Obituary of ROSE ABENDSCHOEN

ROSE ABENDSCHOEN On August 25, 2013, Rose Elizabeth Abendschoen (nee Weingartner) passed away with her children and sisters by her side. Rose leaves behind three children, Wendy (Richard Crawley), Glenn, and Nancy (Gord Stokes) and six grandchildren, Kyle and Jessa Abendschoen Peters, Hiatt and Mya Rose Abendschoen, and Ben and Elise Stokes. Also mourning their loss, are Rose’s sisters Regina (Joe Knoll) and Gisela (Dieter Howald), and sister-in-law and brother-in-law Renate and Karl Heinz Hielscher. Rose also leaves behind loving nieces and nephews in Canada and Germany. She was pre-deceased by her loving husband Oskar in 2011. Rose was born on August 21, 1942. Her arrival was an unbelievable delight for her two older sisters, who saw her as perfect. She suffered patiently through all the petting and dragging around, but probably developed her spirited sense of dignity and assertiveness as a result of it. When she was two years old, with Tito's partisans and the Soviet army just days away (you could hear the gun-fire at night) she and her mother, grandmother, sisters, her aunt and three cousins fled on the last ship allowed to leave, on the Danube to Budapest and then Vienna. From there it was life in refugee camps and on cattle cars, being shuffled between Austria, Schlesien and Czechoslovakia, until her Dad found them in the worst camp yet, in Eisenerz, Austria, where they were slowly starving. He took them with him to Ingolstadt in Bavaria. The rest of their life in Germany was spent there in old army barracks (our playground was an abandoned 'Exizierplatz' for German tanks), until they were allowed to come to Canada in 1948. Rose was reborn in Winnipeg. She became a sunny, happy child who made friends easily. Her sense of fun, her grace, her good cheer and fearlessness came alive. She had many good friends until the end. Rose was in the church choir at St. Joseph's German Catholic Church for many years, and later in the Alpine and Majestic Alps Pavilions. She shone as our emcee, a natural talent. She became a Kolping member in 1974, part of the first group of women to do so in the world. She was excellent in her various executive positions, and always did her best. She married Oskar in 1962 and they were together for 49 years, enjoying many years of travelling around the world, and summers at their cottage on Lake Winnipeg. Rose worked 25 years for the Government of Manitoba. She was a voracious reader, and enjoyed yoga and resistance training in the last decade. To her beloved grandchildren, she was "Oma", and was actively involved in their lives on a regular basis, nurturing and teaching them, playing games together, and having them over for sleepovers. They were the light of her life. Her children loved her dearly and looked after her, especially after Oskar died in 2011. They were by her side until the very end in the Palliative Care Unit at St. B, and her final days and moments will live in the hearts of her two sisters forever. No mother could wish for more love or better care. She will always be with us. Mass of Christian burial will be held Thursday August 29th at 10:30am at St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church at Mountain and Andrews. Donations can be made in Rose’s name to The Children’s Wish Foundation.