Heli will be forever remembered by her husband James (Jim); daughters Katriina and Annika; her parents, Ritva and Olli Kuivanen; brother Kari Sarne and wife Maria Österlund; niece Camilla Lundström, her husband Joon Ingberg and son Miko.
Heli was born in Tampere, Finland, and has lived and gone to school in England where her parents taught for a time, as well as getting some work experience and schooling in the United States. In 1987 she received her MBA from the Helsinki School of Economics. After a work exchange program in Alberta she decided to move there in the late ‘80s. She then met Jim and they married in 1996. In 2004 she received her Canadian citizenship. She had recently retired from the Government of Alberta position of Senior Director with the Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Tourism.
Heli enjoyed reading and spending weekends on her laptop, catching up on news from around the world. Weather permitting, she enjoyed being outside, and always put in a small veggie garden and flower pots. She was well travelled and had been to many places all over the world. Family and friends perhaps will find their world a little smaller now with her departure.
"It is a curious thing, the death of a loved one. We all know that our time in this world is limited, and that eventually all of us will end up underneath some sheet, never to wake up. And yet it is always a surprise when it happens to someone we know. It is like walking up the stairs to your bedroom in the dark, and thinking there is one more stair than there is. Your foot falls down, through the air, and there is a sickly moment of dark surprise as you try and readjust the way you thought of things."
Lemony Snicket, Horseradish
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