Obituary of Helen Ruth Schmidt

July 15, 1940 - Neuendorf, Ukraine

February 3, 2023 - Calgary, Alberta

Helen Schmidt of Calgary, AB, peacefully passed from this life, entering her eternal home and the presence of her Heavenly Father on Friday, February 3, 2023, at the age of 82 years, with her daughters by her side.

Helen was born in Neuendorf, Ukraine on July 15, 1940, to Nicholas and Helena Heinrichs and older brother Albert (Bert). A few years later, sister Annie came along. In 1943, the Heinrichs family, including grandma and the three little ones, was forced to flee their home along the Dnieper River. They were taken to a train station, where they were loaded onto freight cars, with 27 people per car, and sent to Poland. While in Poland, Helen’s dad was taken to serve as a medic in the German army. During this time Helen’s youngest sister, Mary, was born.

With the war still raging, Helen’s mom, grandma and now four little ones, kept moving west towards Germany. By God’s grace and miraculous leading, after being wounded at the front, an operation, three months in a prison camp, and many months of searching, Helen’s dad was able to find his family and be reunited with them a year later. For the next three years, they lived in a two-room dwelling with 36 friends and family members while Helen’s dad worked at a sugar factory. Finally, through the help of the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), the Heinrichs family landed in Montreal, Canada, on May 31, 1948. Due to flooding in the Fraser Valley, it would be another month of waiting and working in Winnipeg before the Heinrichs family would finally settle in Abbotsford, BC, where they could put down roots after five long years of wondering. Here in the beautiful and fruitful Fraser Valley, they started a new and peaceful life on the farm. Life in Abbotsford for Helen included picking berries, attending school, helping grandma, involvement in West Abbotsford Mennonite Church where she was baptized at age 16 (June 9, 1957), graduating from the Mennonite Educational Institute High School, and then Bethel Bible Institute in 1961.

After bible school, Helen ventured to Brandon, Manitoba where she volunteered with MCC in the children’s ward at the Hospital for Mental Diseases. Having some nursing experience under her belt, she returned to Vancouver where she worked at the Vancouver Children’s Hospital and graduated as a Practical Nurse in 1966. She then worked for the Victoria Order of Nurses in Burnaby until 1968, when she felt the urge to spread her wings.

Helen later headed to London, Ontario, with her travel trunk packed full on the roof of her blue VW Beetle. There she became a Registered Nursing Assistant, and was certified as an Operating Room Technician in 1969.

Again, itching for change, Helen travelled back west for a ski holiday in Calgary. On Thanksgiving weekend of 1969, her friends Erna and Rudy Adrian invited her for dinner, which Leonhard Schmidt was also invited. Len wouldn’t let Helen out of his sight and by Remembrance Day they were engaged. In keeping with the holiday theme, they were married on Valentine’s Day in 1970. Helen never did try skiing.

Len and Helen settled down to life in Calgary and soon they were blessed with daughter, Dorothy. Two years later, their joy was overflowing when daughter Gennifer completed the family.

The growing Schmidt family enjoyed family camp at Camp Evergreen, a summer holiday in Ontario, trips to Disneyland and Germany, Expo ‘86 in Vancouver, Motorhome trips of the Oregon and California coasts, around Northern BC and over to Vancouver Island, as well as many long weekend camping trips with friends and visiting extended family in BC. In 1998, they joined a Mennonite History tour of Ukraine and visited Helen’s birth village. “Family Night” with three other families and the Ukulele Group were regular social engagements.

The year 2000 brought a major shift to the Schmidt family as two young men soon joined the ranks. Dorothy and Ed were married in 2001, and Genny and Ryan were married in 2004.

As the girls grew, Len and Helen took several trips on their own including a trip to Florida for their 30th anniversary and a couple of trips back to Germany to visit relatives there. They also went to Cuba with friends, Palm Springs with Bert and Vera, Hawaii with Mary, and many trips to Canmore and Radium with Len’s siblings. Helen also joined Len on one of his mission trips to Mexico with Operation Amigo. In 2014, the whole family spent a very memorable week together on Prince Edward Island.

When an economic downturn required that Helen go back to work, she leaned on her culinary skills. She went back to school and earned her Pastry Chef papers from the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) while working at City Hall. Here her desserts and delicacies were served to international officials during the 1988 Olympics, along with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip during a Royal visit to Calgary. Her last years before retirement were spent working at the Fanning Centre where she combined her nursing background with her culinary skills and lovingly prepared food for the residents there.

