Linda Ann Love Ackert

Welcome, thank-you for coming to help us remember our Mum, Linda Ackert, and to celebrate her life. As Nick mentioned, I am Sarah, Linda’s second daughter. My older sister Emily and younger sister Lydia are also here with me.

Many of you know that our Mum suffered from a long, debilitating illness that robbed her of her memory, her mobility, her voice, and eventually her life. So many people helped Mum and our family through these last difficult months, so we want to begin by saying thank-you. Thank-you to:

- Dr. Booth and the Palliative Care Team at Sault Area Hospital for providing access to at-home palliative care and compassionate pain and symptom management,

- Laura Moss at the Home and Community Care North East LHIN for coordinating Mum’s home care resources,

- The many Personal Support Workers from Care Partners and CBI who provided in-home, daily personal care

- The Bayshore nurses who guided us through treatments and medications as Mum’s care became more and more complicated,

- Respite care workers, particularly Bev Knott, who took care of Mum daily, and who also took care of our Dad by making sure he had some time off and that he ate regular meals, and

- The staff at ARCH Hospice, who helped us through Mum’s final days.

On behalf of our family, we also want to say thank-you to our collective Bethel family as well as to our Glen Avenue neighbours and friends for the many meals, cards of encouragement, visits, flowers, and faithful prayers.

Through it all, Mum remained steadfast in her faith. Whatever her illness took from her, it left behind her love for Jesus and for people. She told each caregiver that came to the house that “Jesus is real, Jesus loves you, and I love you too!”, and she meant it.

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Mum was born on November 26, 1945 in Shawinagan Falls, Quebec. She came two months early and weighed in at 5 pounds, 6 ounces. Her premature birth at a time and place where modern medical treatment was not available makes her 76-year life remarkable. I think she was remarkable for other reasons too, not the least of which is her being our Mum.

Later, two brothers, John and David, joined the family. Mum loved her brothers very much, but she longed for a sister, which she never got. She used to tell us that God gave her three daughters, instead.

Growing up in Windsor, Ontario, Mum and her brothers played in a big back yard bordering on a field. They would set up house in the garage. Mum remembered making “tomato soup” from honeysuckle berries to feed her dolls. She remembered the Brownie camera her father gave her that she subsequently dropped and broke (she never told her parents about that). She also remembered her dearest best friend Venea.

Mum loved her parents devotedly. She was incredibly proud of them but was somewhat overshadowed by their intense and strong personalities. She had a fear of failure that stemmed from her childhood, where the expectations were high, and she felt that not meeting them was out of the question. She developed, unsurprisingly, an anxious, fragile nature that affected her throughout life. Lydia used to tease her and call her “Piglet” from Winnie the Pooh with all her own, “Oh d-d-d-dear-ing”. According to Emily, Dad would say, “she owed a third mortgage to trouble, she borrowed so much of it.” She was a firm believer in Murphy’s Law – “anything that can go wrong will go wrong” - and so she tried to always be prepared! (I remember the large beige medicine bag she would tote along out to camp – just in case!)

Towards the end of a fairly sheltered 1960s high school career (Mum did not have the opportunity to become a hippie), punctuated by her discovery of a love of languages, a deep aversion to mathematics, avid participation in high school musicals, and an enduring love for The Beatles and The Mamas & The Papas, our Mum met our Dad, Robert Ackert, on November 21, 1964.

Mum had been bribed with $5 by her friend Venea’s father to accompany her friend to a dance at the University of Windsor (she did not want to go, but $5 was quite a bit of money at that time, and her friend Jan also urged her to attend). Dad, a first-year engineering student, only went to the dance because he was exasperated with calculus (perhaps the only time Mum might have conceded that math was useful in her life). Dad was immediately attracted to Mum’s beautiful smile, and Mum liked Dad’s red hair. They discovered that their birthdays were only one day apart and planned a first date for the next Saturday.

Mum and Dad dated throughout university, while Mum completed a degree in German at McMaster. Following university, Mum continued her language studies by travelling to Germany. She told us stories of her travels, including her adventures on the trains going from place to place in Europe. Her trip had a life-long impact on her, not just in language learning, but also on her growing faith as she experienced God’s presence with her while she travelled. She later taught high school English and German for a short time. (From her stories I can’t decide whether travelling or teaching was the bigger adventure for her.)

