Mary Louise Siemens

SIEMENS-(Ms.) Mary Louise late of Abbotsford passed away on November 8, 2015 at the age of 62 years. She was predeceased by her son, Leon, Rudy, and her father, Peter Krahn. Survived by children, Lucas (Colleen, Mila, Aiden), Chad (Bobbi, Parks, Paisley, Stormi, Starlow) and Vanessa; mother Elisabeth Krahn; siblings Hank (Angie), Adina (Gord), Esther (Peter), Pete (Kathe), Victor (Sharalynn), Jay (Kathleen).

Mary Louise Krahn was born on June 21, 1953, the second child and first daughter to Peter and Elisabeth Krahn. She was born in Comox but at the age of one, moved to the 20 acre piece of land that later became a hobby farm where she was raised with her six siblings: Henry, Adina, Esther, Peter, Victor and Jacob. Growing up they had a lot of fun on the farm, whether they were working hard to pick berries in the summertime, clearing bush or picking rocks to clear the field on what would later become a gravel pit. She attended King Road elementary during grades 1 to 7 where her love for all sports began. She excelled in all sports but especially loved volleyball and baseball. On sports day she usually participated in everything…and won everything.

She went to MEI from grades 8 to 12 and at the age of 15 started skipping out of school to begin hairdressing. She met Rita under whom she apprenticed for hairdressing and it was here that a special lifelong friendship was formed. During her grade 12 provincial exams, it was discovered that she had incurable Hodgkin’s disease and she was given maximum six months to live. At no point during the course of her disease did she accept or act as though she was going to die but kept living with tenacity and determination. Due to her health and vigor, she participated in many research trials. She was supported with prayers from around the world and was healed of her disease. Everyone saw her life as a complete miracle. She was also told that even if she did live, due to all the treatment she had, she would be unable to have any children.

Mary attended Winkler Bible School after high school for a year where she got a Biblical studies certificate. Her and Esther would frequently go visit their Aunt Helen and Uncle Peter in Winnipeg. On weekdays when they went to see Aunt Helen for zwieback and tea, she would often ask them “Oh, aren’t you supposed to be in school or something?” Their reply was always, “No, we have the day off.”

She was always very adventurous and up for anything. There were countless spontaneous road-trips that mostly ended in her running out of gas. This changed once she had children as she would not dream of running out of gas (although this may have still taken place the odd time…)

She was very active in the Ebenezer Mennonite Church youth group. Although she met Rudy at MEI, they got to know each other at church. They were married on May 27, 1978. They had four children in four and a half years: Leon, Lucas, Chad and Vanessa. Family holidays often involved trips to Palm Springs or Disneyland. Even though they got divorced, they remained close friends, business partners and strong supports for one another.

On September 4, 1992, Mary lost her dad who passed away after a battle with cancer. Being his firstborn daughter, they had a very special relationship. She was also special in the sense that she was the firstborn granddaughter in both the Krahn and the Hubert families.

Mary was passionate about and loved many things and wanted to pass this onto her children. She did not do anything half-heartedly but in all things was all in. Whenever there was a musical or concert showing in Vancouver, she would buy 8 tickets (because her suburban could hold eight people) and load it up with her kids and their friends for an evening of fun. When she started building a new house, she ensured it would be big enough to accommodate her kids and all their friends. Her house was often the place to hang out and she even had a “Costco room” which contained enough food to feed 100 people at a moment’s notice.

Mary wanted to pass along her love for travel and adventure to her children. In 1998, she booked a trip for her and her kids to travel to Ireland. She decided she would start with one country at a time and see everything there was to see in that country. After months of poring over travel books, she had mapped out every location in Ireland that merited a visit and booked B & B’s along the way. In a country that has very narrow roads where most people drive smaller vehicles, she rented a giant van where she had to drive standard with her left hand while driving on the opposite side of the road. This of course led to many mishaps but not without much laughter and fun.

Two years later, in 2000, she took the family to Belize, which at the time was a fairly unknown travel destination. The next family trip was to Kenya and Tanzania where they went on multiple safaris and Mary declared that every scratch on each animal she saw signified that it had been in a fight. Her travel motto was that if one person did it, everyone had to do it. She didn’t want anyone left out and wanted to make sure everyone got the full experience. For this reason, when she visited Chad in New Zealand, she made sure they all went skydiving and bungee jumping together.

In May of 2001, her oldest son, Leon died unexpectedly in a motorbike accident. The loss of her firstborn was felt deeply but Mary was intentional about remembering and celebrating his life with friends and family through the years, whether it was hosting giant pig roasts or taking time to spend with his friends.

In 2003, Rudy unexpectedly passed away, deepening the grief felt during a season of intense loss.

