Prince George residents are mourning the death of city matriarch Bea Dezell, who died Thursday at the age of 105.
Not only did she live to a remarkably old age but she also led a remarkable life, according to friends and family.
"She was a vibrant little lady," said longtime friend and former city councillor Shirley Gratton.
While husband Garvin was noted for being the city's mayor throughout the 1960s, Bea was well known in her own right. She was active in the Girl Guide movement and instrumental in establishing a camp for Guides and Brownies east of Prince George.
Another lasting legacy was Bea's Tree. In 1953, she bought a three-foot high Christmas silver Christmas tree from Perry's Pharmacy for her Brownie pack's Christmas parties. In 2004, it became part of the Spirit of the North Healthcare Foundation's live auction and in that time has raised more than $125,000. In 2012, it was auctioned off for a then-record $52,500.
Her resume included active involvement in the Royal Purple and the Good Cheer Club and, as she got older and her vision began to decline, the White Cane Club.
But she is also being remembered for the little things.
"I'm going to miss her Christmas letters," Gratton said. "She did her whole year of history, of her canning and gardening and she had grapes on her property and she made wine.
"And she was always gift giving. You couldn't leave her place until she gives you something to go home with."
She had a streak of independence. Daughter Noreen Rustad remembered the time Bea bought a cabin at Tabor Lake, then known as Six Mile Lake, without her husband's knowledge. Despite the initial shock, Rustad said he came to enjoy the second home as much as the rest of the family.
Bea was a master of "passive resistance."
"If she didn't want to do something, she wouldn't argue with you - she'd just go do what she pleased," Rustad said.
Her personality left a lasting impression. She was variously described as "bubbly," "positive," "optimistic," and a "social butterfly."
"The amazing thing about her is she continued to make friends even as she got older," Rustad said. "Her social skills were wonderful, she just loved to be visiting, she loved parties and having people around...once people came into her sphere, she seemed to just draw them in."
Sylvia Cooney, who was Bea's neighbour in the McBride Crescent duplex where they lived for 52 years, said she was "just a lovely, lovely lady."
Bea loved to garden. She was "not much into flowers," but grew plenty of vegetables and, according to others reached Friday, was a big producer of rhubarb wine that made the rounds. And despite her busy schedule, she always had time for a visit.
"We enjoyed many, many glasses of wine and many hours out on my deck," Cooney said. "She loved to get outside in sunshine. If there was a glass of wine, fine. If there wasn't, that was OK, too."
She was also prolific in crocheting, even after she became legally blind albeit with a bit of help.
"I sat down with her a couple of times and helped her with a pattern for crochet and she would do it," said Sharon Ford, who knew Bea through delivering audio books to her from the Prince George Public Library .
Her willingness to embrace new things earned her the nickname Granny Gadget. With the advent of the Internet, one of her favourite phrases was "just Google It," and as her eyesight declined, she learned how to use a braille typewriter and had an array of reading aids.
She also traveled extensively, particularly on cruise ships as she got older. Indulging the grandchildren was also a pastime, including secretly teaching them how to drive on the Tabor Lake property.
"It wasn't later until they told us what they did when grandma was around," son Cliff Dezell said. "Our son and our nephew managed to get the car stuck up against the tree once. There was a small dint in it but it wasn't until years later that we heard about that particular episode."
Granddaughter Tami Santos said she loved hearing Bea's stories about the Great Depression, when she and Garvin had moved to Williams Lake from the Lower Mainland, where she was born.
"My husband says she is the only person that he knows that had a good time during the Depression," Santos said.
She remember Bea greeting each of the 200 people who attended her 100th birthday party at the door and by name. Her age did not stop her from doing what she could to help others, Santos added.
"At 102 she was still baking muffins, with her caregiver's help, for friends who were sick in the hospital or at home," Santos said "She also mentored other people who were losing their sight."
Her memorial service - set for 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 15 at Knox United Church will draw plenty of friends along with family.
"An awful lot of people knew mom," Dezell said.
