Rosella Blondina Doerksen Schmidt

The Lord called home to Himself Rosella Blondina Schmidt on her birthday May 21, 2013 surrounded by her loving family in her room at Tabor Home, Abbotsford, BC. Rosella was born in Hepburn, Saskatchewan May 21, 1919 to Jacob and Elizabeth Doerksen. She married Walter A. Schmidt September 27, 1941 in Abbotsford. They remained residents of Abbotsford their whole married life.

Rosella was well known in the community for her many artistic and creative talents and her zest for life.

She will be deeply and sadly missed by her children, Jeanne (Jake) Janzen, Francis (Gerry) Friesen, Patricia (Deryl) Priebe and Jan (Ken) Martens; 7 grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren; sister Viola (Harold) Ratzlaff, brother John Doerksen and many nieces, nephews and extended family.

She was predeceased by her husband Walter A. Schmidt in November, 1996.

Viewing will be held Wednesday, May 29, 2013 from 7-9 pm at Woodlawn Funeral Home, 2310 Clearbrook Rd., Abbotsford. Memorial Service will be held Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 1:30 pm at Central Heights M.B. Church, 1661 McCallum Rd., Abbotsford. In honour of Rosella’s life donations may be made to Stillwood Camp, 44005 Watt Rd., Lindell, BC V2R 4X9 or The Mwanza Orphan Project in Tanzania. Donations can be sent to: Trinity Baptist Church Legacy Foundation, 1905 Springfield Rd, Kelowna, BC V1Y 7V7. (Specify “Mwanza Project MW24” for tax deductions).

To view the photo video the following link and place in your browser: http://vimeo.com/67082692

Eulogy of Rosella Schmidt

presented by her four daughters at her funeral service on May 30th 2013.

Jeanne Janzen, eldest daughter, Eulogy – History

Since it will be Monday before you can watch the service I thought you might like to read the eulogies we four daughters wrote

Jeanne:

Our mom led such a long and full life, that it takes all four of us to tell her story: I will tell some of her history.

Our mom was born on May 21st, 1919 in Hepburn Sask. Her parents were Jacob and Elizabeth Doerksen. From Hepburn the family moved to Herbert the

next year and stayed there till she completed Grade 4. Then at the age of 10 they moved to Dunelm (just south of Swift Current). Her father had a general store in Dunelm, where mom learned to work in the store and post office. In 1930 they moved to Main Center and continued her jr. high schooling. She helped her Dad in the general store that he bought when the railway came through Main Center. She did his books, and filled out many relief orders during the hungry 30's

Due to hard times on the prairies the family moved to Abbotsford in 1940. She attended Phillip Sheffield High School for one year. Soon after she met Dad (Walter Schmidt) at a boxing match. Must have been love at first sight, as they were married two months later! They were married in the South Abbotsford MB church on Sept. 28th, 1941. They continued to live in Abbotsford all their lives, where they were active in community and church life, as well as raising their family here.

I was born in 1943, Fran came 1 1/2 yrs. later.

Mom thought out of the box and was ahead of her time. For example, she would take us roller skating in Lynden, WA. She also took us to the theatre in Abbotsford in 1952 to watch the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Even at Tom and Mandy's wedding 2 years ago, she kicked up her heels on the dance floor.

They began their spiritual journey on Sept. 28, 1946 when they both accepted the Lord as their Savior. This was through the guidance of Bill and Elizabeth Wiebe long time members of this church, who have both passed away. Both mom and dad were baptized in the Sumas River on Oct. of that same year. When the Sutera Twins came to Abbotsford in 1972, a revival broke out in this city. It affected mom and dad and they rededicated their lives to a closer walk with the Lord. Mom had been in a car accident when she was 14. This resulted in many years of epileptic seizures. During this revival, they prayed for a healing - God answered their prayers and she was miraculously healed.

Pat was born in 1950, and Jan arrived in 1952, completing our family. The boys came later, much to dad's delight as each one got married!

In 1986 they sold the farm on Mt Lehman Rd. They built and moved into the house of their dreams on Eagle Mountain with a fantastic view of Mt Baker. Mom lived there for 10 years. When dad passed away in 1996, not only did she lose her husband, but also suddenly in the same week lost her eyesight due to wet macular degeneration. Mom moved to the Garden Park soon after. She was happy there with a lovely patio garden that she was so proud of, and made some wonderful new friends that she had for the rest of her life, some of who are here today.

With health beginning to be compromised, she needed more help and went to live at Tabor Court that was her home for 2 1/2 years. As more serious health issues came, she needed the personal care that The Tabor Home staff so lovingly provided. Right to the end they kept her comfortable and pain free as possible. On her 94th birthday we had a party (which she had earlier requested) at 3:00 PM with sparklers on a birthday cake and singing. Staff and family surrounded her and at 6:35 PM, she peacefully arrived in Heaven to celebrate there with her Jesus and many friends and family, gone on before her.

