Obituary for Maria Schaffland (Sommer)
Maria Schaffland (nee Sommer) born on November 6, 1931 in Meuselwitz/Leipzig,Germany, passed away peacefully on November 30, 2023 at the Riverview Care Centre.
It must have been destiny. Dad participated in a handball tournament in Meuselwitz. The West played the East and during this weekend trip, their path’s crossed during the awards banquet. It was the brown eyes that caught his attention, he always did say that is why he married her, and that is how our mother met the man of her life. At the end of the evening, Dad hat to travel back to the West but there must have been a click somewhere since they decided to stay in touch. At that time, it was a different world. There was the East and the West and borders that separated the two, which at one time was one country. Unfortunately, Mom’s part had been taken over by the Russians. There was no travelling back and forth, no internet, and no cell phones; they kept the mailman pretty busy.
In 1951, mom and her best friend decided to take a chance and escape to the West by jumping from the train. Dad must have written some pretty steamy letters for Maria to leave her family behind knowing that she couldn’t go back and visit, not at that time any way. She ended up in Ludwigshafen where she found work as a care giver to the children of a doctor. Now Dad had the opportunity to visit back and forth whenever the time allowed. In 1953, Mom joined Dad in Wetter/Ruhr and as we say, the rest is history. They tied the knot on July 31 at the city hall. It was nothing fancy, but it certainly lasted a lifetime even if dad took a little break in 2005. I’m sure he is anxiously waiting for those brown eyes to light up his life again.
Horst, Maria, and their daughter’s embarked on a new adventure in 1968 and immigrated to Canada. They joined their good friends, Emil, Lily, and their children who had taken this big step a year earlier in 1967. It was July 1, high noon when our train rolled into the station from Montreal. It was a hot hot summer. I’m sure a very scary time for our dad since he was the one responsible for his family. It was a totally different environment from what we had left behind. Coming from the industrial centre in Germany to small town Medicine Hat in the middle of nowhere in this huge landscape. It sure looked different on the map then in reality. Just think, you can fit three of West Germany into Alberta, and the amount of people that lived there compared to the 17,000 that lived in the Hat. Second and Third Street were the city centre. There were no shopping malls and really nothing to get excited about. But there were a lot of Germans living in Medicine Hat and with a lot less stress compared to Germany. We’ve called this little town on the prairies home for the last 55 years. With Emil and Lily helping us in anyway to adjust to the Canadian life, there were never any regrets; that is what true friendship is all about.
Mom thought she would like to enter the workforce being that she had been a stay-at-home mom. There weren’t too many options out there if you didn’t speak English. As luck will have it, she applied at Valley Dale Greenhouse, which was owned by Frank Czember who was a German immigrant himself, he figured Mom would be a good addition. He knew about loyalty and German work ethics and overlooked that Mom couldn’t speak English. Mom was a fast learner and loved working with flowers. She created arrangements with her coworker, Antoinecte, who was an immigrant from Italy and did not speak the greatest English at that time. The three of them and their accents made quite the team and they became very good friends. They all loved it at Valley Dale and might have had something to do with the boss or was it the European connection. When she became more confident, Mom went for her drivers test and yes, she passed, and I believe on the first try. She had her own vehicle, a green 1959 Volkswagen with stick shift that Frank sold to her for a good price. Their again surrounded by good people. After Frank’s passing, Mom carried on working for his son, Richard. Mom and Antoincte loved their job. Mom retired after 35 years and Antoincte still continued for a few more years since she was eight years younger than Mom. They really all had become such good friends. Mom and Dad enjoyed mixing and mingling with friends, dancing at the German Harmony Hall, and the trips with the German choir. Mom was always on the go and loved every minute of it. The other thing they both enjoyed was their granddaughter, Nicole. They took her along on camping and fishing trips and did all those things that grandparents do. Horst might have been a little stricter with his own girls, but he was putty in Nicoles hands. She has all those wonderful memories that she can share with her son, Dainen. Yes, you could say Mom lived life with gusto, always ready to have fun and a good Kaffee Klatsch with friends.
She was predeceased by her husband, Horst in 2005, and son in law, Henry in 2020. She will be lovingly remembered by her daughters, Petra Fournier and Ute Schaffland (Katherine Duncan); granddaughter, Nicole Moss; grandson, Dorian Scheidt; and great grandson, Dainen Johnston. We would like to imagine her in the afterlife, dancing up a storm with Horst and her dear friend of 70 years, Lily, who she really missed when she passed in October 2022.
A big thank you to the staff at Meadow Ridge for looking after Mom when she started her journey with Dementia. Her final and last move was April 2023 when she met all the wonderful staff at the Riverview Care Center. They looked after Mom until the end of her journey which came to a sudden stop on November 30, 2023. Thank you for everything you did for our wonderful Mother. Special thanks to Maria Collards, who provided all of Mom’s nail care for the last 15 years; to Lorna, the owner of The Cow Lick Beauty Salon, who played her magic on Mom every Thursday for the last 7 years. And Thanks to everybody else who was on the journey with Mom. THANK YOU!
