Suzanne Priscilla Hillyard

August 23rd, 2024, in Nanaimo, BC.

Born in St. Boniface, MB, July 4th 1951, Suzanne is predeceased by her parents Cyril and Priscilla Callewaert and brother-in-law Ken Harvey. She is survived by her husband Colin Hillyard, sister Paulette Harvey, brother Paul Callewaert (Stephanie), sister-in-law Sharon Swanlund, and nieces and nephews: Braiden (Trisha), Brent, Kieran, Alicia, Kent (Chantelle), and Mark (Fran).

Born and raised in Winnipeg, Suzanne started working for the City of Winnipeg in 1973, finally retiring in April, 2007 after 34+ years. Throughout retirement she enjoyed travel, making our Oakbank house a home, gardening, and tending to the pets. After downsizing in 2020, we moved to Parksville, BC, where she resided at the time of her passing. My heart is broken but she is at peace after a long struggle.

What an amazing 35 years I got to spend with the love of my life, Suzanne. I will never forget - the night we met, December 2nd 1988, when I gave her every reason to walk away, but she never did – that smile and the laughs that always followed – the marriage proposal at Portage & Main when driving home one night – how beautiful she was on our wedding day - hosting parties for friends, family, strangers and always with a camera to record the crazy events of the evening – she was a lady, but never afraid to let her hair down for some fun - vacations and road trips, just the 2 of us, with the Moms or with our car friends, it was always the journey, not the destination – walking up to friends or complete strangers and telling them how beautiful they were – skiing, camping, mountain bike trips with the boys and even a skydive – her enthusiasm in turning our houses into homes – her pride in what we had accomplished as a couple - enjoying a good (most times) glass of wine – spontaneous dance parties in the living room - running the show while I was all too frequently away for work – gardening all day until I begged her to stop - sleeping on the floor of the family room one summer because our Newf ‘Brook’ couldn’t climb the stairs to sleep on our bed – her ‘besties’, women of all ages, that had to be cool and fun to join the club - how excited she’d get decorating our homes for the holidays, especially Halloween because she loved seeing the little kids – her red convertibles - and how she managed the exhausting COVID move to Vancouver Island and still had that smile on her face. I feel so lucky to have shared those years with her, I wish there had been many more.

I’d like to thank the doctors, nurses and staff at the Nanaimo Regional General Hospital. They always went above and beyond treating Suzanne over the last few years – and especially the Palliative Care Unit making her so comfortable in her final days.

Cremation has taken place and scattering of ashes will occur on a later date.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to Nanaimo Regional General Hospital -Palliative Care Unit.