Yukon couple leaves $1M to help cancer patients

A longtime Whitehorse couple has left behind a very special posthumous gift $1 million to help cancer patients.

EduardFesteldied in August 2016 at age 65 and his wife Claire died in June 2014 at age 57. They both died of multiplemyeloma, a cancer that develops in a type of white blood cell called a plasma cell.

The couple owned various properties in Yukon, includinga 23-unit apartment building on 5thAve in Whitehorse called Alpine View. Eduard's will directedthe building to be sold and proceeds given to the South Okanagan Similkameen Medical Foundation, which works with the PentictonRegion Hospital in B.C.

The foundation's executive director says his teamisoverjoyed by thedonation and will name a section of the hospitalin the couple's honour.

Couple owned wilderness lodge, ran trapline

Eduardwas originally from Switzerland. He moved to Canada and eventually became an experienced bush pilot and backcountry guide. He built the Frances Lake Wilderness Lodge in 1985, which isabout 300 kilometreseast of Whitehorse. He also ran a dog team and continued to buildremote cabins over the years.

Claire Festel was born in Gasp, Que. Shemoved to Yukon in 1977 looking for a summer job and ended up staying. She would later serve as executive director for the Tourism Industry Association of Yukon.

The couple met in 1994. Theyshared a love for the outdoors andcame to run a trapline.

Claire alsopublished a book of biographies called Remarkable Yukon Women.The book's about-the-author blurb says she and Eduard "explored the far reaches of the North by various means: canoe, snowshoe, private plane and on foot. Their adventures around the world were also active: trekking in the Himalayas, biking in Cuba, kayaking in Australia and Mexico, and hiking in any destination, from Switzerland to Australia to Canada."

The two moved to B.C. for health reasons in 2009 and became involved withlocal volunteer groups.

Roslyne Buchanan, a neighbour in Penticton who knew the couple,remembers going on walks with Claire and her big husky dog, namedYukon.

Buchanan says the Festels were known as busy volunteers, travellersand athletes.She says the couple stayed active until the veryend and will be remembered as a community-minded pair.

"It's a wonderful legacy for sure," she said.

"I think both of them appreciated the care they received from local medical teams and other cancer treatment in Kelowna and Vancouver."

Hospital section to be named in their honour

Carey Bornn, executive director for the South Okanagan Similkameen Medical Foundation, which is a fundraising agency for thePenticton Regional Hospital.

He says the donation was an amazing surprise.

"We at the foundation did not know them personally and the medical staff were not expecting this," he said, adding his teamfirst heard of the donation without knowing its value.

The money will go towarda new patient care towerbeing built in B.C. as an extension of the Penticton Regional Hospital,specifically tobuy medical equipment for cancer care. Construction is scheduled to be complete in 2019.

Bornn says the Festels will be honoured with a commemorative plaque in the hospital where they will be listed assignificant donors.

There will also be an area on the second floornamed in their honour, he said.