Bridgette Vukusic

October 9, 1940 - August 4, 2024

Bridgette (Hartell) Vukusic began her enduring and seemingly limitless role as a nurturer and teacher at the age of four, helping her family by caring for and pushing her brother Willy in a stroller for days from the ruins of Berlin to find refuge with extended family in Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia at the end of WWII. Safety sprouted hope, and with time their family moved back to West Germany for several years, growing their family and rebuilding their lives - her mother Helga, her father Gustav, and brothersWilly, Rolf, and Hans. Dreams of a new life grew when her father's uncle, living in Port Arthur, Ontario, sponsored them to immigrate and begin anew in Canada. In May 1951 Bridgette was 10 years old the day they set sail for Pier 21 in Halifax aboard the Neptunia. She found herself naturally helping and teaching younger children in the ship's playroom on the long voyage.

Life blossomed for Bridgette in what is nowknown as Thunder Bay. There she met a Croatian man, Victor Vukusic, and to the chagrin of her German parents, married him and started her own family. They had a daughter, Yadranka. Bridgette loved watching her at dance lessons and playing music. She earned her teaching certificate and began in a 3-room rural school in Dorian, Ontario, quickly becoming a principal at a young age. They had another child, Alan. Soon after, they moved to BC and spent time in Vancouver and Terrace. There she met Victor's daughter Anka and embraced her as her own. They settled in Creston, BC, where she cherished her community and her role as a teacher, mother, and member of the arts community.

Bridgette was a dichotomy. When well, she was the example, reason and inspiration for those around her to flourish and grow. Abruptly, she would fall into times of mental anguish stemming from war-time horrors.

Though, her resiliencewas stunning. Refusing to stay down and buffeted by the love and support from family and community, she would again return to teach, nurture, provide and create. Lighter times were marked by dancing parties in our rural home, the raucousness of these measured by us kids running downstairs to the basement to watch the floor beams bounce as Victor played the accordion, while friends and family whirled wildly around the living room doing the polka.

She was fun, joyful, and spontaneous. She wouldn't balk at a troupe of giddy pre-teen boys running a dare-driven naked lap of our rural property at a childhood birthday party. Our bellies filled with money-cake, egged on by her whole-hearted belly-laugh. On a return trip from her childhood home in Montreal visiting family, Bridgette and Victor asked one another, "Where is the Grand Canyon from here?"Moments later, they changed their course, with six-year-old Yadranka in the back seat, and turned their drive home to Dorion into a six-week adventure that included the Grand Canyon and BC. She walked the talk, as she would often say " I hope you have happy travel trails". Although she wished she could have seen more of the world, she made daily life special."Celebrate each day"was her mantra, and if you had the honour of taking a stroll through just one room of her home you would understand. She was the master of creating vibrant and insightful shrines of memory, symbolism and meaning. Her wildly creative collages of art, flowers, heartfelt sayings, quotes, and pictures spoke volumes of what life meant to her. These installations would beckon to you and lead you to pause and wonder if your life is led by gratitude, curiosity, generosity and love.

Bridgette took healthy eating seriously. It played a big part in regaining her health. From a child's perspective it was mostly great, with food from either the forest or her enormous garden. Her Overwaitea routine was "outer aisles only", so the magic of boxed cereal was reserved for sleepovers at friends' homes. We know it was great sustenance, but really Mom? Thanks, but no thanks, for the carob Easter eggs that tasted like brown crayon.

Bridgette expected a lot from those she loved and wanted them to be their best. She made plenty of space for us to make-believe, create art, grow and develop. But she could also be firm. You could easily lose a coin from the tidily wrapped roll of nickels, handed out pre-trip as a carrot for good behaviour, if you argued with your sibling in the back seat on a road adventure.

She was such a curious human, and pursued learning her entire life. Her home was a cornucopia of curated clipped magazine and newspaper articles, books, pamphlets, photographs and collected quotes. She highlighted salient points and her beautiful penmanship summarized what resonated in the margins. After she died we found notes from phone conversations, tidily summarizing something she had learned about the bigger world.

In her later years, Bridgette wouldn't venture too far from her fantastic nest, but oh the phone visits you could have with her! If you had the time (or lack of resolve to wrap up the call) for her wonderful yet persistent and, at times marathon phone visits, you would be privy to her lovely, caring and inquisitive nature. She strategically wriggled in an extra minute or two during the wrap up with "Oh, I have one more question."

Close to the end of her life it was an absolute pleasure to see her feisty and stubborn side. She had always been so easy-going, but now she was on a mission. She had lived a life filled with love and pride in her family. She knew it was time to go, and she did it with such grace and ease, fully knowing that she left us with all the wisdom, love and tools we needed to carry on, day by day. She knew what she was doing. "Everyone is well on their way, I have done my job here, I am free to go now."

Bridgette is survived by: her daughter Yadranka McAulay (Greg) and children Kimberly, Kelly, Ashley, Amanda and Brittany; her son Alan Vukusic (Tamara) and children Adam and Finn; her daughter Anka Gibson (Roy) and children Rhet, Gian, Tyler, and Nada; brother Rolf (Sonya) and children Tamara, Ross and Kristy;

sister-in-law Suzanne and children Anie and Julie; and, sister-in-law Madeleine and children David, Philip and Sebastien; and, of course, all of the spouses and children.

A special thank you to granddaughters Kelly Benko, her husband Richard and their children Lizzy and Nick; and Kimberly Dennis, her husband Rob and their children Keaton, Mackenzie, and Connor, for their presence, caring and hands-on support.

Please join us at a Celebration of Life for Bridgette on Saturday, May 31, 1-4 pm at the Creston Seniors'Centre (810 Canyon Street, across from the Gleaners). We will remember Bridgette with an informal service. We encourage people to bring a story, a poem, or a few words. There will be a light luncheon with refreshments.

Please wear colourful spring attire.

If it feels right (another Bridgette-ism), please plant a flower in your garden for Bridgette this spring and remember how much you mattered to her.