Gwendolen Siu Ching Hsu, late of Toronto, Canada, departed the afternoon of March 21, 2023, at North York General Hospital (NYGH), at 77 years of age after a two and a half year battle with cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer).

Born half a world away in China, she spent a near idyllic early childhood there with her close-knit family, where forays with her grandfather to Chinese operas sparked her lifelong love of the medium along with literature, history, and folklore. Later years saw her family move to Hong Kong, where the bustling metropolis helped her thrive in a business career with worldly independence. She met her future husband in the workplace, and their daughter was born a year after their marriage. Shortly after, they immigrated to Canada for a better life, where initial years were lean, but with consistent hard work, frugality, and perseverance, they were eventually able to forge a stable life with some comforts for their family. Gwendolen built a decades-long career with Canada Post, forming deep friendships with colleagues there, which together with finding a cherished circle of friends in Edmonton, made the Alberta capital her de facto hometown and where she lived the most years of her life.

Gwendolen is preceded in death by her parents and her older brother, William. She is survived by her husband, Micheal, daughter Victoria, siblings Margaret, Connie, Richard, Sita, Lawrence, and Robert, and many nephews and nieces.

Family thanks the staff of NYGH 5SE for their compassionate care of Gwendolen in the last week of her life, notably nurses Tony, Ilia, Samira, and also Dr. Eldon Ng and Dr. Joanne Yu.

As per Gwendolen’s wishes, a simple, private funeral will be held, at Elgin Mills Funeral Centre in Richmond Hill on April 2, 2023. Though gone far too soon, she will forever remain in our hearts, an example and an inspiration to always remember our roots, treasure our family, value harmony, and take the high road to be the best person we can be.