HELEN PANKRATZ (LENA)

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HELEN PANKRATZ (LENA) Helen was born to Jacob and Elizabeth Pankratz (nee Loewen) on December 10, 1926. She was the eldest of six siblings, four brothers, one of whom, Otto, died in infancy when Helen herself was very young and one sister, Susan, who died tragically in 1957 at the age of 21. She was also predeceased by her father in 1962, by her mother in 1996, and a niece, Melanie, in 1998. Helen attended the Mennonite Collegiate in Gretna in 1943, followed by a year at the U of M and then Normal School. In 1945 she began teaching in Rosenhof North, and later in Blumenort, Hodgson, Springstein, Morris / Rosenort, and Moosehorn, before settling in for a number of years in Transcona, and Winnipeg. Helen loved to travel. A year or two of planning was a delight to her, whether it was to Point Barrow within the Arctic Circle, because she simply had to experience the sun circling overhead instead of setting and rising, or a trip to Hawaii, not so much for the beaches, but for the volcanoes and the outer islands, or Europe and Greece for the antiquities and the culture, or locally a train trip to somewhere up North (Wabowden) for a better view of a solar eclipse. She loved her piano and music. If anyone needed any information on any opera, she knew every detail. She enjoyed symphony season tickets and revelled in the various concerts, artists and conductors. For the Manitoba Music Festival, she would purchase her Festival program and attend every day. She could sit there thoroughly enjoying 22 ten year olds playing the same festival piece. Helen passed away peacefully on March 18, 2007. The family is grateful for the loving and compassionate care she received at the Bethania Personal Care Home. She is survived by three brothers, Ernest and Helen, Rudy and Justina Bergmann, Jake and Margaret, eight nieces and nephews and their spouses, and 21 great-nieces and nephews. A memorial service will be held at Sargent Avenue Mennonite Church at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, March 28, 2007, with interment to follow at the Sargent Avenue Mennonite Church Cemetery, Springstein; viewing at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 27 at Bethania Personal Care Home and at the church prior to the service. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Mennonite Central Committee, 134 Plaza Drive, R3T 5K9 or the Bethania Memorial Fund. FRIENDS FUNERAL SERVICE 2146 Main Street 339-5555

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Mar 24, 2007