Margaret Anne Barz

Margaret Anne Barz, born Anna Margareta Henschel on April 8, 1926 in New Sarepta, Alberta, passed away in Kamloops, British Columbia on October 19, 2025. Her parents, William and Amanda (nee Bodansky) Henschel, were German-speaking immigrants from the Volhynian region of Czarist Russia.

She grew up on the family grain farm and attended the Maple Hill school. At age eighteen she moved to Edmonton and worked as a nanny. A year later, she moved with her family to Pitt Meadows, B.C. In 1946, she married Ernie Barz, and they started a poultry farm on Hammond Road in Pitt Meadows. In 1972, they moved to Enderby, then to Salmon Arm, Williams Lake and back to Salmon Arm. Ernie passed away in 2011, and in 2015 she moved to Kamloops.

Margaret was a loving mother of her four children, and this love extended to her grandchildren, great grandchildren, nieces and nephews. She had an incredible memory for family history, knowing many of the dates for birthdays and marriages of her extended family by heart. No one ever went hungry at Margaret’s house as meals and desserts flowed effortlessly from her kitchen. Her sewing machine was in frequent use, her flower and vegetable gardens were prolific, and she was a lifelong knitter, still making afghans into her hundredth year. She was artistic and musical, playing the accordion, organ and piano. Reflecting her zest for life, the song she loved playing the most on the piano was In the Mood.

Margaret is survived by her brother Ron (Daphne); four children: James, Donald (Gemma), Tom, and June (Mark); eight grandchildren: Josh, William, Natalie, Curtis, Emily, Nicholas, Casey, and Marcella; seven great-grandchildren: Tyra, Nevaro, Alaia-Rose, Harlyn, Aria, Scarlett, and Weston; and eight nieces and nephews: Margaret, Marilyn, Carolyn, Linda, Sandra, Mathew, Timothy, and Jennifer.

She is predeceased by her parents, her brother William, and her sisters: Myrtle and Dorothy.