Jenny Hilgonda Michael

Jenny was born during the Depression Era and learned many hard life lessons at an early age. Her parents began homesteading in the Vega area of Alberta. The land was poor, the weather challenging and by looking at the crop, she knew that it would not be enough for them to survive the winter. The family moved to Edmonton. Jobs were hard to find, social assistance was helpful but not enough, and her sister Margaret was an addition to the family. Through the Dutch community, they heard about a school janitor job in Neerlandia. How happy the family was to have a job that could pay the rent and a community that needed her father’s carpentry skills. This is when her family began to depend upon her ability to work.

Jenny was expected to help with cutting, stacking and hauling the firewood; hauling water for the school to use; shoveling the mud off the floor before washing it; starting the fire in the morning before school. And then there were the boys who loved to tease the girls! One boy thought it would be fun to tip the water barrel off the sleigh - many times. Jenny gave him a clear warning – “Do that again and I will beat you up!”

Well, he did it again and she channeled all her energy into that moment - punching, kicking and pounding him. When she was done, she looked up and saw the teacher watching. She thought she was in trouble, but never heard another word about it. The janitorial job allowed the family to save to buy a lot where they could build their OWN house. Jenny finished grade 8 and then began to help her father in his carpentry work. When the lumber was too big and heavy for one person to lift, her dad would say “lift Jen, lift.” The neighbours knew she had a kind heart, and soon she was hired by families to help with the newborn babies and all the work they came with, in those days.

Around this time in her life, Jenny made a faith affirming decision that she followed all her life. It became the foundation of her values, ethics and morals. Whatever she did, wherever she went, the promises she made were all based upon this faith decision. She never wavered or changed it. It was part of who she was.

In a small, rural community, everyone knows everyone! Jenny was aware of a bachelor named Bert Michael. His mother had passed away many years before, and he lived with his dad on their homestead just north of the Neerlandia store. When Jenny was fourteen years old, she gave a Valentine card to Bert. That began the next chapter of this story.

When Jenny was sixteen, Bert requested her hand in marriage and it was agreed with her parents that they would wait two years before marrying. During those two years, Bert logged and milled the lumber for the house he built for his bride-to-be. Jenny helped with the plaster, paint and any other job that needed to be done. She insisted that they include a room for Bert’s dad so he could live with them.

It was a good partnership between the three. Jenny was learning to garden, to bake bread, to can, to sew and perform all the other homemaking skills she needed in her new role as wife and mother and caregiver. Bert was busy with the farm work. Papa was a grand babysitter. What a busy house it was with five children - Herman, Annette, Gerald, James, and Marwynn.

Papa passed away and that brought a change in the family. They decided to sell the homestead and buy a larger farm in the Sunniebend area. Another partnership began - Jenny, Bert and Grandpa. Grandpa Bouwman, the carpenter, had the knowledge to improve and build new barns, sheds and a garage. Jenny was busy with a larger house, a bigger garden and a very hungry family to provide for. She worked making sure that we all had what we needed to grow healthy and strong. We ate her organic garden produce all year long. She preserved and froze enough so that we could have “seconds” whenever we wished!

Saturday mornings were for baking twelve dozen cookies for coffee time and lunches, and then doing it all over again the next Saturday! Homemade bread, buns (especially cinnamon), date loaf and many other fantastic treats would be waiting for us after school. Jenny needed some time to rest and recover. Sundays were set aside so she could rest - one bowl of cold cereal (Corn Flakes or Rice Krispies) was breakfast fare; rice pudding for lunch; tea with homemade baking and sandwiches for supper. Jenny made the biggest and best pot of rice pudding - enough for a VERY large bowl each, topped with brown sugar. When she tried to change the menu to a casserole, the boys went on strike and walked away from the table!! Rice pudding was the only Sunday lunch that would do!

Later, it became time for us to find our own way in life – Herman began in B.C.; Annette in Red Deer; Gerald in Edmonton; James in the Alberta trades; Marwynn in Manitoba. Jenny and Bert also were making changes - Bert’s health prevented him from doing the farm work. The most difficult decision to sell the farm was made with the help of a hail storm. There was 100% crop damage. Jenny heard about the Westlock Auxiliary Hospital needing staff. Her qualification for the job was the seventeen years of caring for Papa in Neerlandia. She was hired for the first time in her life and began “working”. She often said the work was grandmothers caring for great-grandmothers. Her reputation was that when she worked nights, the patients slept well. Her secret was an extra round before coffee - adding a blanket, moving a pillow, giving a drink of water, saying an extra goodnight. She loved her job and loved helping others.

From the farm Jenny and Bert moved to an acreage in the Hazel Bluff area. It may have been retirement for Bert but not for Jenny. Farmers’ Markets were just beginning in the province and were supported by the Alberta Government. Jenny and Bert built a greenhouse and soon it was filled with vegetables of all kinds. Everyone wondered how they were able to sell potatoes so early at the Farmers’ Market. The secret was to start them in the greenhouse!! Jenny and Bert were part of the foundation of the Westlock and Barrhead farmers’ markets. Jenny worked in the hospital, came home, had tea, and began the work in the greenhouse, the garden and at the markets. She loved all the activity, friends, and people she met. However, she always looked forward to November when she could rest!