Mum was accepted but turned down the opportunity to pursue a Master’s degree in German. Instead she and Dad got married six years after they had first met, and they moved to Sault Ste. Marie. Our Grandma Ackert used to say that they were made for each other, as Mum needed to feel secure, and Dad needed someone to look after and protect. Dad says that God’s plan for him was to take care of our Mum.

Mum was very happy being married to our Dad, and she was delighted to become a mother. (She loved being Mum or Mummy, but was insistent that she was not “MOM”, spelled M.O.M.) Dad told us that she worked very hard to be the best mum she could be. She read books and researched and tried to find ways to help us with our problems. The best thing Mum ever did for me was to just listen. She would nod her head and say, “Well, that’s a real problem” and then offer me some tea. She would also encourage me to keep trying. The first year after I had my daughter, Katie, my mum told me every day how proud she was of me and that I was doing a good job.

Mum was fiercely protective of us girls. She was definitely a “Mamma Bear” when it came to our safety or any perceived threat. Emily remembers what she refers to as Mum’s “gimlet eye” – the stern look that would make anyone cower … even school principals.

Mum liked to have a neat/clean house and when we were young, she expected us to keep our rooms clean. If you heard her triumphantly yell “PACHOOM”, you went running to find what she was throwing out! That was sign she was fed up with the mess! Lydia remembers Mum teaching her the proper way to make a bed, passed down from her own mother (with nurse’s corner tucks and everything). When we were old enough, Mum would rotate us three on dish drying duty. She later admitted that this made us spend one on one time with her, as the other two would quickly disappear when it wasn’t their turn.

Education was very important to Mum. She was faithful in making sure we completed homework assignments, learned our times tables and spelling words, and practiced our music. Lydia remembers sitting beside Mum, knowing there would be no excuses or escaping learning to read and says, “I am forever grateful for her dedication and patience during those painful hours as she listened to me slowly work through word after word and page after page until I finally got it.”

We were not allowed to watch TV unless it was educational. We watched a lot of nature programming.

Mum encouraged all of us to pursue post-secondary education. She was so excited when I graduated from university: I recall her jumping up and shouting, while all the other parents were just sitting and clapping.

Music was a huge part of Mum’s life. She told us of spending Saturday afternoons listening to operas with her father, a tradition she tried to continue with us and her grandchildren too. Our home was always filled with classical music. We would often sing together at the piano and on long drives. Dad said the van would rock back and forth with all the music while we drove down the highway.

Mum played the piano from an early age, starting her “career” as a pianist for her childhood Sunday school and later she served as her father’s accompanist and for the Windsor Light Opera rehearsals. As an adult, Mum played hymns for church services as well as playing just for pleasure. For years she was the only pianist at Riverside Bible Chapel, dutifully practicing the week’s hymns, and trying to talk the song leaders out of repeating the choruses one too many times. When we were in grade school, Mum volunteered as Grand View School’s pianist for the Kiwanis Festival as well as for Christmas Plays. We well remember singing, “The Little Sheep of Bethlehem”, complete with cotton ball “ears”.

We can all thank Mum that we learned to play musical instruments. If it weren’t for her dogged determination, we likely never would have.

Mum was an avid reader. She read to herself, underlining and writing notes on the pages that interested her and keeping a book of interesting words she came across. She read out loud to us every day, often for hours at a time even on long trips in the big blue van. Mum had eclectic taste but was particularly interested in books about history and politics. She loved stories about people, and she loved to share what she was reading. I often found that I already knew about a topic discussed in high school history class because Mum had read to me about it. Even during her last illness, she was reading the multi-volume autobiography of Winston Churchill.

Mum was especially faithful at reading her Bible, to herself and to us. She made sure to read Bible passages to us at breakfast and lunch and would send us off to school with a prayer for safety and a reminder of Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and of good report … think on these things!”

At one point the only thing holding her Bible together were elastic bands. Dad bought her a new Bible, but she still preferred the old one.

Mum had her own way of organizing things. She kept a "Don't Touch the Mess! I know where everything is" sign in the kitchen. She kept lots of notes and clippings all over the place, particularly on the fridge. Many of the clippings were annotated with her thoughts on the topics as well as opinions of the writing style and grammar. She was not shy in correcting people’s grammar, particularly that of CBC radio or television announcers, who, in her opinion, should know better than to make those types of mistakes when presenting the news to the nation!

