Paetkau, Katharina Neufeld (1902-1972)

Mennonite Brethren Herald obituary: 1972 Nov 03 p. 31

Birth date: 1902 Mar 27

text of obituary:

KATHERINA PAETKAU

Kron stal, Ru ss ia to Abraham and Sara Neufeld . A t th e ag e of foifte en she accepted 't'h e Lord. A year later she was bap t'ized and becam e a member of the Mennon'ite Brethren Church. In 1925 she wa s marri ed to Korne'lius Paetkau. They were blessed with five children one o·f which died at the ag e of seven we e'ks. Th eir mrw'iage was not qui,te thirteen years wh en her husband w as banished t o a conce ntration camp and never returned . Difficuit years foll owed as sh e wa s left with four young ch'ildr en to ra'ise. In 1943 th ey cam e to Germa ny. Six y ears la'ter, tihrou·gh t he efforts of relatives, th ey w ere able to com e to Canada . It w as a hard decision, since one of the family h,ad to be left beh ind. Th ey se'ttl ed in V irgil and enjoyed th e feillowship of th e believers. On M ay first Mrs, Pae'tkau suffered a strok e. A lthough she im proved s'lowly, she developed pneumonia and went to be wH'h th e Lord on Septem ber 16 haV'ing reached the age of 70 y ea rs an d fi ve mon . She le'aves to mourn her chi ld ren: Anni e and Hans Froes e. St. Cathar ines; Ka~ ie Paetkau, Vi rg il; Kornelius Paetkau , G'erm any; Henry and D'ian e Paetkau, St. Catharines. Al so four grandchi'idren.