It must have been destiny. Dad participated in a handball tournament in Meuselwitz. The West played the East and during this weekend trip, their path’s crossed during the awards banquet. It was the brown eyes that caught his attention, he always did say that is why he married her, and that is how our mother met the man of her life. At the end of the evening, Dad hat to travel back to the West but there must have been a click somewhere since they decided to stay in touch. At that time, it was a different world. There was the East and the West and borders that separated the two, which at one time was one country. Unfortunately, Mom’s part had been taken over by the Russians. There was no travelling back and forth, no internet, and no cell phones; they kept the mailman pretty busy.
In 1951, mom and her best friend decided to take a chance and escape to the West by jumping from the train. Dad must have written some pretty steamy letters for Maria to leave her family behind knowing that she couldn’t go back and visit, not at that time any way. She ended up in Ludwigshafen where she found work as a care giver to the children of a doctor. Now Dad had the opportunity to visit back and forth whenever the time allowed. In 1953, Mom joined Dad in Wetter/Ruhr and as we say, the rest is history. They tied the knot on July 31 at the city hall. It was nothing fancy, but it certainly lasted a lifetime even if dad took a little break in 2005. I’m sure he is anxiously waiting for those brown eyes to light up his life again.
Horst, Maria, and their daughter’s embarked on a new adventure in 1968 and immigrated to Canada. They joined their good friends, Emil, Lily, and their children who had taken this big step a year earlier in 1967. It was July 1, high noon when our train rolled into the station from Montreal. It was a hot hot summer. I’m sure a very scary time for our dad since he was the one responsible for his family. It was a totally different environment from what we had left behind. Coming from the industrial centre in Germany to small town Medicine Hat in the middle of nowhere in this huge landscape. It sure looked different on the map then in reality. Just think, you can fit three of West Germany into Alberta, and the amount of people that lived there compared to the 17,000 that lived in the Hat. Second and Third Street were the city centre. There were no shopping malls and really nothing to get excited about. But there were a lot of Germans living in Medicine Hat and with a lot less stress compared to Germany. We’ve called this little town on the prairies home for the last 55 years. With Emil and Lily helping us in anyway to adjust to the Canadian life, there were never any regrets; that is what true friendship is all about.
Mom thought she would like to enter the workforce being that she had been a stay-at-home mom. There weren’t too many options out there if you didn’t speak English. As luck will have it, she applied at Valley Dale Greenhouse, which was owned by Frank Czember who was a German immigrant himself, he figured Mom would be a good addition. He knew about loyalty and German work ethics and overlooked that Mom couldn’t speak English. Mom was a fast learner and loved working with flowers. She created arrangements with her coworker, Antoinecte, who was an immigrant from Italy and did not speak the greatest English at that time. The three of them and their accents made quite the team and they became very good friends. They all loved it at Valley Dale and might have had something to do with the boss or was it the European connection. When she became more confident, Mom went for her drivers test and yes, she passed, and I believe on the first try. She had her own vehicle, a green 1959 Volkswagen with stick shift that Frank sold to her for a good price. Their again surrounded by good people. After Frank’s passing, Mom carried on working for his son, Richard. Mom and Antoincte loved their job. Mom retired after 35 years and Antoincte still continued for a few more years since she was eight years younger than Mom. They really all had become such good friends. Mom and Dad enjoyed mixing and mingling with friends, dancing at the German Harmony Hall, and the trips with the German choir. Mom was always on the go and loved every minute of it. The other thing they both enjoyed was their granddaughter, Nicole. They took her along on camping and fishing trips and did all those things that grandparents do. Horst might have been a little stricter with his own girls, but he was putty in Nicoles hands. She has all those wonderful memories that she can share with her son, Dainen. Yes, you could say Mom lived life with gusto, always ready to have fun and a good Kaffee Klatsch with friends.
She was predeceased by her husband, Horst in 2005, and son in law, Henry in 2020. She will be lovingly remembered by her daughters, Petra Fournier and Ute Schaffland (Katherine Duncan); granddaughter, Nicole Moss; grandson, Dorian Scheidt; and great grandson, Dainen Johnston. We would like to imagine her in the afterlife, dancing up a storm with Horst and her dear friend of 70 years, Lily, who she really missed when she passed in October 2022.
A big thank you to the staff at Meadow Ridge for looking after Mom when she started her journey with Dementia. Her final and last move was April 2023 when she met all the wonderful staff at the Riverview Care Center. They looked after Mom until the end of her journey which came to a sudden stop on November 30, 2023. Thank you for everything you did for our wonderful Mother. Special thanks to Maria Collards, who provided all of Mom’s nail care for the last 15 years; to Lorna, the owner of The Cow Lick Beauty Salon, who played her magic on Mom every Thursday for the last 7 years. And Thanks to everybody else who was on the journey with Mom. THANK YOU!