Obituary of Gertrude Schmidt

Oma was born on September 7, 1925 in Krzeczow, Poland. She was the second of four siblings, all girls. Oma has always been a fighter, even from the very beginning. She was born very ill and for the first 8 days of her existence fought hard for her life. As a result of this, she was baptized very early on which is why she received only one given name. Her family was convinced she would not live so, on her 8th day of life, as the story goes" her father said that he should get out the shovel and start digging her grave. However, Oma proved them wrong. Not only did she recover, but she went on to live 90 more interesting and unique years. During the Great Depression in the 1920's, when Oma was about 3 years old, her family moved from Krzeczow, her father's homestead, to Hohenbach, Poland. Here, in a German village where her mother's family resided, they tried to find financial stability. On September 8th, 1931, Oma had two exciting things happen in her life; her first day of school and the birth of her new baby sister Ilse. Oma always believed that her sister's birth was the reason she was enrolled in school. Oma did very well in her academic career, receiving marks that were mostly 'sehr gute,' or in our language, very good. At about 12 years old, Oma's mother was diagnosed with Cancer and had to undergo an operation. Her father then took on the task of dividing up the responsibilities, leaving her older sister Hilde to take care of the household chores while Oma worked in the fields with her father. After attending school for eight years, she went to work in Mielec, which was the biggest city in the area, approximately 16 km east of Hohenbach. Over time, she managed to find work in an airplane factory in the city which built the Messerschmitt planes. She was hired to do the filing and blueprint copying (with blueprint solution) for the planes. This is where Oma first met Opa. Although nothing came from these encounters just yet, Oma said that he often came and asked for blueprint copies. Sometime later, this airplane factory was bombed by the British and the employees were offered a similar job at an airplane factory in West Germany. Unfortunately, Oma's parents felt she was too young for such a voyage and did not allow her to go. Opa however, went. Oma was one of the Hitler Youth at this time. She reminisced about being taught to march in unison and was constantly practicing and preparing for a sudden occupation. She was never really able to fit in however and it was difficult for the others to find her a role. Looking back on this time, she was very happy she did not fit the mold. Due to the Russian Occupation, in June 1945 Oma and her family fled Poland and relocated to Eastern Germany. Here she worked on her father's farm. In Germany, all farms were mandated by the government to plant certain crops. One of these crops was tobacco, which she said was very labour intensive. To cure the tobacco, Oma had to carry the leaves to their attic where they could dry evenly. All her hard work paid off though. When her father took the tobacco to market by horse and carriage, he received many compliments on how good it was. This made Oma really happy. A few years before their move, her sister Ilse had been sent to school in Austria for safety reasons. After they relocated, Oma's father went to the train station every morning looking for news of his youngest daughter. People traveled everywhere by train including prisoners of war, and passengers would shout out to those whom they recognized on the platform giving news about relatives' locations, health and other interesting pieces of information. Oma's dad however, never received any news of his daughter or of the school. It was only with the help of the Red Cross and a family friend that they finally found out where she was. Oma's oldest sister Hilde went to the consulate in Berlin and arranged for Ilse's release. It was a very happy day when they were finally reunited. The prisoners of war suffered from extreme depression in the 1940's. It was during this time that Oma took part in a program where German citizens were given the opportunity to write letters to the prisoners of war. She received Opa's name and they officially started their correspondence. In June 1951, Oma immigrated to Canada, specifically Viking, AB, to be with her fianc, my Opa, who was already living here. They were married on November 10, 1951 in Bruce, AB and soon after moved to East Pine, B.C. where Opa worked as a logger. Their first child Rosalind was born in October 1952, followed by Fred in January, 1954 and Rita in August 1956. In 1959 the family moved to Dawson Creek and built a house here. It was considered a crime during this time to not send your children to school, so they moved to town and enrolled their children in Parkhill Elementary to avoid jail time. Oma worked in various hotels in Dawson Creek as a cleaner and gave birth to two more children, Richard born in September 1963 and Erich in July 1965. Then Oma landed the job she held for many years. She worked at Lawrence's meat market here in Dawson Creek. She worked on the floor and was responsible for cutting meat and making sausages and wieners. It was because of this job and seeing what was put into wieners that made her reluctant to feed them to her children. In the early 1960's my grandparents decided to build a homestead in Groundbirch. They cleared the plot, piled up the brush, picked roots and broke land. The children who were old enough helped too. In the early years she stooked the grain by hand to dry while the local bears supervised. Later, when they owned combines and swathing equipment, she would be out there cutting the grain in the corners with a scythe and laying it in rows so the combine could pick it up to harvest. In 1978 they sold their house in Dawson Creek and moved permanently out to Groundbirch. It was at this time, being acutely aware of her location and its vicinity to town that she tried to master the art of driving a standard transmission. She never managed to perfect the art of driving on the road, but rather became a master