Obituary of Helen Holzinger

Helen Marie Holzinger of Camrose, formerly of Provost, passed away on Tuesday, January 3, 2017 at the age of 78 years. I like to take these next few minutes to celebrate the life of Helen Holzinger, a woman who was a daughter, wife, sister, mother, grandmother, avid sewer, devote Catholic and a woman who brought so much love, laughter and amazing banana bread to those fortunate enough to know her. These words spoken today are written by Helen's granddaughter Mandy, who regrettably is in the Middle East working and could not be here in person, but was privileged to be asked to share some reflections on Helen's life with all of us today. Helen Marie (McKeever) Holzinger was born to the parents of Muriel and Mike Mckeever on 20 September 1938. She was the third child of an Irish family of six. She had four sisters, Bonnie, Nora, Sadie and Alice and one brother, Mike. Helen married Norbert Holzinger on June 4, 1956 and they started a family of their own on their family farm in Provost, beginning with the birth of their daughter Debbie in 1959 and then their son Daren, in 1967. This family grew with the marriage of Debbie to Charlie Chisholm, and then later with two grandchildren, Derrick and Amanda. Helen's parents Muriel and Mike and her two sisters Bonnie Gamble and Sadie Rusnuk as well as brother-in-laws John Rusnak, Ted Peterson, Ed Holzinger, Tony Schuger and her mother and father-in-laws Monica and Lorez Holzinger, all predecease Helen and no doubt are warmly welcoming her into heaven now. But the life Helen lived and the people she loved, and was loved by, I think are best told through stories. There are certainly many that could be told and in writing this there were certainly many shared. However for brevity and clarity, I've only included a few today. "The Fishing Hook Marriage" One of my favorite stories of grandma is how she "caught" grandpa so many years ago. Norbert met Helen through her work at the Provost hospital. He garnered the courage to ask grandma to a community dance. After the dance, Norbert, being the gentlemen he was, reached into the car to grab Helen's sweater, as it was getting cold out. While in the process of this gentlemanly act, Norbert felt a surge of pain in his hand. Looking down he realised that along with the sweater, he had also grabbed a fishing hook—now firmly lodged in his hand. It was on that evening that, so the story goes, grandma hooked grandpa. They were later married in Bodo and began their over 60 years as husband and wife in Provost, firstly on the family farm and then in 2002, as a retired couple in Camrose. "The Case of the Missing Purse" Grandma, as much as she was so giving of her time and money to the Church and those in need, was also a financial savvy person who was very good at saving money. This I think was in part because grandma had a childhood of so very little material possessions and so she cherished what she owned and what she could save as an adult. Such financial planning was demonstrated in a fond and more lighthearted memory I call "financial planning and the case of the missing purse". I remember one morning when I was only 10 or so, grandma and grandpa were taking me back to my parent's place after I spent a few days with them. Just before packing up to leave, grandma said that on route we would stop for some lunch and that she would pay. Just before leaving grandpa pulled me aside and said: watch, your grandma will forget her purse. I looked curiously back at grandpa but nodded and smiled as we all got into the car. A few miles down the road, too many miles to turn back, grandma announces in a mildly distressed voice that she forgot her wallet. Grandpa laughed as he declared he knew this would happen. I sat quietly in awe at what was happening—how did grandpa know grandma would forget her purse? Surely it was an honest mistake? I never found out if it was a very clever trick grandma had hatched or whether it was simply a memory slip, but it was a maneuver that stayed with me, and one I managed to successful execute myself. "Moments within Memories" There are so many moments within memories like this that capture how Helen filled us with love and lots of laughter. Moments like when her daughter Debbie came home from school one day distressed. When Debbie would cry in her room, Helen, sharing the emotional weight and burden of Debbie's own pain, would be crying with her—letting her daughter know that even in personal pain, she was not alone. Or, when Helen would spend hours on the phone with her sister Nora or her brother Mike, sharing laughs on reflection of their shared past. Or when grandma would sit quietly in devotion to God, praying her rosary and allow me to sit kneel quietly next to her. Grandma also shared her love through food—of which many of us here today can attest to personally benefiting from. Food, like her famous homemade hamburgers that her son Daren and grandson Derrick would both happily consume—or her baking of a multitude of pies for her son-in-law Charlie and her famous banana bread where many friends, family and friends of family enjoyed. Helen loved and was very much loved by her two grandchildren. Both Derrick and myself hold our own special relationship with grandma defined through moments within memories spanning our lives. The greatest gift grandma gave both of us was her deep compassion, love and celebration for us that made us into the strong people we are today. The confidence I hold as I encounter different worlds through my work, the empathy I demonstrate as I am faced with opposing views to my own, are in part because of my own special relationship I had with my grandma. Conclusion Helen lead a full life that involved working at the hospital and special care home, volunteering at the local soup kitchen, sewing beautiful quilts for shelters, making bears from old fur coats. Throughout her life she managed being a full time mother of two and then later a grandmother of two, committed to those in need as well as achieving a high-school diploma and then a diploma in design through correspondence. Helen's life is one of a strong, motivated, compassionate woman. The latter years of grandma's life were not easy. She battled an aggressive form of breast cancer that she eventually overcame. Grandma then was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, a disease that robbed her of recognition of family and precious memories such as the ones shared today. Yet both cancer and Alzheimer's did not define who Helen was—instead both illuminated the strength and loved Helen practiced throughout her life. Helen battled her breast cancer with great poise and an unfettered faith in God—a faith I continue to be in awe of. Despite her affliction with Alzheimer's, Helen continued to touch her loved ones through a hand squeeze, a moment of recognition with a smile and a small giggle. While we all feel a huge sense of loss with Helen no longer being with us in person, I think we can all confidently say that Helen did lead a full and happy life. These stories are just a small reflection of how she filled those she knew with love and laughter—and banana bread and how she lives on with us. It is these memories, shared here today as well as the ones we hold close to us that keep Helen only a thought away from us. It is these memories I think she'd want us all to celebrate. Left to cherish her memory are her husband Norbert; children Debbie (Charlie) Chisholm of Paynton, Saskatchewan, and Daren Holzinger of Provost; two grandchildren Amanda Chisholm of New Castle, England, and Derrick Chisholm of Moss Bank, Saskatchewan; brother Mike McKeever of Westlock; and sisters Nora Peterson of Stony Plain, and Alice (Bob) Elaine of Victoria, BC. Helen was predeceased by two sisters Bonnie Gamble, and Sadie Rusnak. A Mass of the Resurrection was celebrated at 1:00 p.m., Friday, January 6, 2017 from St. Francis Xavier Roman Catholic Church with Rev. Larry Pederson as celebrant. Inurnment will take place at a later date in the Provost Cemetery. If family and friends so desire, memorial contributions are gratefully accepted to Hope Mission, the Alzheimer Society of Alberta, or to the charity of one's choice.