In 2004, her son Chad married Bobbi and in 2009 her dream of becoming a grandma became true when Parks was born, followed by his three sisters, Paisley, Stormi and Starlow. Although they lived in Saskatchewan for three years, their visits always provided a highlight for Mary and gave her opportunity to stock her fridge for 100 people. Lucas and Colleen were married in 2011 and also added to the grandchildren with Mila, Aiden and one more on the way. Lucas and Colleen lived next door to Mary and they jokingly titled the property ‘the commune’ and provided such great joy and life as they daily came to visit. Mila and Aiden would always run into the house looking for Mimi who could often be found hiding under her blankets, ready to pop out and surprise them.

Being the cook that she was, she made all their baby food from scratch. On days they came to visit, they were usually found playing outside, taking a walk to feed the donkeys and goats or Mary could be found pushing one child in a wagon with a rope tied around her waist, pulling another one on the tractor. She would never hesitate to get down on her knees to play cars or horsey with the kids or they would snuggle up with her to read books. She made everything fun, whether she sat them on the counter to help her bake muffins or made up silly songs to accompany what they were doing. All the grandkids lovingly called her Mimi and they were her little angels, bringing joy and light (and a lot of noise) to her life.

Along with loving on her grandchildren, Mary travelled a lot with her friends, her siblings and her precious daughter Vanessa. As a young adult, she hitchhiked through Europe and from there proceeded to take every opportunity for travel and adventure that was available. Every year, Mary and Vanessa would go on a mother-daughter holiday (sometimes they snuck in two). Vanessa would jokingly suggest they should go away to a remote location and the next day Mary would ask why she hadn’t booked their flights yet. New Zealand, China, Russia, Antarctica, Chile, Peru, Galapagos Islands, Egypt, Greece, Italy, the Bahamas, Cuba, Kenya and Ireland are just a few of the many places she visited and explored.

Mary loved plants and flowers and took the utmost care to create beautiful gardens. Whether she was preparing to be part of Communities in Bloom or prepping the yard for the next outdoor wedding she was hosting, she would spend countless hours outside weeding and tending her garden. She had plants that would flower throughout the year so they could always be enjoyed.

Mary loved to be in the kitchen. During the summer you could always find her canning whatever fruit or vegetable was in season. Although there are likely smaller recipes, usually she canned a minimum of 100 jars of whatever she was making and was unable to make things in small quantities. She loved watching cooking shows with pen at hand to jot down new ideas or recipes. In the summer she hosted a weekly burger night, where she worked through a burger cookbook and everyone was required to eat the burger exactly as laid out and rate it out of ten. She often experienced resistance from her brother Pete and her mom who always wanted to add ketchup to the burger, but she would only let them do this if they ate a second burger.

Mary’s love of hosting and cooking always came out strongest at Christmas. She would start decorating in October, putting great love and precision into every decoration that went on her nine different themed Christmas trees, along with finding the right places for her nutcrackers and other decorations. She became famous for her elaborate Christmas decorations and was often asked by strangers to come over to see them. After the decorations were up, then the meal and dinner planning would begin. She always took time to plan out which of her friends would enjoy being together as she coordinated the dinners. Usually she hosted about three to four gourmet dinners per week during the month of December with multiple friends at each one. Whenever they left, she would always let them pick between a Christmas mug and a jar of her canning to take home.

Mary loved to shop and was very good and efficient at doing so. She especially loved shoes and purses and would usually buy at least two to ensure that she could give one away. She could never walk by a children’s clothing section without emerging with arms overflowing with rain boots, and other items for the grandkids.

In 2013 she was diagnosed with lung cancer and was given less than a year to live. Despite this diagnosis, she continued to choose life and engage fully in everything she did. Her daughter Vanessa moved back to BC from Quebec to be with her mom and thus began a series of sleepovers and countless hours of watching cooking and music shows. On the weekends, the TV shows viewed were cooking and nature shows as her sister Esther would come out from Peachland to be with her. In 2014, because she was feeling better, she was able to take her family on a few family trips, starting at Great Wolf Lodge, then Disneyland and then the Disney resort in Hawaii. These trips were full of life and fun and Mary wanted to make them extra special for all the kids and grandkids. Despite being tired, she still insisted on hosting Christmas dinners, family dinners, canning 100’s of jars, climbing ladders, decorating and playing with her grandkids. Her fridge always remained full in order to be able to bless others.

Mary tenaciously lived life to the fullest and never hesitated to share her loves and passions with others. Although life had its trials, she had incredible strength as she stood on the foundation of her faith and relationship with God. She took serious Jesus’ command to love God and your neighbour with all your heart, mind and strength as was evidenced and displayed through her daily life. Her generosity, kindness, sense of humour, adventurous nature, genuine character, hospitality, tenacity and courage are just a few of the qualities she will be remembered for. She has passed on an incredible legacy of life, love and laughter. On November 8, 2015, after a long and tenacious battle with cancer, she entered God’s rest. Her legacy will continue in the lives of each one she touched.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the BC Cancer Foundation.