June 19, 2009
Media contact: Patty Wellborn
Office: 604-795-2819
patty.wellborn@ufv.ca
| Dorothy Kostrzewa has won many accolades during her career as a municipal politician in Chilliwack, but UFV's honorary Doctor of Laws degree was a 'wonderful surprise.' |
Chilliwack’s Kostrzewa awarded honorary Doctor of Laws degree
After more than 33 years of public service as a city councillor Dorothy Kostrzewa has earned enough certificates, awards, plaques, and thank-you cards to create a pile almost as tall as her five-foot frame. She honestly thought she’d seen the last of the accolades.
Retiring from municipal politics last fall, Kostrzewa, labelled one of Chilliwack’s most popular city politicians, was sure the spotlight would now shine on others and she would enjoy a quiet, yet still busy, retirement.
So she was ‘bowled over’ when UFV president Skip Bassford called to tell her the university was presenting her with an honorary Doctor of Laws degree for her outstanding community service.
“I was so shocked,” she grins. “It is such an honour to be recognized by the university. I would never have expected something like this.”
Kostrzewa’s mandate has always been quite simple. She’s community-minded and got involved in politics so many years ago to help make Chilliwack a better place to live. She was born in Chilliwack, the youngest of eight children, and her family survived many historical events including the great flood of 1948 where she was noted at the age of 19 for managing a raft while her brothers dove under the rising water to retrieve vegetables from the submerged garden.
After high school, she attended the Duffus School of Commerce in Vancouver and learned the accounting trade. She was hired immediately upon graduation and began a 20-year career as an accountant at Chilliwack General Hospital. In 1969, the accomplished tennis player decided the community was lacking in quality recreation facilities and ran for office with the intent of improving leisure opportunities for young families.
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Kostrzewa was first elected as alderman to the Township of Chilliwhack in November 1969 — the first Chinese-Canadian woman elected to political office in Canada. She recalls the first few years were a bit of a challenge as the notion of quality leisure time still seemed a foreign aspect to this hard-working farming community. But she loved the work and was happy to run for the next municipal election.
Being a Chilliwack politician become much easier, she recalls, after the City of Chilliwack amalgamated with the Township of Chilliwhack in 1980 to form the District of Chilliwack. In 1999, the District of Chilliwack became the City of Chilliwack. Kostrzewa has seen the community through all of its transformations and municipal changes and sat on many boards and committees.
Along the way, she watched Chilliwack grow. She took one five-year break from municipal politics but returned because she knew her work was unfinished. The final feather in her political cap was the approval for the new Chilliwack Cultural Centre that will house a theatre and arts gallery. It is currently under construction and is scheduled to open in 2010.
“It took 30 years of pushing to get that,” she adds. “But it was 30 years of a job I loved doing. I’m not a materialistic person and when I make up my mind to do something, I do it. The greatest thing about this job was the self-satisfaction when you see something so badly needed by the community finally coming to life.”
She served as a Chilliwack councillor for 33 years and was awarded the Union of BC Municipalities’ long service award (for 25 years). She’s also been named Chilliwack’s Sportsman of the Year, a Paul Harris Fellow by the Chilliwack Rotary Club, a member of the Order of Chilliwack, and one of Chilliwack’s Community Sports Heroes. In 2006 she was named by the Vancouver Sun as one of the 100 Chinese Canadians to make a difference in this province.
Kostrzewa can now add honorary Doctor of Laws degree to that list of accomplishments. She remains humble, however, and really is touched by the honour.
“All that I’ve ever done in my life, I have done for Chilliwack and the people who live in this wonderful community,” she says. “I love Chilliwack and I always wanted to make it place where people wanted to stay and raise their families. I never thought any of that work would end in accolades like this.”
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