Gertrude (Trudy) Miller of Calgary passed away at the age of 99 years.

Trudy was born on a farm near the prairie town of Craik, Saskatchewan, the fifth of six children. She and her brothers and sisters walked 3 ½ miles to school and back almost every day. She continued with her daily walk right up until her 99th year.

Trudy graduated from Regina Teachers College in 1932, and taught in rural schools for six years until she changed careers and graduated with a secretarial and accounting diploma in 1939, and became an instructor at Cornell College of Commerce in Regina.

At the end of World War II, she moved with her husband, Leonard Miller, and her two sons to Nipawin, Saskatchewan, where she and Leonard took positions with the Nipawin School Unit. They were both employed by the School Unit for over 20 years, until Leonard passed away in 1969.

Trudy then completed a Certificate in Nursing Home Administration from the University of Saskatchewan and held administrator positions in Nipawin, and Quesnel, B.C. During this time she married Raymond Coleman.

She retired to Surrey, B.C. where she bought a home next to her older sister Viola (Lola). Later she moved to Abbotsford then to Calgary, where Ray passed away in 1995. Her last years were spent in Royal Park Retirement Residence.

During the whole of her life, Trudy was an avid learner and reader, and in her retirement she became a prolific prize-winning quilter. She possessed a robust sense of humor, and genuine wisdom about life, and how to live it day by day. She was a role model to her family and friends on aging successfully.

A celebration of Trudy's life will be held at Woodcliff United Church, (5010 Spruce Drive S.W., Calgary) on Friday, July 5, 2013 at 1:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made directly to the Arthritis Society, www.arthritis.ca.

In living memory of Gertrude Miller, a tree will be planted at Fish Creek Provincial Park by McINNIS & HOLLOWAY FUNERAL HOMES Park Memorial Chapel, 5008 ELBOW DRIVE S.W. Calgary, AB, T2S 2L5