Mum loved Sault Ste. Marie. When she was a young girl she had a book entitled, "Paddle to the Sea", where she first read about Sault Ste. Marie, and she thought the named sounded so romantic. When she and our Dad eventually moved here, she found the people to be warm and friendly and she was delighted to learn to cross-country ski. Mum loved to go skiing, especial with friends. She would get excited when the weather turned cold, and you could always tell which car was ours in the summer because the ski racks stayed up all year round. When I was in high school Mum would “break me out”/pick me up every other day to take me skiing instead of having me sit in the library during the final spare period.

One of Mum’s favourite things was to go for walks (when the weather did not permit skiing). She was always eager to get outside. She loved to see flowers (especially pink ones), songbirds, squirrels, and chipmunks, but woe betide any cat or pigeon that entered our yard - particularly if they showed signs of interfering with her birdfeeders! She would run out the back door brandishing a broom or flapping a dish towel shouting “shoo, shoo!” In summer she would keep the hose handy to discourage invaders.

Mum’s favorite foods were coffee and peanut butter and chocolate (in that order). Mum loved PB so much that sometimes we would tease her about being part squirrel, but coffee was essential every day – so much so that Coffee was her nickname when she had been a camp counselor at Aush Bik Koong Bible Camp (before us kids came along). The only time Mum did not drink coffee was when she was preparing for hip surgery, and she was VERY happy to resume her favorite beverage afterwards.

Mum was not into playing games, but she did like Chinese Checkers. Specifically, she liked to win at Chinese Checkers. She would get so excited – she would squeak with delight! I never could beat her.

Mum was not particularly good at hand crafts. She really did try hard to knit and sew, but it wasn’t something that came naturally. Mum told of hours spent with her aunt trying to learn to knit, eventually producing a scarf of which she was very proud. The scarf was supposed to be for her father, but she ended up keeping it herself. Later, Mum tried a few knitting and sewing projects and was always very proud of her results even thought the process was often difficult and frustrating. Her good friend, Gerda Igel helped her with knitting and was always ready to lend a hand with the difficult bits, reteaching how to cast on or off several times. At one point, she made a serious effort to learn to sew, and took a course, but gave up in exasperation when Dad took an interest and started making his own work shirts. She said she would stick to cooking.

Mum loved to cook and was proud of always having a home-cooked meal for us, based on recipes handed down from her mother and grandmother. Dad said she made enough food to feed an army. This certainly came in handy when we were ravenous teenagers. Mum also loved to bake, which was her forte. We loved that too, particularly coming home from school to find the house filled with the smell of freshly baked bread, cookies, or coffee cake. Some of our best memories are of coming home from school to tea and homemade bread with Mum. We liked to bake with Mum as well. When we were little girls, Mum would let us help measure and stir and our favorite – lick icing off the beaters! We would watch her slide the pans into the oven for the loaves to rise with a tea towel over them. “It’s time for the bread to go to bed, it's all tucked in!”, she would say, “Time for little girls to take a nap too!”

Many people will remember Mum’s Christmas cake. She made it from the same recipe for 50 years and it was always good. I could never understand why people hated fruit cake until, in adulthood, I tried some of the store-bought variety.

One of our specially loved meals were Mum’s cheese toasties and, of course, our birthday cakes with pink mint icing (YUM!) and her blueberry pies. Mum was particularly good at pie crusts, which we all aspire to copy.

That said, Mum’s cooking endeavours were not always appreciated. Tuna salad sandwiches were not our favorite, but our friends were eager to trade for them at lunch time. Once in a while, she got creative – most memorable was a PB, shredded carrots, and corn sandwich filling that she found in a magazine. Emily found this in her high school lunch and horror and hilarity ensued (it looked like something unmentionable). Mum was gratified that we preferred HER recipes, and threw out the magazine (tuna seemed preferable after that).

Homemade cookies were always in plentiful supply at our house. We often brought our friends home after school to have tea and cookies. Mum loved daily teatime and was so happy to welcome our friends to join our daily ritual. Sometimes she would let us use the Good China, which made us feel so special. When we were very little, she would serve “Boston Tea” in a miniature china tea set. When we were teenagers she encouraged our dress-up tea parties, even though we were perhaps a little old to be playing pretend. My children, nieces and nephews have become well acquainted with teatime at Grandma’s and with a particular cookie tin… in which there were always oatmeal cookies… and for which Rachel named my parents home "The Grandma Cookie House". After all, Grandmas make the best lemonade and oatmeal cookies in the world.

