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ANNA HILDEBRAND
Born: Sep 07, 1927
Date of Passing: Jun 30, 2019
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ANNA HILDEBRAND
September 7, 1927 - June 30, 2019
(Mom, Grandma, Great-Grandma) was born on September 7, 1927 in the community of Blumenthal. She attended the Houston school and had fond memories of picking wild berries and wild flowers on her walk home from school.
Anna was Johann and Helena Sawatzky's seventh of 10 living children. On September 21, 1947 she married Henry D. Hildebrand (H.D.), the love of her life. Together they raised their family on the farm and in October, 2003, they moved to Altona. In December, 2015, Mom moved to her condo in Katarina Courts where she made wonderful friends.
Mom's passion was her garden. Although her gardens from the farms to the condo got progressively smaller, she still grew beautiful flowers and enough tomatoes to give away. Her pantry was loaded with jars and jars of jam, preserves, pickles, relishes - most of it to give away.
Mom knit mittens for all of us and for a child care centre where children competed for mittens in their favourite colour. Many of us own dish clothes that she crocheted by the stack.
Mom worked hard all her life - farming with Dad in Edenburg and in Halbstadt, raising a family and maintaining a solid and very social home while HD was busy as the reeve of the RM of Rhineland. She gardened, sewed much of our clothing from the time we were babies to wedding gowns for her daughters, and suits for her son. She was an active community member - singing in the Halbstadt Church choir, a member of the Ladies Aid and a faithful volunteer at MCC on Monday mornings.
Anna's most useful appliance in her kitchen was her coffee pot - she always had a cup of coffee and homemade dainties to serve her many guests. No one left her place hungry.
One of Mom and Dad's highlights was their stint in Tanzania with the Canada-Tanzania Wheat Project. That opportunity enriched them with lifelong friends that they were forever grateful for. Recently when Mom was asked, "What was the happiest times in your life?" she paused, and then she said, "When I brought home a new baby."
When we visited, Mom insisted on preparing meals for her family and friends - and then she insisted her guests take home the leftovers plus a container of her cookies and a loaf of her home baked bread. That hospitality was extended to everyone who visited her.
As her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, Mom is voted - "the best". She was always there for her family. She was small but one need not underestimate her tenacity and strength when it came to her family. Dad sometimes teased her, calling her a "Mother Bear".
Anna was predeceased by her parents, seven siblings, one grandson, one great-granddaughter, and her husband Henry D.
Remembering her with love are Eleanor Chornoboy (Larry), Elaine Penner (Andy), Debbie Penner (Ed), Brenda, Dale Hildebrand (Jil) and Lavern Wiebe (Esther), two brothers, her sister, her grandchildren, great-grandchildren and her many friends.
Anna will be missed without measure. Her love is treasured.
At H.D.'s funeral, the family asked that friends and family stay in touch with Anna. Thank you to all who visited Mom and kept in close touch with her. Visits, drop-ins and friendship were invaluable to Mom.
A special thank-you to the staff at the Altona Health Centre for their caring and the kind respect that they showed Anna.
A celebration of Anna's life took place at the Sommerfeld Church in Altona on July 4, 2019.
In lieu of flowers, if family and friends wish, donations may be made to: Eden Foundation (CV4).
Wiebe Funeral Home Altona
In care of arrangements
www.wiebefhaltona.com
As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Jul 13, 2019
Condolences & Memories (1 entries)
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I’m Brenda Anne, Anna (and Henry’s) 4th daughter and these are my children; Arielle and Jovain. Thank you all for coming. Today, when I felt the warmth of the sun, it reminded me a lot of my mom's kindness and good hearted love and I hope you all felt her warmth greeting you at the door. I’d like to share how loving, strong, and tenacious, my mom has been for me. Loving; never missing a birthday, and making the regular Sunday afternoon phone calls, to check in, to see how I and the children were doing, and after each call there was always an “I Love You”. Whenever we’d visit, we were always laden with home made bread, soup, dainties or whatever she could think of to make sure, we had something to take home. With each bite of her bread and sip of her soup, I was always reminded of her kindness and love. Strong; not only mentally but physically ….. how she could just take the loose skin of your belly and twist it, it was not only incredibly painful, but the pain would continue long after she let go! I can only imagine where she might have got that idea, but believe me it has stuck with me over the years! Tenacious; besides having a firm hold on my belly, she held close; her faith, her family and her community. She was a member of the Edinburgh and Halbstadt Nefrein for years; making quilts and care packages to send to the less fortunate who are, at home and/or over seas. Even into her 90’s she was still walking to and volunteering at MCC every Monday morning! She’s all of that and a dash of mischief! During one of her long arduous stays in the hospital, I asked Mom if she could remember her first dance. She said, “oh yes”. I asked, where was it, she replied, “In Halbstadt, it was a barn dance”. Was there a band, she said, “oh yes”. I asked, were you on a date with someone? She said, “yes”. By this time a small smirk started to appear on her face. I asked, oh with who? She responded, “with Dad”. Oh really, I said, was he a good dancer? She replied, “umm not bad”. Were you a good dancer, to which she replied, “Oh yeah”! I asked her how it felt when Dad put his hand around her thin waist and she smiled and said, “nice”! This is just a tiny glimpse of who Mom is to me and there are many other memories I could share about how she was steadfast and endured; our house burning down, the loss of a grandchild and great-grandchild, floods and an evacuation of her home, 2 years in Tanzania, with CIDA (Canadian International Development Association), which she enjoyed, but missed her friends and family terribly), the loss of Dad and then the loss of her health. The true testament of who she is however is here today….. It’s all of you; her friends, her family, her grandchildren and great-grandchildren and her community, it’s you that were and are the impetuous in wanting her to be; loving, strong, tenacious, and a bit mischievous, because she loved you all! - Posted by: Brenda Hildebrand (Daughter) on: Oct 30, 2019