We lost a ray of sunshine from our lives on Monday March 9th but a new star shone brighter in the heavens that night. Eva Rita Behuniak (Halina) was born on August 19, 1929 in Myrnam, Alberta where she would be raised. After graduating high school in Myrnam, she moved to Edmonton where she attended Business College to learn secretarial skills. While in Edmonton her mom took in boarders to help make ends meet. Our father, William Paul Behuniak, was one of those boarders and soon began a love story that would span 62 years of marriage. After William graduated from the University of Edmonton they moved to Drumheller valley where three children were born to this union: Dan (Rosa), Greg (Zelda), and Tina (Norman). They were blessed with seven grandchildren, Teri-Lyn (Kevin), Amber (Drew), Crystan (Colt), Logan (Vanessa), Jon (Anja), Camilla, and Clay. Following Dads passing in 2010, mom was gifted with five great grandchildren, Hannah, Kaitlin, Bryan, Zaya and Ari. They will miss their beloved Granny. Eva never had idle hands. She was either feeding or serving family or she was sewing, cross stitching, knitting and crocheting. She made it her mission to knit preemie toques for the RDRH NICU after her first great grandchild was born premature. She lived to create gifts for her family such as Afghans, quilts, toques, scarves and cross stitch pictures. Eva loved music. If she wasn’t singing she always had music playing in the background. Eva and William were the best of friends. They spent all their free time travelling at home and abroad, were avid golfers, and loved camping. Some of Eva’s favourite memories were of the time she spent in her beloved Kananaskis country. Eva’s other best friend would be her Siamese cat, Peppi of eighteen years. Peppi came for a sleepover from Tina’s farm with her granddaughter Camilla and never returned home. The Cat became a vital part of Eva and Williams’s life and more so kept Eva company for the ten years after Williams passing. She loved Peppi and spoiled her to the extreme of cooking salmon fillets each week instead of feeding her canned food. They kept each other going all these years and Eva always said Peppi was expensive paid company but irreplaceable. Eva was passionate about writing and the importance of family. She left letters of instructions to her children about staying in touch and looking out for one another long after her and William were gone. We will honour those wishes to the best of our ability. She left legacy letters full of love and guidance to each of her seven grandchildren and wrote about their birth and the day they each came into her life. She inspired and encouraged all of us to be successful and creative and to always balance work with play. She always said the secret to living long was acting young and she did just that. Her doctor of twenty eight years always teased her of living and acting like a 70 year old in a 90 year old body. Some would call it denial of getting older; Eva would say it was all mind-frame. She would continue to internationally travel into her 80s, camp in Kananaskis annually and live alone until the end of her days at the age of 90. We would like to thank Eva’s family physician for being instrumental in keeping her young and healthy so we could enjoy all these years with her.
Eva is predeceased by her parents William and Anne Halina; brother, Ed (Ann, Doreen); Sister, Margaret (Ray) and her beloved Husband, William. She is survived by her youngest sister, Dianna (Bill Jackson), and brother in law, Mike Behuniak (Judy) and numerous nieces and nephews who were special to her. Memorial Donations on Eva’s behalf may be made to the Red Deer Hospice society where she received exceptional end of life care by staff and volunteers. Condolences may be sent or viewed at www.parklandfuneralhome.com. Arrangements in care of Parkland Funeral Home and Crematorium, 6287 – 67 A Street (Taylor Drive), Red Deer. 403.340.4040.