Pille HESS

Pille Hess, nee Kalm, passed away peacefully on June 15, 2026, at the age of 94. Born on July 10, 1931, in Tallinn, Estonia, she was the fourth child of Juhan and Helmi Kalm. Pille grew up with siblings Tiiu, Leelo, Andres, and Toomas, and her childhood was marked by summers at the family's country property and winters in the capital, where she attended private school and took piano lessons. Following the Soviet invasion in 1940, Pille and her family fled Estonia, eventually settling in Uppsala, Sweden, before immigrating to Canada in 1949, where they established a farm in Breslau. It was there that she met her future husband, Gerhard Hess, a veterinary student, at a dance for refugees. They married on July 7, 1951, and had five children: Erik, Markus, Allan, Kristoffer, and Liisa. After Gerhard's passing in 2004, Pille remained the loving matriarch of their family, which included 22 grandchildren and 44 great-grandchildren. A funeral service will be held to honour her memory.