SUSAN WILLMS, mother to her siblings and grandmother to their children, died on Monday, March 9, 2009 at the Coaldale Healthcare Centre. She was 86. Susie was born in Molotschna Colony, Ukraine on January 21, 1923. She immigrated with her family to Canada in 1925 at the age of two and a half. Her life was spent generously in devotion to her faith, family and community. Sharing seemed to come naturally for her. When she was a child, she and her brothers and sisters would receive a small portion of Christmas candy. Susie would save hers and treat the others after they had eaten their own. Adulthood began when she was still quite young. As the most senior girl among 11 children, she left school after passing eight grades in just five years so that she could help the family make ends meet on their farm outside Coaldale. Her mother, Susanna, was very grateful for the assistance with cooking, cleaning and raising the younger children but later expressed regret that she had not encouraged Susie to continue her education. After her younger siblings were grown, Susie took secretarial and accounting classes and, of course, educated herself. She was a good cook and some of Susie’s first jobs outside the home were in kitchens, which she transformed into places of love and nurturing. She was recruited by the Mennonite Central Committee in the 1950s to cook and undertake administrative duties for Pax in Germany, an alternative service programme for conscientious objectors drafted by the U.S. government as well as some Canadian volunteers. As she did throughout her life, she established long lasting friendships with some of the Pax ‘boys’. In the 1960s and early 1970s, Susie spent a number of years working at Boys Farm (later Craigwood) for delinquent boys in Ailsa Craig, southern Ontario. She was loved by the boys there and kept in touch with some former residents for decades afterwards. After returning to Coaldale, Susie helped care for her elderly parents in their final years. She was a cook and later administrator at Altenheim, the Mennonite Home for the Aged in Coaldale, until her retirement in the late 1980s. Though Susie didn’t marry or have children, she has a large family that adores her and whom she doted upon relentlessly. Throughout her life, Susie made a priority of building relationships with her sisters, brothers, nieces and nephews and their children and grandchildren. She would often insist that family gatherings be at her house - or at the villa where she later lived in retirement. The kitchen was a place of laughter, of dinner and faspa with zwieback, wareneki and the other Mennonite dishes that she prepared so well. Birthdays and Christmas were times when the youngest members of the family would receive cards from aunt Susie, often with cash gifts tucked inside. Yet it was her kind smile, infectious laugh and the generous attention that made those in her presence feel special. In the final stage of her life, when she was weakened physically and mentally by strokes, arthritis and other ailments, Susie sometimes wondered aloud why she was no longer able to do work helping others. Despite her deteriorating health, she still felt it easier to give than receive. As long as she was able, Susie continued to receive joy from spending time with her family, particularly the children. Yet she also spoke of being ready to go home to her Lord. Susie is predeceased by her parents Susanna and Abram, siblings Henry, Abe, Jake, Helen and David, her niece Carol and grandnephew Logan. She is survived by her sisters Mary, Margaret, Anne, Johanna and Betty, 31 nieces and nephews in addition to her many grand- and great grandnephews, nieces and their spouses, who deeply love and miss her. Graveside Services will be held at the Coaldale Mennonite Cemetery, Coaldale on Saturday, March 14, 2009 at 10:00 A.M. with Pastor Manfred Boller, officiating. Memorial Services will be held at the COALDALE MENNONITE CHURCH, 2316-17 Street, Coaldale, AB on Saturday, March 14, 2009 at 2:00 P.M. with Pastor Manfred Boller, officiating. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to M.C.C.