December 3, 1942 - June 7, 2019
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our Mother, Wilma Hunter. Wilma passed away peacefully at the age of 76 on June 7, 2019. Wilma fought a courageous battle against small cell lung cancer. After being given 5 weeks to live, Wilma battled and fought hard to be with her family for 5 months. She loved her family and her children meant everything to her. Wilma was born in Altena, West Germany and came to Canada in 1971. Wilma spent a big part of her life living in Abbotsford, BC where she worked in the Health Care field. She was a Mental Health Care Worker and worked at several seniors homes and care facilities within Abbotsford. Most of Wilma's career was spent at Sunrise Special Care Facility. Wilma loved her job and working with her residents. Wilma never looked down on her residents or thought of them as being any different. She always treated them with respect, kindness and dignity that made them feel special, important, cared for and above all loved. Wilma loved her residents so much and it truly showed. Even after retirement, running into the residents on outings to the local malls would result in loud calls of "Hi Mamma Wilma" or "Hi Blondie" when seeing Wilma. Both names residents called her for many, many years. Wilma had a great love and knack for gardening and every year she was proud to sit out on her patio at the entrance to Forest Village Apartments and share her amazing flowers with everyone that came into the complex. Wilma loved her patio, it was a place she loved to be more than anywhere. It was her piece of paradise. She would sit out there and talk with people from the complex, their visitors and anyone that would walk by always got a big wave and "Hello, how are you today?" Endless conversations took place at that patio over the many years Wilma had lived there. A lot of great stories were told there while drinking coffee and a lot of great advice was given there and above all a lot of genuine, kindness, caring and love was shown there. Wilma never judged anyone. It did not matter to her if someone was rich or poor, gay or straight, of any race or any religion. She was the most non judging person we have ever met. Wilma was also the most forgiving person we have ever met. Wilma touched the lives of many, many people through her job and private life. Anyone that knew her or met her knew how special she was. Our family is so lucky to have her as our Mom. She is the epitome of a great mother. She always put everyone before herself and was not just a great mother but also our best friend. She always forgave us for things we did wrong and never judged us. Her love was unconditional, genuine and pure. She made a lot of sacrifices for us over the years. Some of which we did not even realize until later in our lives. Our Mom called things the way she saw them. She was not afraid to speak her mind and to let people know when she felt they were doing something wrong. She often stood up for those that needed sticking up for in life. We love and respect and feel so honored to have her as our Mom. We always knew how tough our Mom was but it was truly amazing to be by her side during this last 5 months of battling her cancer. She never gave up and on bad days fought as hard as she could to put a smile on her face for us and to say just the right things to make us feel better. We are so proud of you Mom and we will never forget you and everything you have done for others including ourselves and we will honor you by being better sons, husbands, fathers, brothers and people. You are truly inspirational and we all look up to you, love you and respect you so very, very much. Thank you for being an amazing Mom and true friend for all of these years. You always gave us the best gift in the world and that was your love, time, honesty, advice, a shoulder to lean on and an ear to listen to us and you always accepted us for who we are. The very definition of true love and we thank you for that. Wilma is survived by her sister Ingrid Grajewski (Dahle, West Germany), husband Ben (Benny) Bilodeau (Elena Mihalache), sons Thomas Bilodeau (Renee), Michael Bilodeau (Heidi), Christian Bilodeau (Lisa Cathersides), grandchildren Chad Cuddeford and Corey Bilodeau, great grandchildren Kelliann and Shawn Cuddeford, family pet Punkin and predeceased by family pets Susie and Annie, Fritz, and Little One who she loved dearly as family. To the many friends Wilma has made over the years. Please know that your friendship meant so much to her and that she loved and cherished each and every one of you so very much. We would like to thank everyone at the Abbotsford Regional Hospital and Cancer Center for all of their amazing help. We would also like to thank the following people. Dr. Jenny Ko (Oncologist) for giving us extra time with our Mom, Dr. Kuldip Kahlon (family doctor) for many years of excellent care and friendship, Dr. Sharon Duncan and Dr. Aaron Cass (Palliative Complex Care Unit doctors), the Palliative Complex Care Unit and all of its amazing staff, the Oncology Unit and all of its amazing staff, the Chemotherapy Room and all of its amazing staff, the Emergency Room and its amazing staff, the hospital porters, cleaners, food service staff and lab staff, the hospital Pharmasave staff, Rhonda and Tammy at the Cannon Clinic, Home Health Care nurses and Home Health Care aides, the local Red Cross, Father William Ashley (St. James Church) and Father Rosemond Sylvestre (St. Ann's Church). Our Mom and all of our family are so grateful for everything each and every one of you has done in extending the time we were able to spend with our Mom.