Dr. Emilia Hlusek
It is with heavy hearts that we announce the peaceful departing of Dr. Emilia Hlusek who passed away surrounded by the love of her beloved daughter, cherished colleagues, and loving friends at the North Bay Regional Health Centre in the early hours of the morning on Tuesday December 23, 2025. The family is eternally grateful for the compassionate care of the physicians and the nurses who took care of Emilia in her final hours in the CCU at the NBRHC. Emilia was the beloved wife of the late Milan Hlusek and the loving and proud mother of Michelle McMartin (Grant). She will be lovingly remembered by her sister Eva Ziacikova. She is predeceased by her brother Dr. Milan Truchly (Dr. Antonia Truchla) as well as her parents Cyrill Simon and Cecilia Truchla (nee Kovacikova).
Dr. Emilia Hlusek was born on July 6th 1940 in the former Czechoslovakia, where her early life was shaped by resilience, faith, and a deep commitment to learning. On her wedding day in 1968, as her homeland was occupied, Emilia and her husband made a courageous decision that would define the course of their lives. With a small suitcase and an unwavering dream of freedom and possibility, they left everything familiar behind and immigrated to Canada, determined to build a better life.
Emilia carried that courage with her always.
In Canada, she pursued medicine with extraordinary perseverance. Despite barriers faced by immigrant physicians, she adapted without bitterness and with remarkable resolve. She was first trained in internal medicine, and when access to residency programs was limited, she entered psychiatry, not as a compromise, but as a calling. In time, she achieved her true specialty in geriatric psychiatry, dedicating her life’s work to caring for society’s most vulnerable with dignity, patience, and deep compassion.
Her colleagues remember her not only for her clinical brilliance, but for her humanity. Emilia listened deeply. She cared beyond measure. She saw patients not as cases, but as lives worthy of tenderness and respect.
A trailblazer in every sense, Emilia became the first female medical director of a hospital in Ontario and the first woman admitted into a university doctors’ society, achievements she carried with humility, never seeking recognition, only justice and excellence. She opened doors simply by walking through them with courage and grace.
Emilia’s life was grounded in profound faith. She was devoted to Mary, Our Mother, whom she saw as the ultimate example of selfless love, quiet strength, and unwavering compassion. That devotion shaped how Emilia lived and served; gently, faithfully, and without expectation of return.
Above all, Emilia was a devoted mother. She taught by example what it means to live with integrity, purpose, and love. Her legacy lives on not only in medicine and leadership, but in the lives she touched, the barriers she broke, and the values she embodied every day.
Courage. Grace. Love. These are the words that define Dr. Emilia Hlusek.
She will be deeply missed and forever cherished.
As per Emilia’s wishes, cremation has taken place and the family will be receiving visitors at McGuinty Funeral Home (North Bay) on Friday January 2, 2026, between the hours of 6 pm to 8 pm. A Memorial Mass will be celebrated at the Pro-Cathedral of the Assumption on Saturday January 3, 2026 at 11:00 am, followed by a lunch and celebration of life at 1:00 pm at the Grande. If desired, donations to the North Bay Regional Health Center Seniors Mental Health Program would be gratefully acknowledged by her family. Online condolences can be made at www.mcguintyfuneralhome.com
