Dorothy Kostrzewa

Career

She is notable as the first Chinese-Canadian woman to hold political office in Canada when she was elected to Chilliwack City Council in 1969. She served on city council for 33 years making her the longest serving city councillor in British Columbia. Dorothy Kostrzewa was born the youngest of eight children fathered by Chinese immigrant Doctor Chung Bing Kee in Chilliwack"s Chinatown neighbourhood.

She studied accounting at the Duffus School of Commerce in Vancouver, and worked as an accountant at Chilliwack General Hospital from 1949 until 1969.

She was first elected to Chilliwack City Council in 1969 making her the first Chinese-Canadian to hold political office in Canada. She retired from politics in 2008.

Achievements

• She earned the Order of Chilliwack, was named Woman of the Year, and awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws from University of the Fraser Valley in 2009 for outstanding community service. She was named the woman of the year and millennium woman of the year. She was named Sportsman of the Year. She was named a Paul Harris Fellow by the Chilliwack Rotary Club, and one of Chilliwack’s Community Sports Heroes. In 2006 Kostrzewa was named one of the 100 Chinese Canadians making a difference in British Columbia.