Iona Audrey Eleanor De La Cruz Driegen nee Fitzgerald (83) passed away on Friday January 6, 2017 after a long and courageous battle with multiple myeloma.

Iona was born on April 7, 1933 in Calcutta, India. She attended St. Joseph’s Convent School in Kamptee, India and was awarded the title of “Best Girl.” She was renowned for her beauty and won many pageants, but the beauty of her spirit, kindness and charity shone above all. She married Norman De La Cruz in 1953.

From India, an Eastern wind carried Iona to Singapore, then Kobe, Japan and finally Vancouver, Canada. After the passing of Norman (1978), she married Lambert “Ted” Driegen in 1981 (ex-husband). Family and friends were Iona’s true joy in life. She was always helping those in need, lending a caring ear, serving hot meals and blessing those around her with a tremendously generous spirit. Her life was as beautiful as the flowers she arranged, her wit as sweet and spicy as the meals she cooked, and her influence will forever remain in the lives of all who knew her. She will be missed and cherished always. Iona was an ever faithful Catholic and a longtime member of Saints Peter and Paul Parish and Holy Name of Jesus Parish.

Iona is survived by her two children, Jennifer Rundle Harmar (Ken), Howard De La Cruz; and her granddaughter, Melissa Rundle (Eric Bergemann); her sisters, Grace and Shelagh; her nieces, Maria and Michelle; and grandnephew, Michael; second cousin, Lorna Barcellos (Gabriel); and relatives and friends all over the world. Iona is preceded in death by her parents, Theodore Renton Fitzgerald and Constance Grace Fitzgerald; and her first husband, Norman De La Cruz.

Flowers and arrangements may be sent to Holy Name of Jesus Parish or in lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be given to the BC Cancer Foundation. http://bccancerfoundation.com/ways-donate/gift-memory bccinfo@bccancer.bc.ca 604-877-6040