These are the words Margrit wrote out and placed on my desk when we lost a very dear friend. As a Lutheran minister’s daughter and studying classical music she knew these words from Johannes Brahms’ “A German Requiem” and Martin Luther’s translation of the bible.
Margrit was born in Jena, Germany, on March 1st, 1930 and died of cancer peacefully surrounded by her family on October 20th in her beloved home. Her parents immigrated to Portugal in 1936 to take on the management of the German church in Lisbon. She completed her high school in the German and Portuguese schools and pursued her degree in Industrial Chemical Engineering at the University of Lisbon. In 1960 after spending several years as an engineer in Portugal Margrit moved to Sweden to take on a research assignment with a prominent agricultural company.
That is where we met while I did a practicum in agriculture at that research farm. It was the beginning of a 62 year long friendship and ever growing love for one another. We married in 1962 in Germany and immediately immigrated to Canada - Alberta to be specific. We worked two years on a cattle ranch and moved to Calgary in 1964 where I eventually became the Director of the Zoo and Botanical Garden. Margrit gave birth to Werner on May 2, 1962 and to Karen on September 17, 1965.
I brought many orphaned, wild animals home from the zoo which needed to be raised on the bottle along with our kids. At one time there was a badger, a cougar and a prairie hare plus Karen who needed regular feeding at 3 am. Imagine keeping the formulas lined up correctly at three in the morning!
Margrit later obtained a degree in computer science at the U of C in 1974, studied organ music, engaged in tapestry weaving and award-winning wine making. Margit was the classic pioneer woman who created a wonderful home with her many talents and enabled me to make extra commitments to follow my career. Her kitchen was a laboratory! I did not dare mess around in it. We were the perfect team to reach for high endeavours and as Margit often said: never had a real fight. But then who wants to fight with a former florett fencer, horse jumper, Portuguese Champion in table tennis and a chemical engineer who cooks your meals. I shall see you again my Love!
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