Obituary of Micheline ROSTOKER

Micheline Rostoker (née Kleinhandler)

Born: February 26, 1921, Paris, France

Died: February 5, 2020, Calgary, Alberta

Predeceased by husband Georges (2012) and son Alain (2019). Survived by sons, Jean-Francois (Mickey) (Cathy), Gerard (Jerry) (Pam), daughter Sylvie-Ann (Nini) (Eric); along with Alain’s wife, grandchildren Albert, Louis (Mother Chere), Camilo (Lindsey), Diego, Gabriel (Amanda) Noah, Talia; great-grandchildren Aloe, Colton, Kaya, Logan.

Micheline Rostoker passed away peacefully at home.

She was born and raised in Paris, where she met her future husband Georges, two years her senior, when they were teenagers.

WW2 and the havoc it wreaked across Europe prompted Micheline and Georges to get married earlier than expected. After a quick ceremony in Toulouse they fled to the Jura Mountains, where they spent the rest of the war with the French Resistance.

When the war ended and France returned to normalcy, Micheline and Georges returned to Paris. Sensing the end of an era coming, Micheline, her husband and three young boys left France and headed to Canada to start a new life.

After two years in Montreal, the family, now complete with the addition of a daughter, headed west to Calgary.

Micheline firmly ensconced herself in the nascent oil industry community and found it an agreeable place to raise the family. She and Georges were socially active and involved in many community activities.

Micheline loved walking and hiking, cooking French meals. Her French accent and charms became her trademarks. She had a good eye for fashion, architecture and design. She volunteered with the Cancer Society, driving patients to their appointments.

Micheline and Georges loved to travel back to their native France to visit family and friends, but also to distant parts of the world. They would leave the kids in the capable hands of ‘babysitters’ and hope for the best.

Micheline loved the mountains and she and Georges took the kids skiing almost every weekend. She would walk up and down the mountain roads while the others skied.

When Georges retired, they moved to an acreage in Saanichton, near Victoria, BC. Their green thumbs grew really big and their harvest of flowers, fruits and vegetables was the talk of the area. They loved to entertain family and friends.

Wanting to be close to family toward the end of their lives, they returned to Calgary in 2000. When her dear Georges died in 2012, Micheline was heartbroken. She remained in their Calgary residence during her remaining years, with the help of excellent caregivers: Libby, Vivian, later Ella and Merkeb from Bayshore Health Care. The family is most grateful for the services rendered by these wonderful people. Not to be forgotten, Alain and Gerard were super support persons for their parents.

Burial and Funeral Services were held on February 9, 2020.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations can be made to the CNIB Calgary Branch, or Canadian Cancer Society.