Margaretha (Gretel) Scheuermann (nee Rometsch) 1928-2017

We are heartbroken to say goodbye to our sweet mother and friend, our rock who passed away gently on August 5th at 2:00 p.m., in her own home as had always been her wish, knowing and feeling the loving embrace of her family. Born July 1st in the dorf of Neu Pasua, an industrious agrarian Donauschwabischen community of Syrmien province, Margaret was a seventh generation citizen of Yugoslavia. Fleeting youthful moments of joy were interrupted by recurring adversity but she and her kinfolk never knew the hunger or hardship that pervaded the world during the Great Depression.

Innocents of the upheaval of WW2, young Gretel, her mother Margaretha (Schauwecker d. 1959) and younger sisters Magdalena (d. 2015 and George Wajand deceased) and Elisabeth (Henry Wajand deceased) hurried desperately into an already crammed train cattle car that would be shot at by allied aircraft. On this fearful trail of tears, they would be joined by 17 million ethnic Germans, forced westward, torn forever from their ancestral homelands in Eastern Europe. Her father, Johann Rometsch (d. 1976) stayed behind, a fateful decision that resulted in years of tortuous captivity.

Braunau Am Inn, Austria provided much appreciated years of refuge to the nationless. But it was also there that they learned hunger for the first time. Opportunity was limited so the young wife of John Scheuermann (d. 2010) and new mother of Edith accepted the open welcome and promise from Canada. With fifty dollars in their pocket they sailed into the Gulf of St. Lawrence in 1955 aboard the Seven Seas. They knew their nomadic ways would soon end forever.

Mom, dad and sis settled briefly in St. Hyacynthe, Quebec. There Margaret saw that one united country could embrace a civil dialogue between distinctiveness and inclusiveness. Kitchener was the final destination. It’s where Mom became a proud, loyal citizen who cherished her adoptive homeland.

She worked hard in all she did, proudly, joyfully, qualities instilled into her DNA long ago from the earth of her beloved Neu Pasau. She found the right balance between full time work in many local factories and as her home’s matriarch. A torte maker supreme, as at home in the kitchen as in the many flower beds that had to be numbered so that Dad could be properly directed to assist. Margaret was forever a faithful servant and pioneer in the local ‘Nazerene’ Apostolic Christian Church.

Treasured memories were created at the cottage, our family’s labour of love, fittingly, never really completed. It was a summer retreat claimed from the primal forests near Point Clark.

Gretel, a living source of history, found receptive audiences for rich, almost dreamlike recollections of Die Alte Heimat, able to recite countless songs and poems learned some 80 yrs. ago, an inspiration for a balanced and contextually grounded understanding of the past.

Margaret leaves behind her children Edith Izgherian ( John) Erwin and Cornelia, her siblings Elizabeth in Kitchener and brother Johann Rometsch in Braunau, grandchildren Jordan Izgherian (Carly) and Kristin Gomes (David) and great-grandchildren Kaden and Dash Gomes.

Margaret’s family will receive family and friends on Saturday, August 12, 2017 from 12 noon – 12:45 p.m. At the Henry Walser Funeral Home, 507 Frederick St., Kitchener, 519-749-8467. Funeral service 1 p.m. Saturday, August 12, 2017 in the chapel of the funeral home. Interment in Woodland Cemetery followed by a reception at the Apostolic Christian Church (Nazarene), 1880 Strasburg Rd., Kitchener. All expressions of sympathy will be appreciated, including donations to the Cheerful Giver Program at the Apostolic Christian Church (Nazarene), 1880 Strasburg Rd., Kitchener or the Working Center, Kitchener.

‘Und jetzt unsere Liebe Mutterlein, ruh, schlaf, und traumen sie auf bessere zeiten. Fuhr dich und auch aufwieder sehen’.

Please visit www.henrywalser.ca for Margaretha's memorial.