Jelisaveta Bodo Hollo

She was predeceased by her mother Irma Antonovich Bodo; father, Jovan Bodo; and brother and sister-in-law Luci and Vera Bodo.

She will be lovingly remembered by her daughters Judith Schmidt (Brian) and Susan Hiebert; grandchildren Gregory, Robert, Christopher, Miranda, Sabrina, and Ashley; and nephews Eddie Bodo and George (Evelyne) Hollo.

Eli was born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. During her youth, she spent summers swimming in the Adriatic and winters skiing in the Alps. She grew up in the city but spoke fondly of her adventures on the family farm outside Pancevo. Surviving the Luftwaffe bombings and rationings of the second world war followed by the post-war confiscation of the family properties and business by the communist government strengthened her resourcefulness, reinforced her resilience, seeded her tenaciousness, and taught her to cherish and vigorously protect what you have today and those you love, because tomorrow they may be gone.

Eli received her M.D. degree from the University of Belgrade in 1951. After several years of general practice under the warm sun in Haifa Israel, she moved to Winnipeg, in 1960, in the middle of January. She immediately considered the possibility that she had just made the worst decision of her life. However, she soon acclimatized, and came to love the city that became her home for the next 57 years. During the first few years in Winnipeg life was humble. She commuted by bus on a daily basis to the Selkirk Mental Health Centre where she worked full-time while raising a young family and studying for Royal College specialty examinations in Psychiatry. She qualified after her first attempt, was then appointed as a staff consultant. With firm loyalty to the Centre, she continued her daily bus ride to Selkirk for the next 25 years.

Eli was determined to provide a culturally rich environment for her daughters, including music, theatre, ballet, and opera. She loved to take them on vacations to Hawaii and back to the old country, Yugoslavia. Eli knew classical music in detail and enjoyed playing the piano. She was an avid sports fan who followed the Jets, curling and tennis. She also enjoyed murder mystery novels, the more gruesome the better.

No one ever accused Eli of being shy. She thrived on human interaction. Whether you were her neighbor, hairdresser, banker or the pizza delivery man, no one escaped an encounter with Eli without her attempting to dissect their inner-most secrets or at least take a tour of their discomfort zones. She was a shrewd business woman who considered dealing with Persian Rug salesmen and the City of Winnipeg Property Assessment Department two of her favorite blood sports. Even in her more advanced years, Eli took great pride managing her rental properties, with the unfailing assistance of Moray Merchant. Allegedly the properties were strictly business, but in reality they helped satisfy her appetite for social engagement and problem resolution.

Eli had no desire to own or drive a car. She knew many a taxi driver and they knew her (only too well). She was the customer with the Freudian accent who routinely provided unsolicited and often embarrassingly personal analysis and advice. However, what the drivers did not know was that the large green bag they kindly put in the back seat of their cabs, for the elegant lady with golden earrings and fine gloves, contained her weekly garbage collection, which she preferred to take along for the ride to her daughter’s house every Sunday, because she could not lift it into those tall new trash containers.

In 1988 she retired from the practice of Psychiatry and started a new career as a grandmother extraordinaire when the first of her six grandchildren was born. She was not well-versed in “baby talk”. Instead she regarded politics, history and world events as more appealing topics for “the little ones”. Thus, a full afternoon was once spent explaining to a curious four-year-old the structure of the Russian Politburo using sticks and rocks in the sandbox. Every Sunday was devoted to baking a dessert masterpiece extracted from her 150-year-old collection of family recipes written in ancient Gothic.

Over the past few years Eli experienced some decline in health but her spirit never faded. She was blessed with a wonderful and very patient team of Home Care assistants. She looked forward to their visits each day, offering them lessons on how to cut her sandwiches exactly 3.0 x 4.5 cms or how to wash the kitchen ceiling with Windex. For the past year she resided at the Tuxedo Villa Personal Care Home where she received exceptionally compassionate care from Dr. Moran De Muller and all the staff on Nursing Station 3, she enjoyed the companionship of her roommate and sparring partner Daphne, and weekly visits from Geraldine Willcock, for which the family is sincerely grateful.

Funeral Mass will be held on Friday August 4, 2017 at 11:00 am at St. John Brebeuf Parish Church, 1707 John Brebeuf Place at Lanark Street with Fr. Wayne Morrissey as the Celebrant. Interment will take place in the Saint Norbert Cemetery, Avenue Ste Therese in St. Norbert following a time of reception in the St. John Brebeuf Parish Hall. Family and friends are invited to view one hour prior to Mass.

In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Eli can be made to a charity of choice.

And while she lies in peaceful sleep

Her memory we shall always keep