DR. MARTA REGINA KRUUNER

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DR. MARTA REGINA KRUUNER Dr. Marta Regina Krüüner passed away on the morning of Thursday, August 13, 2009 in Winnipeg, which she had called home since her arrival in 1948 after the end of the Second World War. Marta was born in Sangaste, Estonia on March 18, 1925, the oldest child of Veera (Koppel) and Hans Krüüner who farmed for a living. Marta was predeceased by her parents and a brother, Villu and a sister, Elona. She is survived by her brother Olev (Marie) of Perth, Australia and their two sons, Robert (Michelle) and Peter. She is also survived by her sister Linda (Jaan) Kikas and their daughter Karmen (Tarmo) Riigov and Villu's son Aame Krüüner in Estonia. Marta's journey through life was similar to thousands of other Canadians of her generation. She left her home in Estonia at the age of 19 in 1944, fleeing war and tyranny. For a brief time, she lived a refugee in Wittenberg, Germany. She was employed by the American occupying forces as a translator and cashier. Unwilling to return to Estonia, then occupied by the Soviet Union, and seeking a better way of life, she came to Winnipeg, entered United College and graduated with a BA in 1953. She won a graduate scholarship in 1953 to attend Claremont Graduate School, near Los Angeles. The following year, she was awarded a Ford Foundation scholarship to continue her studies. After earning a Ph.D. from Occidental College, Los Angeles, she returned to her new home of Winnipeg and joined the English faculty of United College, subsequently the University of Winnipeg, where she served faithfully and loyally until her retirement in 1990. Marta's devotion to her family was well known to her colleagues and friends. She succeeded in finding her brother Villu and her two sisters in Estonia after a long separation and when safe travel to her native country became possible, she returned often for visits. She maintained contact throughout her life with her brother Olev in Australia and his family and visited them. Olev made the long journey to Canada during the years of Marta's illness to be with her. Her surviving siblings, niece and nephews remember a loving and doting sister and aunt, the first member of their family to attend university and they remain intensely proud of her career. It was indeed no small thing to learn English as a second language and to proceed to teach English and American literature at the university level to native speakers. Marta was a firm believer in the importance of education and was known to encourage her students not to be content with being average. She urged them to be strong, to have faith in themselves and to have strong convictions. She did so knowing that it was these qualities that had carried a lonely young refugee in Germany to the teaching faculty of a university in Winnipeg. Marta spent her last years in Parkview Place on Edmonton Street. Her health was poor and, sadly, her memory failed her. Her family wishes to express their deepest appreciation to the staff of Parkview Place who faithfully cared for Marta over the last decade, carrying out the tasks they could not be present to do themselves, though they wished mightily that they could have been here to look after her. Marta's memory is secure in the hearts of her surviving family. It is to be hoped that her many students, colleagues and friends in her new home in Canada will think of her also from time to time. There will be a service of Remembrance at Thomson Funeral Home Tuesday August 25, 2009 at 10:00 a.m. THOMSON FUNERAL HOME 669 BROADWAY, WINNIPEG, MB R3C OX4 783-7211 Condolences may be sent to www.thomsonfuneralchapel.com

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Aug 22, 2009