Penticton hospital donation comes from couple’s love for each other and their adopted country

PENTICTON – The South Okanagan Similkameen Medical Foundation has received a $100,000 donation toward it's campaign to buy medical equipment for the upcoming expansion of Penticton Regional Hospital. 

Hermann Standfest made the donation to the foundation in memory of his late wife, Trudy, according to a media release.

The couple made Canada their home following a harrowing escape from behind Russian lines following the end of World War Two.

It was 70 years ago that Hermann, 22-years-old at the time, packed his rucksack and travelled by night to escape to the American occupied zone of Germany from behind Russian lines in Czechoslovakia. Three years later he met Trudy in Heidelberg, marrying her in December of that year.

Hermann emigrated to Canada in 1951, finding work at the Bralorne Gold Mine near Lillooet. Trudy eventually joined him and the couple moved to a 14 acre orchard in Penticton in 1966.

Trudy contracted Alzheimer’s Disease and died on Jan. 26 at the Westview Extended Care residence next to Penticton Regional Hospital.

“She was everything I dreamed of in a marriage. She was everything to me,” Hermann says in the release, adding the donation is not only in Trudy’s memory, but also a way to say thanks for the great life the couple enjoyed in Canada.

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