It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our Mother, Oma and Great-grandmother, KATHARINA SCHULZ (née Rose) at St. Michael's Health Centre - Palliative Care Centre (Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada), at the age of 83 years.
Katharina will forever be cherished by her four children, Monika (Pierre Gilbert), Winnipeg; Roland (Elke), Vancouver; Angelika (Lethbridge) and Esther (Victoria); her five grandchildren: Pierre James, Rachel and Stephen Gilbert (Winnipeg); Armin and Kai Schulz (Vancouver); her two great grandchildren, Valerie and Matthew Gilbert (Winnipeg); her brother Alex Rose (B?rbel) Potsdam, Germany; her two sisters, Olga Schmidt (Winnipeg) and Maria Brenner (Bayreuth, Germany). She also leaves behind sisters-in-law Ingrid Schulz (London, Ontario), Helen Schulz (Perth, Australia), her first cousin Ira Schmidt (nee Zahn, Sherwood Park, Alberta), and many nephews and nieces in Canada, Germany and Australia.
She was predeceased by her husband Martin Gustav Schulz (d. 2010) in Lethbridge, her brother Ernst Rose (1942-2019), and her parents Otto Rose (1910-1944?) and Martha Rose (nee Zahn, 1914-1976, Bayreuth).
Katharina was born in Emiltschino (now Yemil'chyne) near the farming settlement of Gottliebsdorf, in Volhynia, then part of western Soviet Ukraine, into a fourth generation ethnic German farming community. The family fled the Red Army in 1943 like thousands of others, and were put into a Displaced Person camp in Bavaria. The post-war years saw hunger and uncertainty, and with her father's conscription and death (MIA), and her mother's illness and incapacity, Katharina was placed into a foster family at 12 years and her two younger brothers into an orphanage. She grew up in Einbeck, Germany, where she studied art and design and was apprenticed, going on to design wallpaper and curtain patterns. At 18 she followed her older sister Olga to Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1956, where she met her husband Martin and was married in 1957. He said he was smitten by her beauty and elegance. Both became Canadian citizens in 1975. Katharina cherished the peace and security the new country had provided them. With growing prosperity and success, she worked in various client services and management positions, raised a family of four, and artfully designed the interiors of her family homes, and excelled at home cooking and baking.
In 1984, at 46 years, she moved to Lethbridge, Alberta, with her two youngest children at the time, Angelika and Esther, following her husband's job transfer in the banking sector. Katharina enjoyed gardening, swimming, nature walks, studying birds, playing card games and dominos, reading, art, and crossword puzzles. From her childhood, she understood rudimentary Russian and Ukrainian, but upon immigrating to Canada, she ardently taught herself English, going on to master the English language and excel at the most challenging crossword puzzles. Throughout her many trials and life's challenges she maintained a strong Baptist faith and believed the hand of providence had sustained her.
"Our mother has always shown us kindness and a willingness to help others. She went through life with a hardworking and loving nature. By her example of quick thinking, intuitiveness, responsibility and respectability, she has embodied the definition of resilience and shown us how to deal with the ups and downs of life. She was always there to support us and made our house a home, with her cheerful spirit, tender heart and loving smile. We will never forget you. We are blessed to have been born of such a courageous and determined woman as you."
~Forever in the Lord~
A Funeral Service will be held at CORNERSTONE FUNERAL HOME, 2825 - 32 Street South, Lethbridge, AB, on Tuesday, November 23, 2021 at 1:30 P.M. with Pastor Scott Dixon officiating. Due to COVID restrictions, attendance is limited. Kindly RSVP your attendance to Cornerstone at 403-381-7777 or care@cornerstonefh.ca
