ERNA KATHARINE WARREN

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ERNA KATHARINE WARREN It is with sadness and acceptance that we announce the passing of our wife and mother, Erna, on March 20, 2016. Erna developed acute leukemia this January. We appreciate all of the support that was given by Erna's team on the 5th floor of the Grace Hospital and the added comfort given by her nurse and friend Charlotte. Erna was born in Winnipeg on May 12, 1941 to Dietrich and Katharina Enns, both of whom were orphans from Russia, who immigrated to Canada. They homesteaded a small farm in a close knit Mennonite community near Lowe Farm and raised their five children, four boys and Erna, in the farm house where her youngest brother still lives. Erna's ashes will be interned in a small cemetery in view of that property. She is predeceased by her parents, her dear brother David, her surrogate mother Alma and her close nursing friend, Marlene, who just passed away. She is survived by her husband Wayne; daughter Michelle; son-in-law Michael; granddaughter Emma; brothers, Willy, Alvin, and Ron, and all of her extended family. Erna grew up working hard to help her family because her mother's health was always affected by having had rheumatic fever. Life revolved around the church, school and farm. The highlight of the week was faspa on Sunday afternoons. She worked for a year after high school at the TB sanatorium in Ninette, and then moved to Winnipeg to attend the St. Boniface School of Nursing, where she made life-long friends. When she graduated in 1963 with her RN, she moved to the apartment block on Sherbrook Street where she met Wayne, her husband of 50 years. She was working with the Victoria Order of Nursing then, walking to her patients' homes dressed in a long black cape. Wayne and Erna eventually moved to St. James "so Michelle could grow up in a neighbourhood", where they lived in the same home from 1975 until today. After staying home for eight years to raise Michelle, Erna made her way back to St. Boniface, where she worked in psychiatry until her retirement in 2011. She referred to her last 10 years as a nurse clinician in the child anxiety program, as her "golden years of nursing" and she cared a great deal for both her clients and her colleagues. Erna's passions were her family first and foremost, especially Emma whom she babysat every week until this year. It made Erna extremely happy that Emma is a singer because she herself had "missed out on the Mennonite-singing gene". Erna loved traditional pursuits such as baking, sewing, gardening and crocheting. The country-girl-turned-city-girl later developed a taste for fashion and decorating, and loved good food and wine. A favourite expression was that "life is too short for bad coffee" and she and Michelle met at Starbucks often. She also worked out regularly at the Reh-Fit Centre because she was committed to health and made new friendships along the way. She faced her travel anxiety as well, going to Germany in 2003 to meet her mother's relatives who were repatriated, and taking several trips to warm destinations with Wayne or Michelle. Erna was also an avid reader and self-directed learner of all topics that interested her. She took advantage of summers at the lake near Flin Flon to read hundreds of books, including Anna Karenina, which was one of her last accomplishments. She had a large library of mental health resources and lately she had become engrossed in genealogy and Mennonite history. Erna was a woman of resolve. Perhaps because of her parents' traumatic experiences or growing up poor, she was also very sensitive to people's suffering. She was concerned about the vulnerable amongst us, and was a quiet champion for children and women, gay rights, and Canadians with mental and physical illnesses. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to the Joy Smith Foundation to help end the international exploitation of girls and women. A celebration of Erna's life will be held later in spring, on Saturday, April 30 at 2:00 p.m. at the Qualico Family Centre in Assiniboine Park.

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Mar 23, 2016