The Yukon is saying good-bye to a woman remembered for her pioneering and giving spirit.

Babe Richards died earlier this month. Many of her more than 90 years were spent volunteering her time to an endless list of organizations aimed at making Whitehorse a better community.

Her efforts over the years resulted in honours like, among others, the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002 and the Yukon Heritage Award in 2008. She and her good friend Gudron Sparling shared that award as they together received lifetime honours.

“She was just a fun-loving person,” Sparling said in an interview Thursday, remembering her life-long friend.

“We were just always together,” Sparling said.

As Sparling recalled, Whitehorse was a small community when they were growing up, living about a block away from one another.

Born May 25, 1924, Evelyn Mae Richards (who was known as “Babe” for most of her life) was always making sure Sparling, who was two years younger, knew who was older.

“We did everything together,” Sparling said.

There was a full “gang of us” who were growing up in Whitehorse – then a town with a population of 300 in the winter and rise to about 500 in the summer – at the time, she said. “We had lots of fun.”

It’s difficult to highlight one memory of a life-long friend, Sparling said, noting it was Richards who had the memory for their adventures in years past.

Regularly sitting in the common areas of Macaulay Lodge, Richards would ask Sparling if she remembered this or that, launching into a story of their past.

“She had great stories,” Sparling said.

Richards was more than happy to share all those stories to anyone with a listening ear.

T.C. and Bernadine Richards were Yukon pioneers in their own right.

T.C. was also recognized in the Yukon Transportation Hall of Fame as a pioneer responsible for forging new services to deliver cattle, groceries, mail and passengers across the territory.

Her parents also owned the Whitehorse Inn. The sprawling hotel at the corner of Main Street and Second Avenue was demolished in 1979.

The Richards’ family home downtown is designated as a municipal historic site – the T.C. Richards Building – which has housed the offices of the Whitehorse Chamber of Commerce for many years.

Richards married John Brown and lived in Whitehorse and Watson Lake before moving to northern British Columbia in 1967. It was in 1971 when she returned to her hometown, becoming a central figure in the community.

As the owner and operator of the Broises Tienda dress shop and later a daycare – where she was known to the kids as Grandma Babe – she was an entrepreneur.

She was also well-known for her extensive work with local charities.

That was all along with raising her own 10 children as well as a number of foster children she took in over the years.

Her pioneering spirit was largely evident in the history shared when she won the heritage award.

As the Heritage Yukon website stated when she was honoured: “Her spirit is exemplified by the story of the time she borrowed a bulldozer from a highway maintenance crew and briefly took a few lessons before building a road to a lake site where her family eventually built a cabin.

“Babe has volunteered for many charities, sat on many boards and remains true to her life’s work of creating a healthy community by supporting its children.”

As her own children grew up and started families of their own, Richards would take on the role of beloved grandmother to 23 grandchildren, eventually becoming a great-grandmother to 15 and a great-great-grandmother to three.

In 2013, Richards moved to Macaulay Lodge, where she happily spent her final years greeting visitors who came in and continuing to share her stories.

As Sparling said, her friend will be remembered throughout the territory for her “jolly” spirit.

A celebration of life is set for May 2.