Obituary of Wanda Berg

BERG: Wanda Berg passed away in the Lloydminster Hospital, Lloydminster, Saskatchewan on Saturday June 17, 2006 at the age of 95 years. Wanda is survived, lovingly remembered and sadly missed by 3 children: Aurelia (Rally) Ulan of Lloydminster, Fred (Wanda) Berg of Lloydminster and Zigrit (Frank) Kremlicka of Sherwood Park; 9 grandchildren: Ruth Flynn, Ruby Ulan, Laurence (Linda) Ulan, Betty (Doug) Ponto, Ivan Ulan, Darrel (Tracy) Berg, Tina Malka, Sheldon (Tanya) Kremlicka, Karissa (Eli) Bartlett; 16 great grandchildren: Michelle (Daryl) Curtis, C.J. Flynn, Cari Williams, Cindy Williams, Jason Ponto, Brigitte Ponto, Gregory Ulan, Shawn Ulan, Tristan Berg, Adam Berg, Darrian Berg, Zoey Malka, Christina Kremlicka, Sophia Kremlicka, Evan Bartlett, Aislynn Bartlett; and 3 great great grandchildren, Stephan, Alexa and Brayden Curtis as well as many nieces, nephews and extended family members. Wanda was predeceased by her husband, Edmund, in 2002; a daughter Klara in the 1930’s; her mother in 1923, her father in 1939 and eight brothers. Wanda was born on March 16, 1911 in Llady, Poland to Emil and Emila Repoch. There were 9 children: eight boys and 1 girl. Four boys, including twin boys, died in early childhood or at birth. The remaining brothers, now having predeceased her were Rudolph in 1992, Richard in 1999, Albert in 1993 and Walter in 2005. Wanda’s mother passed away when Wanda was eleven years old, leaving her to look after the home, father and four brothers, three of which were younger than herself. When Wanda met Edmund, he was dressed in his soldier’s tunic. She was smitten, never to recover. There were married in 1930. In April 1933, Aurelia was born. A few years later Klara came but only lived for six months. When World War II came about, life changed for the worse. Ed and Wanda faced and overcame many hardships and during these times Fred was born in 1941 and Zigrit was born in 1944. During the war, they were moved from place to place, sometimes running with only the clothes on their back. The family spent 9 months in Germany in an immigration camp and in 1949, they immigrated to Canada to Wanda’s brother Rudolph’s farm, just east of Lloydminster, where they cleared land and worked for a share of the crop. On 1951, they bought a farm west of Blackfoot, where they remained until Edmund went into the nursing home and Wanda moved into the Pioneer Lodge shortly after. On the farm, Wanda always had a large garden and sold cream, butter and eggs in town so they had grocery money. She was an excellent cook and many Sundays were spent with family and friends around the dinner table. Most of her recipes were not written but came from necessity and taste. After Edmund’s passing in 2002, she often dreamed of him saying to her, “What is taking you so long? Why aren’t you coming?” They were a couple totally depended on each other. Wanda loved her happy times: singing, dancing and later on listening to her collection of music after her eyesight failed. The funeral service for Wanda was conduced from the First Lutheran Church, Lloydminster, Alberta on Wednesday, June 21, 2006 at 2 p.m. with Pastor Nolan Astley officiating. Two solos, “Amazing Grace” and “On Eagles Wings” were sung by Marlene Risling; accompanied by Brenda Finlay. Hymns sung were “In The Garden”, and “Beyond The Sunset” and “Precious Lord Take My Hand.” Honorary Pallbearers were all her grandchildren. Active Pallbearers were: Laurence Ulan, Darrel Berg, Ivan Ulan, Sheldon Kremlicka, Jason Ponto, C.J. Flynn, Greg Ulan, Shawn Ulan and Steven Curtis. Interment followed in the Lloydminster City Cemetery. McCaw Funeral Service Ltd., of Lloydminster, administered the funeral arrangements. The family of Wanda Berg would like to thank Pastor Astley for his visits to Wanda while she was at the Lodge. She always enjoyed his visits and looked forward to participating in the Lord’s Supper. Thanks also to Pastor Astley for officiating at her funeral service. Thanks to Vi Young for her many visits and birthday parties she gave for Ed and Wanda over the years. Thank you to granddaughter Ruth, who often came in the mornings to help get Wanda ready for the day and many evenings to rub her shoulder and get her ready for bed. She valued Ruth’s kind heart and many visits. A grateful thank you to Dr. DuPlooy, who tried so hard to keep her comfortable; to the nurses and staff at the Lloydminster Hospital; and to the Pioneer Lodge staff for their daily help. Thank you Zigrit for the loving eulogy; to Sheldon and Tina for the readings; to Brenda and Marlene for sharing their gift of music and song; to the Lutheran Church Ladies Group for preparing and serving the lunch. Many thanks to all who brought food to the house, gave flowers in memory of Wanda or donated to the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Thank you all for your visits and comforting words. The family thanks Dale and Dave McCaw for their kindness and professional help with the funeral preparations. Finally, the family expressed sincere gratitude to all of their Mom’s friends and family who visited while she was a resident at the Pioneer Lodge. Donations in memory of Wanda may be made to the Heart & Stroke Foundation or to a charity of the donor's choice.