Ollie Schroeder

Ollie was a loving mother to Bruce (Jaylene) from Winnipeg and Noreen (Peter) Bent from Vancouver, and loving grandmother to Kyle and Sarah, who lived nearby in Winnipeg, and Cole and Claire from Vancouver.

Ollie was predeceased by her parents Michal in 1980 and Maria in 2003, as well as her brother John in 2005 and her sister Martha in 2015.

Ollie was born in Trebisov, Slovakia, and moved to Canada with her family in September 1938. The family settled in Ste. Anne, Manitoba, where they became part of the farming community in that area. Ollie later moved to Winnipeg, where she became a secretary, ultimately owning her own secretarial business doing freelance secretarial and transcription work for a varied clientele. She took great pride in her work and in having the courage to start her own business. She was keenly interested in learning new things. She was an early adopter of aerobic exercise, teaching her own classes for several years at Morse Place Community Club. She was also quick to shift to using the computer to deliver her secretarial services and was still taking computer courses to keep up her skills until well into her 80s. Her work ethic and dedication to whatever she was doing was exceptional.

Ollie was committed to volunteering in her community and especially youth baseball. She had more than forty years of volunteer service to baseball in Winnipeg and in particular to the Red River Valley Sports League where over the years she held the positions of President, Treasurer, Registrar, Convenor, Umpire Assignor, Scheduler and Coach Coordinator. She represented the RRVSL on numerous Baseball Manitoba committees and was the convenor of many provincial and regional championship events. Her efforts were the main reason the RRVSL was the first association in Manitoba to be approved by Baseball Canada’s Reaching Baseball Ideals (RBI) Program, which aimed to protect young athletes from injuries and provide more children with the opportunity to play baseball. She was also influential in the formation of the Winnipeg Minor Baseball Association, which administers city wide play. Her fundraising efforts provided funds to help umpires and coaches obtain training as well as bursaries for graduating players.

This extraordinary commitment was recognized by her induction into the Baseball Manitoba Honour Society in 1996 and being named Baseball Canada Volunteer of the Year in 2006. In 2024, she received her final recognition for her many years of service to baseball when she was inducted as a builder into the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame.

She took great pride in the accomplishments of her children and grandchildren and never missed a sporting event of theirs that was within driving distance. She was always a “mom” – never failing to worry about whether we were all okay, or what was happening in our careers, school or lives. She viewed it as her job to worry about us – always wanting to make sure we were in good health and happy. She always kept up with what was happening with her wide network of acquaintances and was always looking for ways to make sure that others had whatever it might be they needed or that she thought they would want – whether that was extra baseballs, strawberries she’d picked, pickles she’d canned, or one of the many mementos she had kept over the years.

Our mom loved being outside, working in her yard and her garden. She had an incredible green thumb and was an avid gardener of both vegetables and flowers. She was also a wonderful baker – we were always thrilled when she told us she had a batch (always a big one) of cinnamon buns on the go.

Above all, our mom was fiercely independent, determined and always busy. She continued to live at home on her own, making sure we knew she wanted to continue to take care of the house and yard without help. Although mobility challenges made it harder for her to get around in recent years, that didn’t stop her from tending to her garden and although she would from time to time relent and let others help mow her very large lawn or shovel for her, even those activities are ones she held onto until very recently. She considered it “good exercise” to get out and mow the lawn or shovel some snow.

We will miss the force that was our mother and grandmother, and she will live on in our hearts and memories forever.

A memorial service to celebrate Ollie’s life will be held at Green Acres Funeral Home on Hwy #1 East at Navin Rd at 2 p.m. on June 23, 2025. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Ollie Schroeder’s name to Red River Valley Baseball at PO Box 43010 Kildonan Place Winnipeg, MB R2C 5H5 or by e-transfer to [email protected] or another youth sporting organization that is close to your heart.

You can share fond memories and expressions of sympathy at www.greenacresfuneralhome.com for the Schroeder and Bent families.