ELSIE ELIZABETH PANKRATZ

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ELSIE ELIZABETH PANKRATZ

Elsie Pankratz passed away peacefully on Saturday, September 9, 2023, at Kelowna General Hospital after a brief acute illness at the age of 93 years.



Elsie was born Elsie Elizabeth Penner on February 21, 1930, in Edam, SK, to Henry and Anna Penner. Elsie’s family farmed in Starbuck, MB, for several years before she lost her mother at a young age. Her father married Tina Redekopp in 1941, and the family sold the farm and moved to Winnipeg, where they purchased a grocery store in North Kildonan. Elsie finished her education in Winnipeg and worked as a teacher after graduation and as a nurse’s aide at the Brandon Mental Health Centre, where she met Peter Pankratz. After working for a while, Elsie attended Winkler Bible School and continued to see Peter. Elsie and Peter married on October 6, 1951, and started farming near Brookdale, MB. Elsie had a large garden on the farm and spent many summers making preserves and helping on the farm. During the 1970s, she bought the general store in Brookdale, which she very much enjoyed. Peter and Elsie farmed for 33 years before moving to Brandon, MB, in 1985, where Peter started a construction business with Elsie’s help where they built houses and did renovations. Elsie also worked babysitting while living in Brandon and hosted many large family celebrations and enjoyed spending time with her grandchildren. Elsie and Peter retired in1996 and moved to Kelowna, BC, where they took up golfing in earnest and enjoyed this for many years being part of the Kelowna Springs Golf Club where Elsie made many friends. They enjoyed travelling and took many trips throughout their marriage within Canada and to Florida, Hawaii and Australia sometimes taking the scenic route to Australia with an overnight in Hong Kong where Elsie could indulge her love of shopping. Peter passed away in April of 2017 and Elsie moved to Fernbrae Manor in Kelowna. She kept herself busy with watching golf and curling tournaments, her love of reading and history, and wrote a book outlining her ancestry and her long journey to age 93. She lived at Fernbrae for six years enjoying the community feel and activities and joining the knitting club. She made many friends along the way, loved her little suite and was happy there.



Elsie was predeceased by her husband Peter and son Richard. She leaves to mourn her passing daughters Shirley (Henry) Slezak of Brookdale and Deborah (Bruce) Pritschau of Kelowna; son Alvin of Bundaberg, Australia; grandchildren Marianne (Lee), Carleigh (Carl), Jenna (Josh) and Daryn (Wendy); great-grandchildren Hope, Kaylee, Vera, Hamish, Orlando, and William; brother Art (Liz) of Victoria, BC; and sister-in-law Helen (Pete) of Winnipeg, MB.





We are very grateful to the staff at Fernbrae Manor who made her autumn years so pleasant and to the Kelowna General Hospital Emergency Department for their kind and compassionate care of our mother which made her final hours comfortable and peaceful.



The Celebration of Elsie’s Life will take place at Memories Chapel, 330 – 18th Street North, Brandon on Friday, October 13, 2023 at 1:30 p.m. with reception to follow. For those unable to attend in person, the service will be webcast from Elsie’s memorial page at www.memorieschapel.com.



Donations in memory of Elsie may be made to the charity of your choice.

As published in Brandon Sun on Sep 30, 2023