Helen skillfully cultivated a huge garden and flower beds. With more produce than she could use, she often gave away whatever was in abundance to those who came to visit. In 1988, the Schmidt family moved to an acreage just outside of Calgary which allowed Helen to have an even larger garden and more flower beds. She could often be found with her hands in the soil and watering plants.

Helen’s retirement coincided with the birth of her first granddaughter, Tianna. Helen embraced the new chapter of being Oma with open arms as Kayla, Malcolm, Wesley, and Keziah came along. Oma’s house was full of toys and the acreage was perfect for roaming amidst the hoodoos with sheep, chickens, ducks, cats, and rabbits to entertain. Eating fresh produce from the garden was their way of “helping”. Baking, sleepovers, painting lessons, shopping trips for school outfits, and Oma’s special homemade macaroni & cheese were special memories of time spent with Oma. Helen loved having her children and their families close. She enjoyed seeing her granddaughters walking across the field towards her place, picking wildflowers as they came.

In 2016, Len and Helen left their beloved acreage, moving into the Evanston Grange Village for an easier pace of life - although Helen still found many things to occupy her time. Having new friends closer by suited her social nature. A year later, Len was moved to supportive living within the same building. Helen enjoyed visiting him each evening and reading to him or doing puzzles in his room.  In December 2019, Leonhard, companion, love of her life, and husband of 49 years passed peacefully in his sleep with Helen by his side.

Helen served at the Mennonite Brethren Church, in various ways over the years - Sunday School teacher, Pioneer Girls guide, decorating and arranging flowers for Sunday mornings, as well as preparing and serving food at funerals and seniors’ functions. In later years, she also used her gifts to serve her neighbours at her home in Evanston Grande Village through decorating and table arrangements, sewing walker and wheelchair pouches, and making wreaths for craft sales. Helen’s hands were always busy, looking for ways to serve others.

Helen was a prolific painter. Her love of art was evident even as a young child. She started with oil painting and moved to chinaware painting. When she moved to Evanston Grande, she transitioned to a media that was easier to “clean up” - acrylic, water colour and pencil crayon. Many a night Helen would paint or draw instead of sleeping. Some of her paintings hang in the halls throughout the building. She also enjoyed making jewelry and putting necklaces together, many of her creations graced the necks of friends and nursing staff alike.

She will be most remembered for her warm and welcoming ways. Whether it was a new pastor family, someone who didn’t have a place to go for Thanksgiving dinner, a new-to-Canada family, or a large group of teenage staff from Camp Evergreen (or other groups of friends the girls brought home), Helen was known for putting on a spread. She loved to cook and entertain. On many a Sunday afternoon, the dining room was full of company and good food! In later years, her condo was a meeting place for friends who played games together or watched TV with her. Helen’s door, quite literally, was always open (and unlocked).

Helen is survived by her two daughters and two sons-in-law, Dorothy and Ed Reimer, and Genny and Ryan Peddie; and five grandchildren, Tianna Reimer, Kayla Reimer, Malcolm Peddie, Wesley Peddie, and Keziah Peddie; all from Calgary, AB. Helen is also survived by her brother and sister-in-law, Bert and Vera Heinrichs of Abbotsford, BC, and sister, Mary Goertzen of Aldergrove, BC, as well as numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.

Helen was predeceased by her loving husband Leonard Schmidt, parents, Nicholas and Helena Heinrichs; grandmother Anna Derksen, sister Annie Heinrichs, and brother-in-law Jack Geortzen.

Funeral Services will be held at Highland Mennonite Brethren Church (4018 Centre B. St. NW, Calgary, AB), on Monday, February 13, 2023, at 1:30 p.m. Reception to follow at the Church Hall. Condolences, memories, and photos may be shared and viewed here. If friends so desire, memorial tributes may be made directly to the Emergency Relief Response in the Ukraine through MCC at https://donate.mcccanada.ca/cause/ukraine-emergency-response, or to Camp Evergreen at https://www.camp-evergreen.com/donate.

In living memory of Helen Schmidt, a tree will be planted in the Ann & Sandy Cross Conservation Area by McInnis & Holloway Funeral Homes, Chapel of the Bells, 2720 Centre Street North, Calgary, AB T2E 2V6, Telephone: 403-243-8200.

Friends and family who are unable to join the service may join remotely through the provided Link. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8Xpy04i_rY