A longtime community member in Kelowna has passed away.
Helen Serwa - affectionately known as Bapka - died on Monday at the age of 106 years old.
Serwa's parents came to Canada from Ukraine in 1899, with Helen born as the tenth of thirteen children in 1911, in Garland, Manitoba.
She first went to school at eight years old, not knowing how to speak English, before teaching in a one room schoolhouse after graduating grade 12.
She and her husband Jack were married in 1932, and moved to Kelowna in 1945, where she established the Ukrainian Orthodox Church 12 years later.
After Jack died in 1987, she carried on with her passions, writing two books in her 90s, and winning an award for her garden at the age of 100.
Helen had five children - Ruth, Cliff, Doreen, Lillian, and Helen - and saw her family grow to include 18 grandchildren, 21 great-grandchildren, and 2 great-great-grandchildren.
Son Cliff was one of the co-founders of Big White, while her great-granddaughter Kelsey is representing Canada at the Olympics next month.
Her funeral service will be held Saturday at 1 pm, at the Springfield Funeral Home.