Fran:

(Mom and I were both artists and shared a love of nature)

Mom the Artist and Craftswoman

When artistic bent is in your genetic makeup, a God-given gift, there is nothing one can do but to find an outlet to express it or forever feel a void. The making art and craft made Mom feel alive, energized her, solaced her and drove her to excel in a whirlwind of media that dazzles the mind. She was never happier than when her studio space was surrounded with any number of options to explore.

As long as I can recall, our Mom was always making something pretty! Creativity flowed through her veins like water flowing into a river that never runs dry. My earliest recollection was watching her stencil paint designs on muslin flour sacks to make pretty tea towels for the kitchen. I was fascinated as she created floral bouquets on velvet using a variety of tiny colored seashells purchased through the Free Press Prairie Farmer in 1934.

Her desire for painting arose in her teens. She told me the best present ever, came when she was fourteen and her parents got her a set of oil paints from the Eaton’s Catalogue. She was thrilled and set about to paint beautiful scenes and floral designs on black velvet pillows. I can remember them on our living room sofa.

As a girl she made her own patterns and sewed all her own clothes including her girlfriends wedding dress from dry goods bought at her father’s general store in Main Center. She also made her girlfriends wedding bouquet with flowers made of woodfiber material popular at that time. When she had children of her own, her creativity was manifested in the many pretty outfits she sewed for us girls and herself.

As we girls got off to school she found time to explore her gifts. Mom was skillful in many fields of art. ~pottery and ceramic, dresden lace dolls, fine china painting, jewelry making, oil and watercolor painting, tole painting, batik, string art, silk painting, leather work, copper tooling, Flower design for many weddings, graduations, decorated wedding cakes for dozens of brides, made Dried flower and seed ecologes some which hang in government and royal palaces, bead and jewelry design, just to name some of the mediums she worked in. She was driven to create and worked long hours without tiring and with much pleasure.

In her 40’s she attended several semesters at Western Washington University where she was inspired to pursue the arts in more depth. Her quest to improve had her traveling to many other states and countries to take classes from professional artists in a variety of mediums.

She loved to teach and share her knowledge. Her students gave her great pleasure in their accomplishments and desire to learn.

From her Dad she inherited the knack for selling. So off to craft shows and mall shows she traveled. It gave her a lot of satisfaction to be able to sell her work to appreciative customers. How she stuck it out with packing and unpacking and setting up her creations for as long as she did is beyond my comprehension. It is a _lot_ of work. Dad was often there to give her a hand, build her booth and display stands.

Later on in their late 60’s she and Dad would winter in Arizona for 13 years. It was here she really got into china painting with a passion. Besides beautiful vases and bowls she also added porcelain jewelry designing with semi-precious stones to her repertoire. She became very skillful in painting roses that were a kind of her signature flower being Rosella and all ;-) Art Making was her passion.

Then, in October 1996, her world as she knew it came crashing down. Dad’s health was failing and we were told he had terminal cancer and only lived a few weeks. During that time Mom noticed vision changes. The week that Dad died she was diagnosed as being legally blind due to sudden bleed in her eyes. She was given no hope that her sight could be recovered only that they might be able to stabilize what was left, just a little peripheral vision in one eye. The other was blind. For an independent woman and an artist especially this was devastating news!! Suddenly she could not see well enough to paint as she had. It was almost Christmas and she always had great fun painting her roses on Christmas balls. Late at night, that week, she sat down, to try and paint a ball and could not see well enough to make it work. We heard the sobs from up in her studio and we wept with her.

Her resilience and fortitude to rise above this was quite remarkable and was insistent something could be done to reverse it. With God’s helpr, family and medical support and a myriad of devices to enhance her vision it gave her hope. To the day she died she hoped for a transplant to get her vision back. Whatever device was available on the market to improve her vision she bought even if the device only improved it slightly.

With tenacious determination she found ways to busy her hands with creating something, anything, In the latter years, with eyesight diminished that big something was making bead necklaces in assortment of colors and designs which she could do by feel. We would color label the packets of beads for her. Her intuitive memory of color even if she could not always tell helped her to put together some lovely jewelry. Once she was in a care home where she needed assistance it became a nightmare for the cleaning ladies. Beads dropping on the floor everywhere that were unseen by Mom. Their patience was commendable in her creative chaos.

Knitting scarves was something she could manage and made many to give away. As fatigue and vision became more of an issue, she made many bookmarks with stickers and stamps and ribbon that found their way to the mission field to give as gifts. She also enjoyed making lots of cards from flowers cut out of magazines, stamps and glitter.

We wish to acknowledge the wonderful care and support Mom received during this time from Tabor Court staff first and then over to Tabor home. It often took a lot of patience to put up with the clutter she so needed to have her around her, everything in her line of vision.

From early on we girls were exposed to all kinds of art and creative ventures and community clubs she was active in. Whether that was making costumes for the Halloween party at the community hall, the mayday decorated bicycle parade, entering our baking and flower arranging or needlework in the Abbotsford fair and taking away the ribbons! She always encouraged us to become involved in some sort of creative endeavor. She was not one to see her girls idle. All of us have inherited/absorbed artistic expression to one degree or another and we see it filtered down to her grandchildren, several who have made various forms of the arts their career. In the genes as they say!

