ALICE LACH

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ALICE LACH (nee HANEBAUER) Alice Lach left us on Wednesday, July 8, 2015 at the wonderful age of 89. Alice was born February 15, 1926 of German decent in Izbica, Poland. Her mother died when Alice was only five years old and this event shaped and greatly influenced her life. As a result, Alice believed in guardian angels long before it became vogue to do so. With all the dangers she experienced as a young woman in Europe during the war and her escape from communist Poland after the war, she was confident that her guardian angel kept her safe and alive. Each one of us receives an angel guardian at birth, Who walks along beside us every day we spend on earth. Invisible, these angels never leave us day or night. They know our fears and whisper, "Things are going to be all right." They give us strength and purpose, keep our hope and courage strong, They fill our minds with wisdom and our spirits with a song. By age 14, she was already living on her own and supporting herself with a number of different jobs from seamstress to translator. It was during these years that she met Helmut Lach. In 1949 she came to Canada a year after Helmut had arrived. They married on a stormy December 12 in 1949 in Plumas, Manitoba. After moving to the city of Winnipeg, Alice worked at the General Hospital for a short period of time. When daughter Marion was born in 1951, Alice decided to provide room and board to new Canadians, in order to supplement the family income. A number of boarders lived with Alice and Helmut over the years, most becoming close lifelong friends. Janet was born in 1957 and shortly thereafter the family moved to the first house on College Avenue. Danny was born in 1961. Alice and Helmut were business partners in creating and building Lach Sod Farms, a company that still exists today. Together they built the second house on College Avenue where Alice lived until 2006 when she moved into her condominium on Henderson. Alice and Helmut loved their cottage and the "beach gang" at Hillside Beach and enjoyed winters at their condominium in Florida. Travels took them to New Zealand, Japan, Hong Kong, Barbados and numerous visits to family in Germany. After Helmut passed in 1993, Alice and Dan were a team until he moved into the Hilland residence. They were not only Dan's new care providers; Laura and Jamie and their children became an extension to the Lach family. Alice still took great pride in the fact that Dan came home to visit her four times a week, and until recently she still cooked him a meal and made his lunch for his next day at work. Alice had been on the council of St. John's Lutheran Church for a number of years and was still on the board for Westwood Vocational Centre. Alice will be remembered as strong and independent, a successful business woman, a committed wife, a dear friend, aunt, Oma, mother and mother-in-law. She was a wise woman who was a straight shooter who was always brutally honest, an excellent cook, fabulous party planner, lover of fashion, music, flowers and dance. She was a proud Canadian and always said she came to "the best country in the world". Left to mourn her passing are her children Daniel Lach, Janet and Randy Stefanyk, and Marion and David Schmidt, and her dear granddaughters Christina and Catherine Schmidt. In addition her sister Eugenie, and her sisters-in-law Martyl, Helga and Irma all in Germany, numerous nieces, nephews and friends in Winnipeg, Germany and Florida. We would like to thank her dear condo friends, Margaret and Norman McKee for all the love and care they have provided over the years. We would also like to thank Cristal Drews, Ilse Graumann, Mariechen Gruhle and Munde Heymann for being such good friends. Also a special thank you to Dr. Miller from St. Boniface Hospital and Dr. Armstrong and Karen at Seven Oaks, for providing such loving care to Alice over the years. Over the last few months we have spent a fair amount of time at the St. Boniface Hospital and would like to thank the staff in the ER, and the compassionate caregivers in the Cardiology and Internal Medicine Units. Pallbearers will be Jan Baziuk, Gary Heymann, Ernie Gruhle, Bernie Gruhle, Edgar Drews and Gordon Drews. Honorary pallbearers are Ed Doering, Fred Mahler, Laura and Jamie Hilland, Margaret and Norman McKee. Funeral service will be held Friday, July 17, 2015 at 10:00 a.m., at Glen Eden Funeral Home, 4477 Main Street, with Pastor Annemarie MacIntosh officiating. Her most important role in life was being Dan's mom. She was his voice and his advocate. If you wish donations can be made to S.P.I.K.E. Inc., 1940 Henderson Highway, Winnipeg, MB R2G 1P2 or to Westwood Vocational Centre, 266 Linwood St., Winnipeg, MB R3J 2C6. Glen Eden Funeral Home & Cemetery 204-338-7111

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Jul 15, 2015