Emmy Klimkat passed away peacefully in her sleep at Sunnybrook Hospital on the morning of November 27. Emmy was born on April 3rd, 1924, near the town of Tilsit in the former German province of East Prussia (today the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad).
In the fateful winter of 1944-45, she left East Prussia to work in Berlin, not knowing then that she could never return home again. After some years in Frankfurt, she immigrated to Canada in 1952. She worked as a file clerk first at the Registrar General’s Office and then at OHIP. She retired in 1989. Over time, she built up a strong network of colleagues and friends from her native Germany and every corner of the globe. She was well known to her neighbours and they were important to her. In her latter years, she appreciated attending weekly social events at the Anne Johnson Health Station in North Toronto and continued to make new friends. She very much valued her independence, living alone in her three-story house until the very end. Her final days were sometimes lonely though. She missed those of her generation who had gone before her and was one of the very last speakers of her native East Prussian dialect.
Emmy had a tremendous heart for animals. Alongside her beloved dogs and cats, she sometimes rescued injured ducks, squirrels or pigeons and nursed them back to health.
A private memorial limited to 10 people will be held at Giffen Mack Funeral Home. Please feel free to leave a written tribute to Emmy by visiting forevermissed.com/emmy-klimkat. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Toronto Humane Society on Emmy’s behalf.
COMPARTA UN OBITUARIO
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