Obituary of Amy Marie Kohnke

Amy Marie Kohnke a long time resident of the Peace River country passed away peacefully on December 1st at the age of 82 years in Dawson Creek, BC. Amy was born November 8, 1930 in Chedderville, Alberta, the 7th of 10 children born to Wilfred and Sarah Jane Hallock. Amy moved from Burnaby, BC in the spring of 1961 and spent 42 years building the ranch with her husband Bob at mile 27 on the Alaska Highway. She loved gardening, knitting, crocheting, working with the animals, and most especially spending time with her grandchildren. The past 11 years she lived in Dawson Creek and enjoyed going to Moberly Lake to spend time at the cabin with family, having visits with her grandchildren and getting to know her great granddaughter "Miss Aleaya" who always called her "Grandma Great". Amy set out on her own at a young age, first in Nordeg, Alberta cleaning rooms at a boarding house, then in Calgary, Alberta waiting tables at a diner. From there she moved to Pentiction then on to Kelowna where she met Bob Kohnke in the early 1950s. Amy and Bob were married and had two children Kevin and Terri. Six short months after Terri was born, they moved from Burnaby to Taylor, BC where they began to build their ranch on a section of land at mile 27 on the Alaska Highway. Now we've told you how Amy's story began, we'd like to tell you about the person our grandmother was to us. Our grandmother was quite the lady. She was feisty. She was unpredictable. She loved her family fiercely, especially her grandchildren and her great granddaughter. Our grandma was independent, she was a health nut, she was resourceful, strong willed and brutally honest. Grandma was also a country girl who grew up on a farm and developed a love of gardening amongst other interests. Her grandchildren were privileged to learn much of what she knew from growing up on the farm. Grandma taught us a lot. Some things she taught us were really good; other things not so good. For example, Grandma taught us how to make a slingshot by whittling down a good sturdy v shaped branch, attaching pieces of inner tube to it, and finishing it off with a nice square piece of leather. We were taught to use only the round rocks for ammunition and how to aim and shoot. This was good. What was not so good was when we then used our new found skill set to hunt down her barn yard chickens. Grandma also taught us how to whistle. But we didn't learn to whistle like other kids using their mouth or fingers. We learned how to whistle using a blade of grass. You see, instead of putting your lips together and simply whistling, we were taught to find the perfect, thick, long blade of grass, place it just right between our thumbs and blow carefully into it to make a soft whistling sound. Now all of us grandchildren are equipped so that whenever we want to whistle for someone's attention all we have to do is sort through someone's overgrown lawn, pick a blade of grass, place it between our thumbs and within a few minutes or so we are ready to whistle a different tune. Grandma loved to crochet. She made us kangaroos, sweaters, mittens, bonnets and booties. And every Christmas, Teddy got a brand new sweater to add to his wardrobe. We had the best dressed Teddies in town. Grandma was good at a lot of things and great at many more. She could craft, she could ranch, she had an incredible memory...knowing every calf on the farm and its mother, and every herb, bird and flower there ever was. Grandma had many talents and many interests. Grandma enjoyed going out to Moberly Lake with the family and she loved to travel, but later in life she had to do so vicariously through her grandchildren who all also love to travel. It was important that she never let any one of us leave without some words of wisdom. A few years ago, her grandson Travis was set to travel to Japan and Grandma sagely warned him not to talk to any strangers. Travis thought to himself, "well, I don't know anyone in Japan and I'll be there for a year....guess I'd better make some friends quickly so I will have someone to talk to." Our grandmother taught us a lot. She personally taught me some of the most important lessons in life. She taught me to always start a conversation with "I missed you" and always end it with a hug. She will be teaching us for years to come as we pass it down through the generations. From our parents to us and from us to our children. We would like thank everyone who shared their memories of grandma with us and contributed to writing grandma's story and to thank everyone of you who have helped us remember and celebrate "Miss Amy" as she was affectionately known. She will be sadly missed but fondly remembered by her family who hold many special memories of Amy in their hearts. A funeral service was held on Saturday, December 8, 2012 at 1:00 pm from Reynars Funeral Chapel, Pauline Haycock officiated, Interment will be at a later date. Amy was predeceased by her loving husband Bob Kohnke, both of her parents and eight of her siblings. Amy is survived by her brother Dan Hallock, son Kevin (Liz) Kohnke, grandchildren Travis (Martha) Kohnke, Randi Kohnke, daughter Terri (Rene) Tremblay, grandchildren Lynette Harris, Cole Tremblay and great grandchild Aleaya Tremblay. Special Memories Presented by Amy's Grandchildren; Lynette and Cole. For friends so wishing, donations may be made in memory of Amy to the South Peace Hospice Palliative Care Society Room 101, 816-103rd Ave Dawson Creek, B.C. V1G 2G1 Very Respectfully Reynars Funeral Home & Crematorium