ROSALIE KIENETZ -

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ROSALIE KIENETZ 1901 - 2001 Peacefully, on Sunday, October 28, 2001 Rosalie passed away at the St. Boniface Hospital. Left to cherish her memory are her two sons, Alfred and Alvin; her three grandchildren, Helen, Martin and Peter; her former daughter-in-law Ruth Kienetz; and many other relatives and friends. Rosalie was predeceased by her husband Fred in 1961, and by her younger brother Roy Sprenger in 1995. "Oma" was born Rosalie Sprenger on August 30, 1901, in Neuborn, a German settlement in Volhynia, Ukraine. She was the third youngest in a large family, of which four brothers and four sisters reached adulthood. As a teenager, she spent most of the years of the First World War exiled with her family in the southern Ukraine. In 1924, Rosalie married Friedrich (Fred) Kienetz. Their marriage was blessed with six children, but only two, Alfred and Alvin, survived beyond childhood. It was perhaps this loss of most of her children that made Rosalie so concerned for the wellbeing of her two surviving sons right up to her dying days. Rosalie endured many hardships and privations during her life in the Soviet Union under Stalin, and also during her flight westward at the end of the Second World War. After living in Bavaria, West Germany, as refugees for over five years, Rosalie with her husband and two sons immigrated to Canada in 1950. They were sponsored by the son of Rosalies half-sister Mina Malkoske, Mina having already immigrated to Canada in 1906. Here in Canada, Rosalie first settled in Whitemouth, in eastern Manitoba, where Mina Malkoskes family lived and where her husband Fred and elder son Alfred first found work in nearby power plant construction sites and forestry operations. Rosalie diligently contributed to the family income by gardening, by keeping some milk cows and laying chickens, and also by taking in boarders. In January 1957, Rosalie, Fred and their younger son Alvin left Whitemouth to follow elder son Alfred and settle in Winnipeg. They bought a house in the Wolseley district. That house was to be Rosalies home for over 40 years, until she was admitted to the Beacon Hill Personal Care Home two years ago. Although progressively debilitated by osteoarthritis, Rosalie continued to cook and even do laundry for her "family" well into her 90s. She remained mentally alert and a great source of wisdom, and of information about times long ago. Her abiding religious faith gave her inner strength and serenity. She did not fear death, but also continued to be interested in the well-being of her extended family right up to her dying days. She will be greatly missed! Rosalie was a member of the St. Peters Ev. Lutheran Church since settling in Winnipeg in 1957. She also had a special charity to which she contributed: the Bethel-Heim in Bielefeld, Germany, a home for the mentally handicapped. We would like to thank the staff at the Beacon Hill Personal Care Home for their considerate care of our mother and grandmother during the last two years of her life, and also thank the staff of the St. Boniface Hospital for their care during Rosalies last days. A special thanks to Isabel Taylor, son Alvins lifemate, for her help and many acts of kindness during her frequent visits to "Oma" at Beacon Hill, and also for her support during and following our mothers death. Funeral service will be held on Thursday, November 1 at 10:00 a.m., Pastor Heimo Bachmeyer officiating. Interment will follow in Brookside Cemetery. Neil Bardal Inc. in charge of arrangements, 984 Portage Ave., 949-2200.

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Oct 31, 2001