Ingetraud Elfride Mantei

On Aug 25, 2016, beloved wife of 63 years to Erwin Mantei, loving mother to Jurgen (Nattacia) Mantei, Armin (Gloria) Mantei, Monica (Steve) Brown and Ron (Sheryl) Mantei, proud grandmother of nine and great-grandmother of fourteen, passed away in the arms of the man she had loved for over 69 years, at peace in the home she felt most comfortable in, with family at her side and in her heart. She also leaves to mourn her brother Klaus Homuth of Fort Saskatchewan, AB. Inge was born in Arneswalde, Germany. She and Erwin immigrated to Calgary in 1956 with their first two children, who were only three years and one year old at the time. They made the two week voyage across the ocean with other family members enthusiastic to begin their lives in Canada. Inge was predeceased by her father Kurt Homuth, whom she had only reunited with shortly before his death in Germany, and her mother, Klara Homuth, who had also immigrated to Canada along with Inge and Erwin. Inge loved gardening, spending hours canning and pickling the healthy harvests of their labor and was always quick to share a jar of Pfeffersauce, or her delicious Apple Kuchen with family and friends. She also loved to cook traditional German meals for her growing family and her cherished grandchildren. When weather no longer permitted her to garden she enjoyed the life of a Snowbird, spending 20 years escaping Calgary’s harsh winters in Phoenix, Arizona. She enjoyed fishing for pike at the cabin they built at Calling Lake in Northern Alberta. She also found great pleasure in filling buckets and buckets of blueberries in the woods surrounding their northern retreat. Sadly, ten years ago Alzheimer’s began robbing Inge of these simple pleasures, eventually erasing all of her memories of the days of travel she and Erwin had shared and the times when she had family and friends gathered around their large kitchen table for dinner, or a mean game of dominos. A Funeral Service will be held at St. Matthew Lutheran Church, 66 - 7 St N.E., Calgary, AB on Tuesday, August 30, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made directly to the Alzheimer’s Society of Alberta, 10531 Kingsway Avenue, Edmonton, AB T5H 4K1. Expressions of sympathy may be forwarded to the family via the website www.fostersgardenchapel.ca.