Květoslava (Kveta) Suchánková

It is with great sorrow that we announce the passing of Květoslava (Kveta) Suchánková, who died on August 22, 2026, at the Teresa Dellar Palliative Care Residence, just a month before her 78th birthday.

A daughter of a fisherman, Kveta was born in Mutěnice in former Czechoslovakia, where she grew up with her two sisters and brother. From a young age, she developed a love of learning and languages, studying both French and Russian.

At around twenty years of age, she made the courageous decision to leave communist Czechoslovakia with a young man who would later become her husband, František (Frank) Mokruša. Together, they spent approximately a year camping throughout Italy and picking grapes at vineyards to make enough money to buy a suitcase for their journey to their new home: Canada.

They eventually arrived in Ottawa, where they learned English together as a second language. Education was deeply important to Kveta, and despite the considerable challenge of studying literature in a language she had only recently learned, she decided to pursue higher education in English Literature at Sir George Williams University, now Concordia University, in Montreal. As young newcomers building a life together in Montreal, she and Frank studied, worked and spent time discovering their new city, including jogging together up Mount Royal and around Parc Lafontaine.

She went on to become a teacher of young children, a profession she practiced for some time before leaving teaching to raise children of her own. She and Frank married while living in Montreal and later moved to the West Island, where they raised their two daughters, Elizabeth and Miriam.

Although Canada became her home, she remained deeply connected to her Czech heritage. She carried its culture and traditions into her home, particularly through food. There was goulash with knedlíky (Czech dumplings), koláče and other Czech baking, and traditional meals such as fish and potato salad, along with trays of jam-filled cookies that marked Christmas.

Her hands were rarely still. They cooked, baked, sewed, knitted, gardened, repaired and created. They darned favourite socks and mittens and knitted sweaters, scarves and vests to keep others warm. She could look at old pieces of wood or discarded material and see what it might become, building furniture or reupholstering an old chair to make it beautiful again. In the garden, she tended rows of tomatoes and cucumbers and nurtured the things she planted.

Those same hands also expressed her love. As soon as someone arrived at her home, a plate of homemade food would appear. Dessert might be a slice of her favourite strawberry cake accompanied by a cup of very sweet, very lemony tea. Rarely did anyone leave empty-handed; there were containers of shortbread cookies, baked goods or leftovers to take home and share.

Her generosity extended beyond people. She had a tender heart for animals and welcomed unwanted birds, bunnies, and even abandoned baby squirrels into her home, giving them another chance at life. Leftover bread was not simply thrown away; it went outside to the “beasties” in her garden. The squirrels and blue jays came to know her kitchen window, waiting for their offering of shelled peanuts.

She was also particularly fond of her grand-dog, Maggie, who adored her in return. Kveta remained convinced that Maggie was perpetually starving, despite all evidence to the contrary, and would happily boil her a couple of eggs as a special treat.

After fighting cancer for 17 years, Kveta’s health declined significantly during the final years of her life. Illness gradually took much of the energy and independence that had characterized her. She spent her final days receiving palliative care and died peacefully on August 22, 2026, surrounded by her family.

She will be deeply missed by her husband, Frank; her daughters, Elizabeth and Miriam; and their husbands, Andre and Pardeep.

In remembering her life, what remains are the values she carried with her and expressed in so many ways: her love of learning, her creativity, her connection to nature and animals, and her belief in hard work and perseverance.