Our dearly beloved wife, mother and grandmother, Tanya Svoboda, passed away peacefully on June 3rd, after a courageous 20-month battle with highly aggressive lymphoma.

Daughter of the late Emanuel Krouský and the late Antonie Krouská (née Černá), Tanya (christened Taťána) was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia during the difficult time of German occupation and World War II.  She had the sharp intellect of her father, who had studied to be a lawyer like his father and grandfather, and the beauty and grace of her mother, who was a model and the prima ballerina in a professional ballet company.

In her youth, Tanya pursued physical and intellectual excellence in equal measure.  She was, among other things, an accomplished track athlete and table tennis player.  She also finished with the top grades in her middle school and in her industrial high school, the highest educational institution she was allowed to attend after the Communist authorities forbade her from pursuing her dream of becoming a physician because her family was not sufficiently proletarian.

The happiest random event of Tanya's life was meeting Alec (Aleš) Svoboda at a dance when both were 17.  They fell in love, got married in 1964, and had two sons – Alec Jr. in 1965, and Tom in 1973.  In between came the crushing of the Prague Spring, escape from the country, and political asylum in Switzerland.  Six months later came a one-way flight to Canada, and the beginning of their new life in the country they often referred to as the best in the world.

Having arrived in Canada with nothing but a child and a suitcase, Tanya and Alec through their perseverance and hard work built a happy and successful life. Tanya initially took on a succession of odd jobs while also raising her boys.  Later, she took accounting and computer courses and partnered with Alec in founding and operating, for almost twenty years, a successful survey research company.  They sold their business and retired in 2012.

Tanya and Alec were always together, and took their boys on some epic vacations towing a little trailer across the continent.  There were also winters of skiing, and summers of jumping into lakes at Haliburton and Collingwood. In between, she and Alec would embark on many cruises and other trips to explore the world.  They also frequently visited family and friends in their old country.

Tanya's greatest joy in life was her family, and she was fortunate in having them nearby.  Christmas Eve wiener schnitzel and potato salad were consistent highlights of family holiday gatherings.  Tanya's was a life well lived, and her one comfort in her final difficult months was the knowledge that her sons are healthy and happy with loving families of their own.

Tanya is survived by grieving husband Alec, eternally grateful sons Alec Jr. (Christine) and Tom (Kate), and grandchildren Nadia (Kerry Meissner), Andrea, Connor and Carly.  A celebration of Tanya's life will be held later this year.

The family expresses its thanks to the doctors, nurses and staff of the Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital oncology department for the excellent and compassionate care Tanya received during her cancer journey.