Obituary of Lona Hirtz
Lona was born in Perdue, SK and as a baby, the family moved to Meadow Lake, SK to begin their life of farming. The farm remains in her family to this day. Education was a passion of Lona’s and she never stopped learning. She skipped 2 grades in school and was too young to start her nursing school. She worked for a store in Meadow Lake until she was old enough to start a new passion. After nursing school, she moved to Spokane, WA and then onto Riverside, CA. She loved California and all the fresh fruits and vegetables available all year long. When her mother came ill, Lona moved back to Meadow Lake to care for her mom. Lona and Frank Hirtz were married in Meadow Lake on July 1, 1955.
In August 1955 Frank & Lona moved to Cecil Lake to the family farm. In 1956, Frank, Lona and son, Earl moved to Stewart Lake for more experience in the logging business. Frank’s brother, Ralph took some ‘cats’ and started in the oil patch. That was the beginning of Hirtz Bros Construction. From there they formed an airline, Air Exec. Lona had left her passion of nursing to take care of the books for the family business. When Hirtz Bros Construction grew, so did the staff. Lona moved over to the airline and worked there until Frank’s death in February 1971.
The following year, Lona moved herself and her 3 children to Vernon, BC where she remained until 1978 which took her back to Fort St John. She started her career in Real Estate at Century 21, then later moved over to REMAX where she continued to work until the young age of 86. No matter what Lona did she did it with passion and complete abandon. She lived her live with absolute integrity and never wavered from it. She loved her pets, horses, skiing, gardening, photography, baseball, drives to the countryside and travel. She always said that if she died on the ski hill, it was a good day to die. Her true love was Frank, her 3 children and grandchildren. Everything she did in life; she did for her family.
Lona lived through the great depression, World War II and the recession of 1980’s. She has seen the world change from living in granaries with coal oil lanterns and horse & buggy to the luxuries we all live with today. She was a legend that will not be easily forgotten and will be deeply missed by her family and anyone she called a friend. If you ever bared your soul to her, rest assured she has taken your secrets with her. She despised gossip, cheats and liars and to say again, lived her life in complete integrity.
Lona is survived by her...
Children: Earl Hirtz (Andrea Olund), Hal Hirtz (Sandra Hirtz) and Lois Hirtz (Daniel Shank).
Grandchildren: Braden Sutherland (Christina Sutherland), Wade Sutherland (Lydia Sutherland), Darren Sutherland (Miki Sutherland), Max Hirtz (Ana Hirtz), Jasmine Hirtz, Virgil Hirtz (Christie Lawrence)
Step Grandchildren: Cylas Espe (Calita Donnelly), Brittany Espe (Adam Wetmore)
Great Grandchildren: Walker Sutherland; Molly Sutherland; Wes Sutherland; Everett Sutherland; Calder Sutherland; Alice Sutherland; Maya Sutherland; Eliana Sutherland; Theodore Sutherland; Archer Sutherland; Henry Hirtz
Step Great Grandchildren: Cove Espe & Meadow Wetmore
She is predeceased by her husband, Frank Hirtz, son-in-law, Patrick Sutherland, her parents & siblings. Lona was the last of the generation on both sides of the family.
Celebration of Life will be held on April 19, 2025 at 2PM at the Charlie Lake Community Hall.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Lona's memory to the BC Alzheimer’s Society. CLICK HERE to make a contribution.
