Obituary of Frieda Marie Bratt

Frieda Bratt (ne Mahrhofer) Frieda Marie Mahrhofer was born June 6th, 1934 in Dyjakovice, Czechoslovakia. Frieda came with her grandmother Rosalind, father Franz, mother Rosalia and sister Rosa, and many other family, (aunts, uncles, cousins) from Sudetenland to Canada in May, 1939. They were in the group of Sudeten refugees who were located at Tomslake, BC. Frieda was almost five when she came to Canada and knew no English at all. She started school in the one room school house in Tomslake that the community had built and had to learn English quickly. The first years were hard, but they had strong connections with each other, in the community, and made their own support system and social gatherings. Everyone helped everyone. Things changed with time and became a bit easier for their family. Through her teen years Frieda worked in the fields with her Dad. She preferred working outside instead of helping in the house; that work was left to Rosa and her mom. Frieda was always very social and was involved with all the community events. She played baseball on the women's team, and also loved to go to dances. It was at one of those dances that she met Henry. She and Henry dated for several years and married in 1954. Some of the things they enjoyed together were hunting, fishing, and dancing. She went dancing not only at the Tomslake dances, but they travelled to many towns in the Peace River country where they danced, and often where Henry played as well. She and Henry were excellent dancers. Frieda and Henry's lives soon became busier with the addition of their three boys Garry, Frank, and John. Their home was always filled with music and many social gatherings with both family and friends gathering there, often after the dances. She loved to watch all the things happening in the community, especially when some of her boys were involved. These included cheering (rather loudly) at the many soccer, baseball, broomball, and hockey games through the years. She learned to ride the skidoos and later with the boys, the three and four wheelers. She enjoyed the outdoors and going touring in the bush on many weekends. Frieda was a member of the Tomslake WI for many years, and she helped with numerous events in the community, including making donations of hand-crafted items to the hospital, lunches in the community, as well as other occasions. She also taught German dances to people of all ages, from the little ones in school to adults. She and Henry also taught ballroom dancing in Tomslake and also in Dawson Creek. Work: Frieda first worked on the farm, her first paid job was at Pouce Couple Hospital as a care aid. She worked there until Garry came along. Keeping house with three busy boys kept her very busy. She finally had to learn to cook and bake. Later on Frieda cleaned offices in the evenings until the Dawson mall was built, and the International Deli caught her eye. She started working there and later she and Henry purchased the business with her partners the Rothfos's. After selling the business, she started working at the dry cleaning company, Northern Linen. She worked there for many years until the long drives in the winter started to wear on her. She heard of the German businessmen building a hunting lodge in the Tate Creek area and that piqued her interest. It wasn't long before she decided to go talk to them and Klukas Lake Ranch became her final paid employment. Her years working summers at the ranch were some of the best times of her life. She had so much fun trading stories with the people there and then with her family about the exploits of the hunters. She made many lasting friendships that remained with her always. Frieda's many hobbies and interests included: Crafting, knitting, crochet, cake decorating, wood crafts, Christmas tree skirts, she even tried making moccasins with no luck, her hands were always busy. When something caught her eye, she figured out how to make it or have someone else do it for her (the moccasins). Some more of Frieda's passions were Bingo and card playing. She was always ready to go to the nickel bingos at least an hour ahead of time and if the boys weren't there at least a half hour early, she was phoning them already. Frieda loved social gatherings of all kinds and had such a love of joking with people. Her life filled even more when she became Oma, her grandchildren were the light of her life. Even though she didn't start out enjoying cooking or baking, all her family loved going to Oma's for Sunday dinners. She was a wonderful cook and made the traditional German dishes for everyone to enjoy. Going to Oma's (or Dante Frieda's) for strudel, kuchen, rye bread, goulash, especially with dumplings, were a highlight for not only the grandchildren but many nieces and nephews and friends. She was always happy making which ever treat one of the grandchildren liked best. She had started to teach her grandchildren her recipes as they were not written down, it was "Well you just add enough till it feels right!" Frieda had always wanted to go back to the "old country" to visit relatives still there, and she was able to do that first with Henry to Austria, then later another trip to Austria and then Germany. She also traveled with friends to Reno, then Disneyland and Mexico. Her last years were spent closer to home and finally at the Rotary Manor care home where she received wonderful care until her passing. Frieda, you will be sorely missed, but we know you are probably dancing with Henry in heaven and getting everyone organized to your way of doing things. We love you and will see you again someday. Service 1:00 pm Thursday, October 29, 2015 Bergeron Chapel 10200-17th Street DAWSON CREEK, British Columbia, Canada V1G 4C2 Interment Tomslake Community Cemetery Tomslake TOMSLAKE, British Columbia, Canada