Mum did not like change – at ALL. For example, she wore the same winter hat for 40 years! I once tried to convince her to get a new, more stylish hat but she refused, saying that there was nothing wrong with her hat and it kept her ears warm. The hat never wore out, so she kept wearing it. (You can imagine how she reacted to us eventually growing up and leaving home – that was very hard for her.)

However, when we eventually married, Mum loved her sons-in-law and was proud of them, too. She was happy we all married men who were kind and caring. She loved all her 10 grandchildren, proudly displaying their photos throughout the house and keeping a couple of big photo albums for all the snapshots we sent for Dad to print out. Mum was proud to have never touched a computer! Instead, she wrote letters full of detail and in beautiful script.

The grandkids remember receiving cards from Grandma with sticks of gum inside for their birthdays. They also remember the house being neat and clean, besides the piles of tape recordings of music on the kitchen counter, and the piles and piles of books on the dining room table – It’s amazing the table withstood the weight of all the books. Yes, and that Mum would read to them all too.

Mum was a steadfast friend. Although initially shy and always an introvert, she connected deeply with a small circle of friends who she greatly valued. Her friendships brought her a lot of joy, and she loved to share her interests with them. She was always welcoming and loved to talk with people and hear about their lives. Her ability to engage with people declined as her illness gradually took hold, but she greatly appreciated her friends’ visits and support.

Finally, Mum deeply loved our Dad and always told us that he was the best husband she could ever have wished for. She was so excited about their 50th wedding anniversary that she told people about it for months beforehand. Dad was the love of Mum’s life, the only person she entirely trusted, and his constant presence gave her much comfort throughout her life and especially during her final illness.

Perhaps from all this you have had a glimpse of who our Mum was, a

- Daughter and Sister

- Wife to our Dad for 52 years

- Homemaker

- Fantastic cook and baker

- Proud and protective Mum and Grandma

- Musician

- Lover of classical music, skiing, coffee, stories, good grammar, and people

- Hater of computers, math, disorder, and vain repetitions (particularly in song lyrics)

- Ally to song birds

- Bitter enemy of cats and pigeons

The MOST IMPORTANT thing to know about her:

- She loved Jesus and knew He was real (from personal experience)

- She would want you to know Him too, as your own Saviour.

She was SO EXCITED to see Jesus, face to face – and NOW SHE’S THERE!! though we grieve here, we would not wish her back, knowing that she is with her Saviour, well, whole, happy, and loved.

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ACKERT, Linda Ann Love - Peacefully passed into the arms of our Lord Jesus Christ at the Algoma Residential Community Hospice (ARCH), with the love of her life by her side, on Wednesday, August 3, 2022.

Beloved wife of 52 years of Robert. Cherished mother of Emily Ackert Rutten (Stuart), Sarah Ackert Ferguson (Andy) and Lydia Savoie (Yves). Grandmother of Finn and Niall Rutten; Katie, Hannah and Rachel Ferguson; James, Philippe, Thomas, Léa and Joannie Savoie. Predeceased by her parents John and Frances Watson. Dear sister of John Watson (Colleen) and David Watson (Kashka). Daughter-in-law of the late James and the late Lillian Ackert. Sister-in-law of Gordon Ackert (Tytje) and Bill Ackert (Janet). Also survived by nieces Lee Erin Watson Bellmore and Cheryl Ackert-Bicknell and nephew Jim Ackert.

Family and friends are invited to Bethel Bible Chapel on Wednesday, August 17, 2022 for a visitation from 10 am until time of the service at 12:30 pm. Mr. Nicholas Sarlo officiating. Reception to follow. Graveside service at Greenwood Cemetery (leaving the Chapel at 3 pm). Memorial donations (payable by cheque or online) to Bethel Bible Chapel, Camp ABK or to ARCH would be appreciated. Arrangements entrusted to Arthur Funeral Home - Barton & Kiteley Chapel (492 Wellington St. East 705-759-2522). Please visit www.arthurfuneralhome.com obituaries section to leave a message of condolence as a keepsake for the family.