As always, Jenny was thinking of others. She promised Bert that when he needed her at home, she would quit her job and be there for him. Sadly, he was diagnosed with cancer. After sixteen years of doing a job she loved, she went to her supervisor and asked to take her holidays as soon as possible. It became her last day of work and she kept her promise to Bert. Only then did he believe that she would quit and care for him; that was how much she loved her job at the Westlock Auxiliary Hospital!

Jenny had finally “retired.” Jenny was now Bert’s favorite fishing buddy. Walking the trails and woods with a textbook in her hand, she became very knowledgeable about the flora and fauna of central Alberta. Campfires, sunsets, stories and laughter were all cherished. If Bert wanted go somewhere, Jenny said “let’s go.” Drives in the country in the dusk, visits to the grandchildren, company from Holland, and a bus trip to Vancouver with her cousin Jenny and sister Margaret. All these happened. Jenny and Bert would walk down the street together, holding hands, as they did their routine business in town. Companions!

Jenny was a regular volunteer at the Westlock branch of the Salvation Army Thrift Store. She worked receiving and sorting donations. She was extremely satisfied with the results of her volunteer time there. The Thrift Store was open for sales two and a half days per week. In one year, after expenses, it forwarded over $58,000 to the Head Office of the Salvation Army. PLUS, there were many truckloads of over stock. At the time, that store had the reputation of not asking town council for any financial assistance - no free rent and no reduced taxes. In addition, the Thrift Store purchased defibrillators and other medical devices which benefitted the community.

Change is a constant companion in life. Very sadly, Bert passed away after more than 53 years of happy marriage. Jenny now lived alone for the first time since she was 18 years old. She had a Chevrolet Safari van and good friends. She gave them rides as needed and travelled to visit her children and grandchildren. We called her the “Gallivanting Great-Grandma”! When we were very ill, she came and cared for us until we were well. She was a pleasant, gentle companion, and a rock that we depended upon.

Distance can be a barrier to visiting. One winter it was brutally cold with extremely icy driving conditions. We encouraged Jenny to move to St Albert so that we could visit her easily and vice versa. With the help of James and Linda, a house was bought and Jenny moved just down the street from family members. Oh my, how nice it was to be able to take her out for special times! We asked where shall we have breakfast? Imagine our surprise when she said “the Hotel Macdonald”! When Jenny was a youngster, she, her sister and her parents dreamed that they were rich enough to own the Hotel Macdonald! We HAD breakfast at the Hotel Macdonald - a good time was had by all!!

It was a treat to sit with her by the window having coffee, watching the blue jays hide their peanuts. Then the magpies would come along and steal them from the jays. How Jenny enjoyed that! With her kindness and gentle ways, she made friends with her neighbours. They helped celebrate her birthdays and appreciated how she kept her yard. Jenny appreciated their friendship and was comforted that in an urban area she was surrounded by kind, good people.

Again, change knocked on life’s door. This time it was another bout with cancer. After a very difficult round of treatments and recovery, it was decided by Jenny and the family, that the house was no longer suitable.

Jenny and Bert had made plans for just such a time - they had friends who were in Kensington Village of Shepherds Care Foundation in Edmonton. Jenny bravely made the move. Friends both old and new were there, family could still visit easily and there was a Chapel where she was comfortable. Again, Jenny made a place for herself with her faith leading the way. Her gentle spirit, warm smile and quick laugh was ready to open the door of friendship. Tea shared with visitors in the restaurant, ice cream cone socials, and activities in the Chapel all were available with just a walk down the hall. Jenny loved to walk! She loved to read - and found others who she could read to - she found another way to care and make their life (and hers) a little easier and brighter. Another health challenge came along, this one completely life changing. Jenny became paralyzed with only partial use of one hand.

The train of change just never stops! Jenny was transferred into long term care. Oh my, there was nothing gentle about this change for us all. Jenny was familiar with her new environment from a health care aide perspective but apprehensive from the perspective of a resident. With her usual smile, her ability to read the name tags and attach a thank you coupled with her ease at making conversation, she built bridges between all staff. In time, Jenny’s reputation was one of being thankful, polite, and kind. Jenny could identify the staff as they walked by the door and call out a cherry “Hello”. Housekeeping staff, laundry delivery attendants, aides and orderlies were all treated the same. Neighbours from up and down the hallway were welcome to come in for a visit; birthday and Christmas cards were dropped off. Snail mail arriving from family and friends was delivered and enjoyed for many days. With the exception of Covid restrictions, Jenny had a family member visit daily. Alas, there came the day when Jenny could go no more and she was called home. She did go, but she showed us the way for years and years and years by her example – how to be resilient, hard-working, resourceful, inquisitive, willing to learn, humble and able to improve the situation of the person beside her.

Jenny will be deeply missed by her sister Margaret Younghans (Peter), all her children - Herman, Annette, Gerald (Birthe), James (Linda) and Marwynn (Bjarne), 7 grandchildren, 17 great-grandchildren and 5 great-great-grandchildren. She was predeceased by her beloved husband, Bert; father-in-law, Henry; parents, Henry and Alberta Bouwman; daughter-in-law, Carol, and four grandchildren - Tara Brothers, Nancy Van Sloten, Andrew Michael and Shaun Michael.

Jenny was a lifelong donor to many charities. Two of her favorites were University of Alberta Hospital Foundation and Bethel Bible Camp.