BARBARA ROSEMARIE NIELSEN

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BARBARA ROSEMARIE NIELSEN

(nee SEYFFERT)

February 22, 1931 - April 26, 2026

With sadness we announce the passing of Barbara, caring mother, mother-in-law, grandmother, sister, and aunt. Surrounded by family, she passed peacefully on Sunday April 26, 2026, at the Belvedere Care Centre, in Coquitlam, British Columbia.

Barbara was born in Sondershausen, Thuringia, Germany in 1931. One of four children of Hildegard Johanna (née Schiller) and Otto Ludwig Willy Seyffert, she grew up in wartime Germany. She was only a young girl when she left Sondershausen to escape future communist rule. She completed training in hotel management with a focus on culinary arts in Frankfurt, where she won a Gold Medal as chef. She earned a degree in Economics at Kiel University, subsequently working at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. Barbara fell in love with, and married Jens Juergen Nielsen on July 16, 1958. Soon after, they emigrated to Canada and had four children – Birgit, Svend, Ralf and Dirk – in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She spent decades volunteering for the Consumer Association of Canada and championing for the rights of the ordinary consumer. Barbara and Jens spent over three decades of summer holidays on their boat, the Fylgja (built in Riverton), exploring Lake Winnipeg.

Barbara leaves her sister Ute; children Birgit, Svend (Terryl), Ralf (Pauline), and Dirk (Laurelyn); grandchildren Alex, Maren, and Maxwell; nephews Christian and Martin and nieces-in-law Mareen and Ursula. Barbara was predeceased by her husband Jens, her brothers Peter and Reinhard, and parents Hilde and Willy.

Special thanks to the care team and friends at the Belvedere Care Centre who provided Barbara with loving compassion and friendship over her last three years. As per Barbara's wishes, cremation has taken place. Celebrations of life are planned at the Belvedere Care Centre in Coquitlam BC in June 2026, and in Winnipeg in summer 2027. Donations are welcome in Barbara's name to Lake Winnipeg Research Consortium, Canadian Cancer Society, or the MS Canada.

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on May 23, 2026