SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
When Brian Piro recalls his mother he remembers a woman with an adventurous spirit with a passion for community and a love for sports.

Known for her adventurous spirit and love of sports, Jean Piro, wife of the late Mike Piro, passed away in her home on Jan. 30. The Piro family was known for their significant contributions to Yellowknife. - photo courtesy of Brian Piro

Jean Piro, wife of the late Mike Piro, a prominent businessman in Yellowknife, died peacefully at home Jan. 30, according to Brian, the second of four children. She died only weeks before her 94th birthday, Feb. 19.

Brian described his mother as an adventure lover whose desire to see new places brought her to Yellowknife in 1947.

Piro called his mother a talented and devoted athlete. She played baseball, curled and enjoyed speedskating and basketball. She even played on an Edmonton basketball team that once beat the men's Olympic team, said Brian. He said she was still bowling well into her 80s.

"She was into all kinds of sports and clubs - a pretty interesting girl," he recalled. "She was very adventurous, she rode motorcycles."

Jean met her future husband shortly after moving to Yellowknife who became part-owner of Yellowknife's first auto garage, Frame and Perkins, in 1947. Mike and Jean Piro were married in 1949.

The two went on to have four children: Gordon, Brian, Lorie and Sandra. In Yellowknife, Jean worked briefly as a waitress, an office administrator and later settled as an appliance salesperson with the Hudson's Bay Company. She stayed with the company for 25 years.

Piro described his mother as someone who always went the extra mile in both her personal and professional life.

"She was always doing stuff for people," he said. "If somebody was having some problems, she would cook some meals and take them over."

He recalled many stories of his mother and her sporting activities, including how Jean was at one time the only person in Yellowknife to possess speed skates.

"All of us kids wondered what these things were," he said.

"They were these leather boots with these huge blades so I would take them and use them on the lake and could skate faster than everyone."

As an active community member, Jean was a member of many clubs and associations. These included the Yellowknife Curling Club, the Float Plane Association, Daughters of the Midnight Sun and the Yellowknife Rotary Club, among others.

In the late 1970s, Jean became involved in an effort to revitalize parts of the city and helped, with a small group of people, to purchase a community bowling alley, called the Polar Bowl at the time.

"She pretty much did everything to keep the community lively," Piro said.

Having lived in Yellowknife for 70 years, Jean was one of the city's longest standing residents. Piro Court, a street in the Range Lake area of the city, is named after Jean and her husband. Mike Piro died in 2000. To celebrate the city's 75th anniversary in 2009, Jean was named one of eight "Golden Girls" - longtime city matriarchs who were crowned at a gala event at the Multiplex arena.

Donna MacEachern said she knew of the Piro family since she moved to Yellowknife in the 1960s. However, she only got to know Jean in the final three years of her life while taking her for coffee to Tim Hortons.

"She was the kind of woman you loved to sit down and have coffee with," MacEachern said.

"She had a memory like you wouldn't believe."

She recalled coffee dates filled with stories about the people and personalities of Yellowknife.

"When you sat down with Jean, it was like you were listening to history," she said.

"When she said anything about Yellowknife, you knew it had to be true because Jean said it. Everyone knew she had this incredible memory. She was certainly a fine lady, and she loved people."

Besides her four children, Jean is survived by three brothers: Dave, John and Bill; and four sisters: Doreen, Doris, Ann and Janet. She is predeceased by parents John David Elliot and mother Janet Oliver Elliot, along with sister Kathryn. Jean is also survived by seven grandchildren: Lindsay, David, Randi, Kim, Mike, Chanel and Cheyanne.

The Piro family said there are currently no plans for a funeral but a celebration of life will be announced at a later date.

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