Ethel Marian Rygiel

Ethel Kurz was the second daughter born to Marjorie and Max Kurz on April 6, 1929

in Winnipeg Manitoba. Ethel grew up in St. Vital at 37 Essex Avenue and attended

Glenwood School and later in life graduated from Glenlawn Collegiate.

In 1951 she married Paul Rygiel and they had four children, Robert, Jo-Ann, Eileen and

Ken. After Paul’s passing in 1977, she continued living at the family home on St. Thomas

Rd. Ethel returned to 37 Essex Avenue after her mother’s passing in 1994. Here she remained till June of 2021, when she was admitted to Riverview Health Centre.

Ethel had a full life busy raising her children and working full time at the downtown Hudson Bay Company, where she worked for 20 years.

Camping was one of her loves and in the late 1960’s found a campground in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. Here the family camper stayed until the early 1990’s. She made lifelong friends with the owners and the other campers and was still corresponding with them this year. This experience was everlasting, as she could usually be found wearing an old Long Lake Campground sweatshirt around the house.

Bingo was a favourite pastime, from the 1960’s smoke filled Bingo Hall’s (we kids always knew where she had been) to the local casino’s later in life. She was quite successful and won often.

In the 1990’s Ethel found a new friend, Cathy Atwell, and they spent many years travelling together. Bus trips to American Casino’s were very common. Ethel and Cathy were sometimes referred to as the Gambling Grannies! Together they saw a lot of the world, from Beijing China, England, Scotland, Portugal, Spain and Morocco. They continued traveling until Covid-19 restrictions curtailed their travel.

In the later years Ethel took pleasure in keeping a sharp mind doing crossword puzzles and puzzles up to 3,000 pieces. Music was often found playing in the house as she collected 100’s of CD’s and tapes over the decades and if you were lucky the aroma of Home Cooking would meet you at her door. And after a visit when leaving she was always waving goodbye at the window.

Her 90th Birthday was a very special event. A celebratory dinner was held in her honour at Maximes Restaurant, her favourite place. Approximately 55 family and friends attended much to her surprise. Birthday wishes were called in from afar, including Atlanta, Colorado, Vancouver and many other places wishing her a Happy 90th.

Living alone in her own home till age 92 is an accomplishment few could do. Perhaps she may have inherited this trait from her grandfather John William Aldum who lived in his own house by himself past the age of 100 years. But as with all other tasks, she met them head on and succeeded.

She will be greatly missed by her family, nieces, many cousins and all her lifelong friends.

Ethel was blessed with five grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

………………………………………………………………………….

Bonnie’s Memorial to Ethel:

A week ago Sunday morning, I got a call from Bobby that Aunt Ethel had passed away a few hours earlier.

Saddened, I immediately thought of an image that has been with me my entire adult life when the last person of a generation is gone. Ethel was the very last of her generation I had looked up to since my childhood.

Losing the last, I’ve always thought, is very much like being in a huge movie-type auditorium. The group at the very front holds the oldest generation, filled with those who’ve been our family’s leaders and caretakers. There’s a space of empty rows behind them.

Then in the middle of the theatre sits the next generation, middle-aged adults, aging along the way. These are the “children” of the first group. Then there are more rows of empty seats.

The third group, also in the middle but further back, has rows and rows of younger adults, the offspring of the group in front of them. They’ve watched and learned from the two groups ahead of them, and their adulthood is impressive. No worries about where our world will be in 25 or 30 years!

Following more empty rows is the last group, the children. Rows and rows of them, some babies and toddlers, some elementary and middle-schoolers, and some high school and college kids. They’re the noisy and boisterous group, not thinking much about the three groups ahead of them, but rather touchingly caught up in their own needs and lives.

The lights have been on in this magnificent auditorium of life for a long time. But when the last person in the first group – the oldest generation- Ethel’s generation! – dies, the lights suddenly go out and everyone becomes quiet in the dark.

Then there’s shuffling and movement in the darkened aisles. There are ushers silently guiding people. Finally the lights slowly come back on. Only now the first rows have been filled with all those in back of Aunt Ethel’s generation! In fact, ALL the groups have moved up to the rows ahead of them. The only group that’s missing is at the very back of the theatre – the last rows – and they are waiting for the first baby of the next generation to be born.

We spend so much time sitting in our groups, living our lives, at the various stages of our lives. That’s why it’s so meaningful when the last of a generation – like Ethel was – passes away.

Now Bobby and I find ourselves sitting in the front rows. Our group has dwindled somewhat, but we still have many years to go in this premium position. This is the time we get to be role models and the wisest. We don’t mind being the “last” generation because we have so much to share with all of those sitting in the groups behind us.

Aunt Ethel is fondly looking down on us with a sense of accomplishment. And we’re so grateful for all she – and those of her generation – and those of her previous generations – have done for us!

We hope to make you proud, Aunt Ethel!

Your loving niece, Bonnie