Mom was a feisty one, for whom nothing was impossible, who overcame incredible odds to still be a productive and creative, independent and a vibrant member of her community in spite of limitations. She may have ruffled some feathers (another craft she was into) along the way, with wanting to get her way and in the end she usually did.

‘Can’t ‘ was not a word in her vocabulary. She never was afraid to attempt anything!

Her legacy to us would be ~

What ever you do, do it with all your heart and soul and determination and joy you can muster and do it to the best of your ability and more!

Pat:

Moms mission Experiences:

Mom had a heart for missions and evangelism, likely from early on in her Christian life. Through her own family as well as Dad's family ,there were siblings who worked overseas in missions , so not only did those exposures enlighten mom and dad to be interested in reaching out to others overseas and at home. but also influenced we kids and through the years , grand kids as well.

Hospitality and music were two areas of importance to mom. She loved to entertain and held many dinners, teas etc at all her homes. Also being involved in music groups, like playing her harmonica in The Melody Ensemble, was not only an encouragement to her, but she considered it a ministry to others too.

Mom and Dad spend time ( along with Jan) in Japan. They went there to build a Bible Camp in the mountains outside of Osaka where mom was involved in cooking the meals and on their return, I got to taste Japanese food for the first time as she prepared dishes she learned to make there.. They also went together to help with projects in Ethiopia and India with their siblings who were missionaries there and also were helping at Cannon Beach Conference Center in Oregon..

Mom was teaching crafts in the earlier days of Colombia Bible Camp (now called Camp Stillwood) and has been an active donor to that camp for many years . She encouraged and helped many in our family and extended family to attend camp as she saw it to be such a significant role in the spiritual life of kids.

She loved events like “Love Abbotsford”, and looked for ways to be involved using her crafts too in a missionary way, for example, making bookmarks , either painted, or using stickers and verses to send with people going out on a missions trips. She had some Japanese students at her Garden Park apartment and enjoyed that interaction and friendship, sharing with them about spiritual things as well.

Shared the 4 spiritual laws or her testimony freely and without hesitation.

She made several trips overseas with DMI groups. (Discipleship Making International), She went to the Phillipines and Fiji, and some of you are here today, who were with her and experienced her enthusiasm for that kind of door to door ministry . She expressed often how much she would love to still be able to go.

Her biggest interest in these later years has been to pray and financially support her sons in law, Jake and Ken on trips they went out with DMI, and they along with Jeanne and Jan, initiating and supporting The Mwanza Foundation in Tanzania, Africa, involving orphaned children .

She was faithful in praying for those going out on mission trips and especially encouraged us as kids and also the grand kids to get missions experience.

Jan's memories

My earliest memories of mom began when I was a preschooler. My older sisters were all in school and I had time alone with mom.

We were not home very much during those years because mom had many friends in the art and garden club world and she liked to visit them, swap ideas and stroll through their gardens. We'd have tea and then walk through their gardens. I would learn all about plants and flowers on these outings. She would take cuttings of plants, especially azaleas and rhododendrons she loved, bring them home and show me how to cross pollinate them with her own plants and thus creating a new hybrid.

The days we were home she sometimes held pottery and ceramic classes of which I got to be a student just like the ladies who came.

It was great fun for me as I had a creative nature and I enjoyed trying all these things and it exposed me to all sorts of arts and crafts. Through the years

of mom encouraging me to try these different crafts I developed an interest in floral design which has become my career over the past 40 years.

Mom enjoyed fanciful things and special events. One early memory was when Princess Margaret arrived in Abbotsford. The royal procession was to pass by our house and mom had Pat & I dress in our Sunday best, shiny shoes and all, stand by the road with white hankies in hand and wave to the Princess as she passed by.

Mom was an avid encourager and always liked to see the positive in others. She was a teacher of her craft and encouraged others to "Just try it, you find will you are good at it ."

As a young girl I wanted to learn how to make pottery so one day she placed a chunk of clay on the potters wheel and said" Lets see what you can make"

She was not one to do things for you but wanted you to learn and develop what was hidden inside you. So I wet my hands, got the wheel spinning as I saw her do many times before, placed my hands on the clay and managed to create a pot although a bit lopsided. Yet I was proud of myself and she was proud of me too for trying.

Still it was not just about arts & crafts. She wanted all of us girls to be efficient and knowledgeable in the running of a household. By the time we were 13 we could bake, cook a full meal, clean the house, do laundry, iron, and plant a garden of veggies and flowers.

Although arts and crafts were important to her, her faith was the most important. In her later years especially she wanted to share her love for Jesus to anyone who had a listening ear.

She wanted all of us girls to share in this love she had by sending us all to Bible School after our graduations. She wanted us to be grounded in our faith and know who and why we believed in it.

Those years spent in Bible school are cherished memories and brought me to a deeper relationship with Jesus in a personal way.

Her love for Jesus and sharing that love with others is the most treasured thing I will remember about mom because although she was known for her arts & crafts she would not want that to be the focus of her life. Her love for Jesus was her life.