WALTRAUD KAMPFF (LEHMANN)

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WALTRAUD KAMPFF (nee LEHMANN) August 18, 1939 - March 4, 2019 Waltraud Kampff, 79, of St. Malo, Manitoba (and formerly of Winnipeg and Grunthal), passed away from cancer on the evening of March 4, 2019, at Morris General Hospital. She was born in Frankfurt/Main, Germany, to Hildegard Emma Lehmann (Zick) and Karl Fritz Lehmann, their sixth child and first daughter. It was the start of the Second World War, so she spent most of her first six years with a foster family, away from the city, in the town of Eisighofen. Her brother Hans was placed in a town nearby, and they were able to visit each other. After the war, Waltraud returned to her family in Wulsdorf, near Bremerhaven. When she was just 11 years old, her father died of a heart attack. A large, blended family was created when her mother later married Karl Schmidt, who brought two sons to the family, and two new baby sisters rounded out the family. By 1955 the family had immigrated to Canada, ending up in Winnipeg. Waltraud's help was needed at home, so she was unable to continue her education, and she told us that had she been able to, she would have become a teacher. On her 16th birthday, she met Eberhard Kampff at a Little Britain dance, and they married in 1958. They lived on Lanark Street in Winnipeg, and Gudrun, Mark and Margaret were born during this time. In 1966, they bought a dairy farm in Grunthal, Manitoba, and Ingrid was born in 1968. In the good times and the hard times, she made Christmas and the annual summer family picnic special and memorable. Eventually she took a job off the farm, and she enjoyed reading, sewing, gardening and travelling. She and Eberhard spent many happy hours with their grandchildren, especially Vincent and Laura, the eldest of the bunch. They moved back to Winnipeg after Eberhard became ill, into the same River Heights neighbourhood she'd left in 1966. She was a loving and devoted caregiver to Eberhard, who passed in 2003. She found love again, and married Paul Dankwart in 2006. She moved to his farm in St. Malo, but kept her Winnipeg house, allowing her to maintain some "city life" and connections; she enjoyed family dinners, meeting up for walks or shopping, travelling, and spending time with her siblings. She took some memorable vacations; a Caribbean cruise with Ingrid, and Gudrun and her family, and a trip to England with Ingrid. In the fall of 2017, after dealing with some health issues in the years prior, Waltraud was diagnosed with incurable lung cancer. Waltraud will be missed by her husband Paul Dankwart; her children, Gudrun (Marcel) Laurendeau, Mark (Laura) Kampff, Margaret Kampff and Ingrid Kampff; and her grandchildren, Vincent and Laura Ceccarelli; Paul, Brandon, Paige and Erick Kampff; and Anna and Frances Woodman. Her first great-grandchild is expected this June. Missing her also are her siblings, Peter Lehman, Hans Lehmann, Christine Kalawarny, Marianne Prokopetz, Dieter Schmidt and Hans Schmidt, as well as numerous nieces and nephews. She will also be missed by Paul's son Paul (Suzanne) Dankwart and their children, Sandra, Nadine and Rene. Waltraud survived her parents, Hildegard and Carl Fritz Lehman; her stepfather Karl Schmidt; her brothers, Karl Heinz Lehmann, Horst Werner Lehmann and Karl Fritz Lehmann; her sister Hildegard Lehmann, who died at an early age and whom she was never able to meet; her first husband Eberhard Kampff; and her brother-in-law Murray Bell. A memorial service will be held Friday, March 22, 2019, at 2:00 p.m., at Neil Bardal Funeral Centre, 3030 Notre Dame Avenue (across from Brookside Cemetery). Our family is grateful to all who visited Waltraud, and to those who kept her in their thoughts, especially these past several months. Staff at Morris General Hospital/Red River Valley Palliative Care were kind, loving and respectful of Waltraud throughout the time she was there in their care. "And ever has it been known that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation." Khalil Gibran NEIL BARDAL FUNERAL CENTRE 204-949-2200 neilbardalinc.com
Publish Date: Mar 16, 2019

WALTRAUD KAMPFF (nee LEHMANN) Waltraud Kampff, 79, of St. Malo, Manitoba (and formerly of Winnipeg and Grunthal). Waltraud passed peacefully, and surrounded with love, the evening of March 4, 2019, at Morris General Hospital, after a lengthy illness. Longer obituary to follow. NEIL BARDAL FUNERAL CENTRE 204-949-2200 neilbardalinc.com
Publish Date: Mar 9, 2019

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Mar 09, 2019, Mar 16, 2019