues, and had live entertainment and fun activities for the dozens of guests. She was an avid reader, fabulous baker, and lived every day authentic to her beliefs. She seemed to have boundless energy and spent most of it in service of others. Though she had 81 years which she lived to the fullest, she was taken from us too soon. Yvonne will be celebrated by her close family, who plan to share a meal in her honour annually. If you wish to honour her memory, please consider donating to the Oceanside Hospice Society https://oceansidehospice.com/donate/, whose wonderful volunteer staff provided comfort to Yvonne in her final days, or to The Old School House Arts Centre https://www.theoldschoolhouse.org/donate-page.