of driving into trees and buildings. Needless to say, she did not recieve her license and became forever indebited to the kindness of her neighbours. She lived on the farm for many years, raising her children and even helping to raise some grandchildren. Oma and Opa were God-fearing people. They attended church regularily and taught their children about God and the forgiveness of Jesus Christ. All the children were raised knowing God's love and it is this knowledge and this opportunity that my Aunt Rosalind is most grateful for. Oma and Opa also loved to go dancing and they especially loved operas and the operettas produced by Rotraud Lopp. Oma lost her husband Philipp in October 1990. This was a very traumatic loss for her. Not only did she lose her lifepartner and the father of her children, but Opa's mysterious disapperance prevented Oma from receiving the closure that she desired. His disapperance however, solidified Groundbirch as a strong, helpful and kind community. This was only one of the many times that neighbours helped out. Lasting friendships were formed and locals like Sue Fredrick took time out their busy day to bring Oma to town, take Oma to visit friends and of course, take her grocery shopping. Oma loved to cook. It didn't matter who was over or what the event was, there was was never a shortage of food at Oma's house; the smell of her delicious cooking still wafts in the air. Oma was a hardworking woman who loved gardening. It was her solitude and her place of happiness when she could go plant her award winning zucchini, pick her scrumptous tomoatos, or just enjoy the silence and the smell of her greenhouses. Oma always tried to teach her grandchildren about gardening as well. She was a humble woman but proud and would often send her grandchildren to the Kiskatnaw Fall Fair to enter her vegetables into the competition on her behalf. I remember how proud Oma was of me when I won a 1st place ribbon. This selfless act was one of many, and her caring and nurturing charcter were traits that created such fond memories in her grandchildren. My brother Christopher remembers his Oma to be someone who was always there for him; someone he could always talk to, especially in the lowest times of his life. Oma also loved farm life and all the duties pertaining to it, even when it came time to pluck chickens. The whole family would gather in the front yard, each member with a chair and a bucket and get to work. I remember Oma sitting next to me and laughing as my chicken, headless and partially featherless made a noise; like a squawk. I jumped up probably two feet and Oma just looked at me and through laughter and said the chicken obviously wanted to talk with us too. Farm life is a busy life, but she still found the time to introduce her family to her past. My Uncle Fred's fondest memory of Oma was when they went on their first vacation together. They went to Germany in 1997, just the two of them. It was the most enjoyable time Uncle Fred had with Oma. Together they visited all the relatives and Oma taught him all about the history of Germany. Her last trip to her homeland was in 2001, then, after Oma developed Alzheimer's, her life changed. Her world grew more confusing, but she never lost her love of life. In the words of my brother, she was the glue that kept the family together. She always enjoyed going out and participating in community events and family functions even after she got sick. In 2004, worsening health issues and a broken hip forced Oma to move back to Dawson Creek and take up residence at Heritage Heights where she could live an independent lifestyle without all the stress of farm duties. She remained there until 2009, when, after a brief stint at the Pouce Coupe Care home she moved to Rotary Manor. Here she was well cared for by the Care Aides, attendants and medical staff until her passing on Tuesday October 13, 2015. Oma was 90 years old. She is survived by her two sisters, Lotte Braun and Ilse Rachel. Oma is survived by her five children: Rosalnd, Fred, Rita, Richard, and Erick, her eight grandchildren: Christopher, Rebecca, Benjamin, Sarah, Kaleb, Darra-May, Danielle, and Jared, as well as her six great grandchildren: Oliver, Gabriel, Nicholas, Matteo, Thomas, and Shelby. She will be very much missed by all her family. A MEMORY OF OMA by Sarah Greaves Some of the fondest memories I have of my Oma, is of life on the farm. I loved it when we would go to the farm on the holidays. The whole family would be there and we would play games and crack jokes at each other. The sweet aroma of home made pies and Oma teasing us by not letting us have a bite until dinner was over. It was torturous, but made the pie taste that much better. The large feasts she would always cook, regardless if you were a group or a table of two. Food was always around. Easter was always a treat when having to find the baskets all over the farm yard, it would take hours sometimes....very difficult. Oma would always sit and watch the games we played, even when she didn't understand them at all. I think she just wanted to be around all of us no matter what we were doing. Her English wasn't always perfect and I admired her for that. She was learning and continued to learn for she was determined. She always has been a fighter. She fought her whole life. She fought to leave her home country and get somewhere safe to better her life and survive. She fought and never gave up hope on the mysterious disappearance of her husband and my Opa. She fought at trying to keep her family safe, close and at peace at all times, no matter the situation. She fought for her own life until it was down to her final breath. Even though we have been distant in her mind for years, we've been very much warm and present in her heart through this whole battle of dementia. Oma is no longer in pain as she joins the other angels. Your life was a blessing, your memory a treasure, you are missed beyond measure, and you are loved beyond words . REST IN PEACE OMA! Memorial Service 1:00 pm Saturday, October 17, 2015 St. Paul's Lutheran Church 901 Cornwall Crescent Dawson Creek, British Columbia, Canada