Flo Whyard, a writer and journalist, editor, former territorial council member and mayor of Whitehorse, passed away Sunday evening at the age of 95.

Whyard was a dominant figure in the community since her arrival in the Yukon more than 60 years ago.

"She was a powerful individual,” said John Firth, a longtime friend and local author.

"She didn't let a lot stand in her way, and she was passionate. Passionate about writing, passionate about history, passionate about Whitehorse and the Yukon.”

A life which would have a resounding impact on the Yukon began across the country, in London, Ont.

Whyard was born in 1917, the daughter of a newspaper reporter for the London Free Press.

In a 2004 letter Whyard wrote to the Western Alumni Gazette, she said her first memory was the sound of an "old typewriter banging away on the other side of a wall” beside her crib.

As a child, Whyard was an avid reader, frequenting the London library, and learning a "newsman's perspective on the world” through the work of Rudyard Kipling and O. Henry.

She fell in love with journalism while working as a student reporter for the Western Gazette.

She would remain a journalist for most of the rest of her life.

She spent the next years working two jobs, as a newspaper page-proofer and an office manager at Canada Bread, while continuing to contribute social pieces for the Women's Page of the Sentinel-Review.

Then she went to war.

During the Second World War, Whyard enlisted in the Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service.

Even with the Navy, she found an opportunity to write, editing the WRCNS magazine and penning a freelance feature for Canadian Geographic Magazine about the Canadian Wrens serving in Canada, New York and Washington.

She also worked as a commissioned officer at the Naval Information Office in Ottawa.

Her life in the North began when she met her husband, James Whyard.

At the time, James was a graduate engineer and surveyor, who had already worked in Northern Canada.

In 1944, they married and one year later, he was transferred to Yellowknife, moving his young family North, where they would remain for the rest of their 53-year marriage.

Whyard delivered her first child at the Consolidated Mining and Smelting Corp. medical facility, with the birth certificate issued by the local RCMP and a Bill of Landing certificate for ore tonnage, which recorded just 8 1/2 pounds.

Never deterred from following her own career, the new wife and mother began freelancing for several national publications.

While in the Northwest Territories, she wrote for News of the North, the Edmonton Journal, The Canadian Press and CBC/ International shortwave service, among others.

The family relocated to Whitehorse in 1955.

Whyard soon began work as a journalist for the Whitehorse Star, covering social items, women's organizations, church functions and later the courts and territorial council.

She became the Star's editor in 1964, a job she would hold for almost eight years.

She then became the Canadian editor for the Alaska Northwest Publishing company.

After several decades climbing the ranks in Canadian media, Whyard tried her hand in politics.

In 1974, she was elected to the Whitehorse West seat on the Yukon Territorial Council, managing Health, Welfare and Corrections. She served four years in the position.

In December 1981, Whyard was elected mayor of Whitehorse, handling a serious flood in the industrial area, the closing of the territory's largest producing mine, the lead-zinc facility at Faro, and the closings of the Whitehorse Copper mine and the White Pass and Yukon Route railway's service from Skagway to Whitehorse.

Finally, she was appointed Yukon administrator (the commisioner's assistant and representative, where necessary).

The Whyards lived in Riverdale, and were one of the first families in the subdivision.

Her children grew up and moved away and she watched her family grow across Canada.

She spent the rest of her years as an active community volunteer, a founding member of the Yukon Foundation, a local historical researcher, who helped establish the Yukon Transportation Museum and updated and re-published Martha Louise Black's 1938 autobiography My Seventy Years, while remaining, as always, a writer.

"She was very active in the community in every way,” said friend and local businessman Rolf Hougen,

"From a social standpoint, from a political standpoint, as a writer and a historian. She was so deeply involved. She was a great contributor to the Yukon and to Canada.”

Her last contributions to the Star came in the form of a Friday column called "And now, a few words from Flo” in the 1990s and early 2000s. She chose to end the column when she felt her years were catching up with her health-wise.

Her last three years were spent at Copper Ridge Place.

"She was happy at Copper Ridge, said Hougen. "She told me that they were taking good care of her there.”

Whyard died with her loved ones nearby.

"She went peacefully among her family,” said her grandson, Dan Anton.

"When I say she was with her family, I also mean her Copper Ridge family. We are just so appreciative of the care she received.”

Whyard leaves behind two children, six grandchildren and great grandchild.

Her funeral is being planned for Saturday afternoon.