Elsie " Ruth" Chyzyk June 26, 1917 -May 20, 2009 " peacefully sleeping , resting at last" Ruth passed away peacefully in her sleep on Wednesday morning at Overlander Residential Care Centre in Kamloops, BC at the age of 91. She is survived by her son Gerald (Cheryl )Willerton and daughter Vivienne (Earl) Hawley and granddaughter Kerry Lou-Ann Hawley (Coral). She is also survived by her sister Kay (Dennis) Hurrell, and brothers Garnet and Harvey Kolesar. Ruth was predeceased by brothers Bernard, and Tom Kolesar. Ruth was born in the rural municipality of Rosedale, Manitoba and grew up on her father's farm in Springhill. About 1949 she left with her children for the West Coast where she began her new life journey which included cooking on the freighters that travelled up and down the coast. In Vancouver she continued her love of cooking by owning a cafe and then opened a used clothing store before working at Woodwards for many years. Ruth collected art, enjoyed live theatre, movies, reading and her flower garden. She was very knowledgeable and passionate when discussing politics and anything to do with finances. In the last few years as she lost her sight she was very grateful for CBC and other talk radio stations for their company. She loved to travel and has seen many places in the world from Greece to Japan. She enjoyed travelling with her good friend Ellie and the family is very gratefully to Ruth's special "telephone friend" Donna who called her nightly with jokes and good conversation when she lived in New West. In 2006 she moved to Kamloops to be closer to family and took up residence at the Shores. Over the years, as her sight and health failed, she had an angel by her side by the name of "Cher "to support and take care of her. Ruth will be remembered for her wonderful smile, her great sense of humor and her love of a good joke. She will also be remembered as a colorful, gregarious and eccentric personality who had an endearing zest for life. The family would like to thank the wonderful staff at the Shores, High Country Health Care, the nursing staff at RIH on 5N, 6N and 7N as well as the support staff at Overlander for their care of Ruth during a difficult time. A special thank you to our wonderfully caring Dr. Mavis Hollman . Cremation has taken place and a celebration of her life will be held in Kamloops in August. Burial will take place in the Rosedale Cemetery in Manitoba, where she will be laid to rest with her beloved grandmother Harriet Davies. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that a donation to a charity of your choice be made in memory of Ruth. Our thanks to Justin Clark of Personal Alternative Funeral Services for his assistance