HELEN ELEANOR WITZKE (BAKER)

Condolences & Memories (3 entries)

• Mom was the most caring, gentle , nonjudgemental loving person I have ever known. I hope to just give a flavour of this wonderful human being in this brief eulogy. When you lose your father , you lose a mentor , a teacher , a guardian and a protector , your rock in life ; you will never feel quite as safe in this world again. But , when you lose your mother , you lose a piece of your soul , a bit of your innocence and a portion of your humanity . In its place , though , is a residual rich treasure of memories and remembered love and lessons , a perpetuation of her morality and values , and this is where she attains her immortality. Anything that is considered good and Christian that we do in our lives is based on these ingrained maternal values. My time with Mom was limited and interrupted by life choices ( I left home at a young age and returned thereafter only for short visits ), but each precious visit left behind treasured memories and examples of the following building blocks of her character, all of which served as exemplars of a Christian life to me and my children. HUMOUR : Mom had a mischievous twinkle in her eye and a wry , somewhat ribald sense of humour and delighted in shocking us and embarrasing her grandchildren with off colour , but never obscene or mean stories and jokes. Her standard response to the off hand greeting of “How are you doing?” was inevitably “Without!” and she often joked about visiting the old guys in the nursing home across the fence from her house. KINDNESS : She loved all of God’s creation , especially the young ones - and children easily sensed that quality and gravitated towards her ; if someone needed a ride , a meal , a place to stay or just a sympathetic ear , she was always there. Most of us can name people we don’t like and denigrate them , but I never once heard an unkind word about anyone from her. SELFLESSNESS : Above all , I remember the sacrifices she made for for her children , especially when we were young and had very little ; she worked the farm and garden by herself , providing food we could not afford to buy, she sewed the clothes we couldn’t purchase ; she sewed and did hair for others to earn a few dollars for our care , but neglected her personal needs and wants. She suffered with poor dental health for years , did not buy herself anything and never travelled. She sent hard years caring for a demented , incontinent mother - in - law who had no place else to go and burned deeply in my memory is the image of her trudging through the deep snow , with a heavy pail of feed in either hand toward the chicken coop as the pale winter sun was sinking below the frosty horizon. FAITH : Mom was quiet , but deep believer in God , the power of prayer and the existence of miracles. She never imposed her religion on others in an evangelical fervour , but her daily life was a model of Christianity that demanded attention. Early one morning , she awoke me with a telephone call , ( a few weeks after I had told her of my terminal Stage 4 cancer ) , and excitedly told me not to worry ; Jesus had visited her that night and demonstrated graphically how he would remove the disease from my body —- that was 15 years ago. That deep faith served her well through many travails and troubles , most especially when she lost her oldest son , a pain she said she could endure only because she was never alone with it . But , Mom was whole lot more than that —- she was smart , courageous and independent : when she was finally finished raising her family and caring for a dying husband , she blossomed int a true renaissance lady . She obtained her first diver’s licence shortly after receiving her first Old Age Security cheque ; she painted wonderful evocative oils and pastels and became involved with senior’s groups ( earning a living playing cribbage! ). The last thirty years of her long life were probably the best , but the last year was difficult as she became frail , forgetful and isolated by profound deafness . Even so , a spark of her humour and definitely her very deep love of her children would be just beneath the surface of her confusion and accessible with some effort on our part. On my last visit a few weeks ago , I knew , (and I am sure she knew ) , that her time of rest and relief of earthly pain was near. As I leaned down and kissed her on that winkled forehead , she squeezed my hand , her blue eyes smiled and a rush of memories flooded my mind. As I left her presence for the final time , I said goodbye to a self effacing , generous , caring woman with a heart of gold , an innocent soul and an iron faith. Till we meet again, rest in peace , Mother. - Posted by: Ron Witzke (son) on: Dec 05, 2017

• Unfortunately we are unable to attend Mrs Witzke's service but our thoughts and prayers go out to the family. Mrs Witzke was a very special lady who always had a smile and a joke when ever we went to visit her. She will be missed. - Posted by: Howard & Dianne Edmonds (Friend) on: Dec 01, 2017

• Loved this lady and always looked forward to seeing her at Jaymi and Brady's place. So sad to hear of her passing and will definitely miss her. My most sincere condolences, thoughts, and prayers for the Witzke family. - Posted by: Cathy Heide () on: Nov 30, 2017