Tunde Illes of Innisfail, AB passed away at the Innisfail Hospital on February 23, 2026 at the age of 64 years.

Tunde Illes was born on February 10, 1962 in Budapest, Hungary to Adel and Istavan Bora. She had two sisters – Eva and Adel – and one brother – Istavan.

She will be lovingly remembered and missed by her husband and best friend of almost 46 years – Jozsef Illes. She will also be missed by her children Robert, Tannyann, and Marshall as well as Kayla, the mother of her two grandchildren Mason and Nixon.

She met Jozsef in August 1979, and on April 12, 1980 they married. They moved to Canada from Hungary in October 1988. They first resided in Quebec for five years.

While in Quebec, Tunde started to study the Bible with Jehovah’s Witnesses. She treasured what she was learning and developed a strong love for her God – Jehovah. In 1995 she got baptized in symbol of her dedication to Him. She served Jehovah faithfully, taking time out of her busy schedule to visit people in their homes and share Bible teachings with them. For the past one and a half years she served as a full-time minister – a desire she always had, but thought she’d never have the circumstances to be able to do it. There was nothing she enjoyed more than loading her van up with friends and go preaching to others about the wonderful hope the Bible promises of living forever on earth in the near future.

Jozsef, although never embracing her beliefs, in loving support never complained about the time she spent in the ministry, the miles she put on their van, or the gas she used. If she was happy – he was happy!

In December 2025, she was able to fulfill the dream she had of going to Pioneer School for full-time evangelizers. She came back glowing – even though she had already started to become seriously ill a few weeks prior.

In 1996, they moved to Alberta. First to Red Deer, then to Spruce View, and finally to Innisfail. Until her health required that she retire, she worked as a foster parent for about 25 years. Over the years they opened their home to over 32 children. For all intent and purposes, three of them stayed long enough that they were adopted into their hearts as their own – Robert, Tannyann, and Marshall.

Tunde especially enjoyed travelling, and her and Jozsef, and the kids took many trips. Some short trips, some long trips. Over the years they went from Vancouver Island to the Maritimes. One of her most special places was David Thompson. Many times, the whole family would go -other times she and Jozsef would sneak away for a day trip. She always felt close to her Creator when she was close to His beautiful creations. She loved beauty in all its forms, – the sky, a flower, the ocean, baby animals, and the list goes on.

She loved to make people happy and she excelled at sharing. She often made meals to share with different friends. Often for no reason at all, the doorbell would ring and there would be Jozsef delivering some tasty morsels that Tunde had cooked up and just wanted to share to make someone else’s day.

She will truly be missed as she added so much colour to the lives of those she touched. Tunde looked forward to the time she would live again. This faith kept her strong and positive right to the end, and we look forward to welcoming her back on a paradise earth just as Jesus has promised at John 5:28, 29.

A Memorial Service will be held at the Innisfail Kingdom Hall on Saturday, March 21, 2026 at 1:30 p.m. For those not able to attend, there will be a Zoom link: Zoom Meeting ID: 893 7823 5271 Password: Meeting (Capital M)

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be directed to: Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses, 3304 – 52 Ave, Innisfail, AB T4G 1H3

Condolences to Tunde’s family may be emailed to meaningful@telus.net. Please indicate “Tunde Illes” in the subject line.

 Arrangements in care of

Meaningful Memorials Funeral Service

A locally owned cremation and funeral provider

serving Red Deer and all of Central Alberta

587-876-4944

• Date : 2026-03-05
• Location : Meaningful Memorials Funeral Service, Red Deer AB "Locally Owned"