Beatrix (Bebe) Volcansek

Bebe is the sister of Illyria, the daughter of Anton and Julie, the granddaughter of Milena Volcansek, Billie Johnston, Bill Johnston, and the late Karl Volcansek. She is the niece and cousin to Beth (Al), Greg, Mark (Julija), Alana, Taylor, Jacob, and Emmett. She is the friend of many but particularly her life-long amazing besties Annette, Rachel, Lora & Grace and her roommates and kindred spirits Chiara, Morgan & Skylar. She was the pet sister to her beloved dog Cleo and her sweet cat Dolly. She was friend, co-worker, karaoke partner, choir member, classmate, backup singer, and partner-in-crime to many who knew her, and a girl who touched the lives of countless people.

Words cannot express the loss we feel in our hearts for our sweet, wonderful girl. She lit up a room with her smile, filled spaces with her voice, and made everyone around her laugh at her antics. She was whimsical and sassy all in the same sentence, laughed so hard at her own quips and jokes she couldn’t finish them sometimes, played Kirby’s Epic Yarn (a game no one understood but her), and won the Volcansek Family Cup the most with her ability to strategically place an X or Z onto a Scrabble board and get a ridiculous amount of points. We made her Spotify playlists every year for her birthday that we would play loudly as we made breakfast that day. She cared for her parents and siblings when we were sick and would spend hours watching TV or silly movies, drinking tea, cuddling on the couch, and checking on us. Everyone that knew her said she had the biggest heart, a great capacity for love, and carried joy with her wherever she went. She sang and played loud music in her car while driving and enjoyed card games and buzz feed quizzes into the wee hours with her friends. She was our Bebe, our Bunny, our lovely, our dearest darling and our darling dearest, our peanut, and our baby girl. We truly are having trouble imagining our world without her bright little light in it.

Bebe came into this world on a cold sunny Friday in January when there was a double rainbow in the sky. She climbed trees, danced around the house with her family, loved her blue bunny, loved to ride bikes, sang like a little songbird, laughed loud and often, built snowmen with her sister, taught her dog tricks, read a lot of books, loved stories, and we think she was born with a mischievous smile.

She was a competitive swimmer with GHAC for most of her childhood, sang with the Hamilton Children’s Choir for 7 years, acted in plays at Binbrook Little Theatre, was a gymnast with Hamilton Mountain Gymnastics Centre, won Lego Robotics trophies with her St. Martin team, went to Slovenian School at St Gregory the Great, and attended classes and camp at the Dundas Valley School of Art. She attended Camp Trillium and Camp Quality cancer camps with her sister and learned archery, how to prank people, high ropes, fire pit songs, and sailing.

In her teens, Beatrix became an amazing artist, helped build homes for Habitat for Humanity, took Construction and Physics classes, developed a great love of plants, started to colour her hair various hues including burgundy, blue, green and black, collected rocks wherever she went, collected maps from her favourite places and displayed them all over her room, and figured out how important activism was to her. She was a feisty feminist and social justice warrior, an anti-capitalist, and a lover of nature. She learned the joy of camping with family & friends, canoeing, and white water kayaking.

Beatrix worked for Fortinos making salads, for Campfire Circle as a lifeguard and sailing instructor, and for Ontario Parks as a lifeguard at Earl Rowe Provincial Park.

She was in the Landscape Architecture program at UGuelph and going into her 3rd year. She loved her studies and her friends in the program. She would pop home on a weeknight during the school year just to visit and tell us about her classes or adventures then head back to school happy. Bebe drew pictures in her sketch book of the view outside some of her classrooms and enjoyed drawing trees in particular. UGuelph will be lowering their flags at half mast September 9th in honour of Bebe.

Bebe hiked paths near her apartment and complained everyone walked slow. She sang ‘Let it Go’ and ‘A Whole New World’ on repeat for weeks in her apartment with her roommates. She liked feeding ducks and taking pictures of deer she encountered on her walks. Beatrix’s interests were eclectic and different, thoughtful and silly, just like her.

She loved reality TV shows, camping, hiking, drawing, painting, singing, swimming, gaming, red glass, costume jewellery, and her love of antique thrifting was unparalleled. She loved to travel and was looking forward to more countries and adventures. In her short 20 years with us Beatrix had travelled to all Canadian provinces, Japan, Iceland, Slovenia, Croatia, England, Bahamas, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Austria, Italy, Mexico, and the USA. She visited Chicago and Montreal with her friends and loved camping in Algonquin Park with her besties. She was convinced they were ready for back country camping this fall, the rest of us were not that sure.

Beatrix loved music, animals, thrifting, gaming, art galleries, and the outdoors. She was a little songbird who sang around our house and her apartment in Guelph. She loved Lana Del Rey, Concrete Blonde, The Smiths, Fleetwood Mac, Charli xcx, Lorde and was often found at concerts. With her family she visited animal hospitals and sanctuaries all over the world for turtles, bears, wolves, dogs, donkeys and other creatures. She believed strongly in being a good and kind human to all animals and cared for them deeply. She spent many hours gathering precious finds at the Aberfoyle Antiques Market, Ottawa Street Antique Market, and at other markets near and far. She loved red glass, lace shawls, teeny tiny objects, interesting jewellery, and cool unique clothes. She was an avid gamer and played Minecraft. She built worlds with Lord of the Rings settings and characters from The Pitt, Star Wars & Love Island into her university years. She built and managed online cafes, created dragons online and loved the game Among Us. She visited galleries and museums wherever she went and enjoyed learning about art, other cultures, and how people lived at different times in history. She climbed mountains in the Rockies, went horseback riding through the Santa Inez mountains, went white water rafting in BC, encountered humpback whales in Newfoundland, hiked on trails across Canada, the USA, Europe, and Asia, rode bikes from the Netherlands to Belgium, did high ropes courses in Quebec, snorkelled in the Adriatic and Caribbean, tobogganed at Battlefield Park, and swam and canoed in lakes in Ontario.

Bebe and her family were very close and her love of her sister in particular was astounding. She fiercely loved her older sister Illyria and their antics around the house were epic. From impromptu trials for the last cookie eaten to arguments filled with laughter about ridiculous subjects to outbursts of songs with sometimes made up lyrics to quiet moments of being flopped on the same couch reading; they were inseparable. They were each other's strongest advocate, greatest cheerleader, playmate, support, secret-keeper and advice-giver. Bebe only applied to one university—UGuelph—because that’s where her sister was. They thrifted together, drank a lot of boba & matcha, ate a lot of sushi and ramen, watched horror movies, cooked, talked, fought for blankets when they stayed at each other’s places, laughed, played, hugged, joked, and threw sarcasm at each other like an Olympic sport.

We know that Bebe is with her stari ata Karl and her sweet dog Cleo now—likely having adventures and getting into mischievous trouble, laughing loudly, arguing her opinions fiercely, hugging often, and always singing.

The Donkey Sanctuary of Canada was a place near to Bebe’s heart this past summer. Her love of all animals her entire life was profound, and when she discovered Phoebe at the Donkey Sanctuary she said they had a spiritual connection. We are asking for donations to the Donkey Sanctuary of Canada in honour of our Bebe. She would want Phoebe to be well loved and cared for at the Sanctuary. Sponsorship link: https://www.thedonkeysanctuary.ca/donate-in-memory/

Bebe's ashes will find a resting place among the corners of the world and landscapes she loved most. Her soul will always be beautifully free.

Bebe’s Celebration of Life will take place Wednesday, September 9, from 2-4 pm and 6-9 pm at Markey-Dermody Funeral Home, 1174 King Street East, Hamilton.