Tribute

Karoline was born in Paraguay on July 11th, 1965 as the 6th child to Jacob and Maria Sawatzky.  As she was born premature she had to spend her first two months in a crib, being fed with an eyedropper. Already at birth she was fighting for her life.

Growing up was challenging as well. Her parents owned a farm and that meant getting up early to get the cows from the fields. She didn’t own shoes but still God protected her from all the insects and reptiles that could have caused her harm as she worked. After helping with the cows she would have needed to get ready and walk to school to make it on time at 7am every morning.

As time went by Karoline’s grandmother spoke to her often about accepting Jesus as her personal savior and hinting to her about finding a Christian husband. She told her that having a Christian marriage would be important in going through life. Karoline accepted Jesus and ended up getting baptized at the age of 15 years old in Paraguay.

A few years later she decided to volunteer to work at KM81, a Leprosy hospital, which was something she enjoyed spending her time doing. She was willing to do whatever job they gave her as she helped out there. When Karoline was about 24, she became an LPN nurse working at a hospital and care home. God gifted her with this position. She did exceedingly well in this position as she found a lot of joy in helping and caring for others around her.

In 1994 Karoline traveled to Canada with her parents with the intention of visiting her brother Victor and his wife Pauline. Karoline’s cousin was George’s best friend, Artur Wiens. She knew that George was single and she tried to get his attention but it didn’t work and they didn’t end up meeting at that time. Karoline didn’t give up though. When she got back to Paraguay she got in touch with George’s aunt to ask for his address and ended up writing to him through a German letter. He prayed about what to do and then bought a German dictionary. Soon letters started going back and forth between them along with phone calls.

On March 7, 1995, after six months of correspondence, Karoline and George finally met for the first time at the airport in Asuncion Paraguay. George arrived with his parents and his brother Abe, who brought along his two sons. They met up with Karoline and Albert Wiens, her brother in law and then arrived in Filadelfia Paraguay which was around a 4-5 hour car ride. As the two of them returned to Chaco Paraguay, they spent a lot of time in prayer.Through this they built the foundation of their faith and relationship with God on March 8. Time went by quickly and two days later on March 10th they were engaged, then legally married later on March 29th. Marriage was the beginning of the immigration process for them. They lived apart until their wedding in Paraguay which took place on October 7th of 1995.

The immigration papers did not arrive on time so they spoke to a tour guide who suggested going to the Canadian Embassy in Argentina. He arranged their return bus tickets and also booked the hotel for them. The bus ride there was a long journey and once they arrived Karoline and George took a cab to the embassy which is when they were told that they had no documents or any immigration papers. Karoline and George returned to the hotel with the news and then went to the embassy the next morning.  Before getting back on the bus, they were informed that they wouldn’t be travelling with each other because something went wrong with the paperwork.  They returned to the hotel where they cried and then gave thanks and put their trust in the Lord. It was difficult but they trusted in him.  Shortly after their prayer the phone rang and they were told that they could pick up the paperwork the next day. The next morning they headed to the embassy where the person at the counter handed them their papers without a word (they must have been an angel). They had to hurry to get to the bus station where they repurchased the tickets right on time. This was God testing their faith.

When they made it to Canada they lived in Abbotsford, Nanaimo and then temporarily returnedto Paraguay. When they were in Paraguay Karoline’s father accepted Christ into his life at the age of seventy and was then baptised. When living in Nanaimo, George took a job transfer and Karoline took classes to learn English. Most of their time spent in Abbotsford was meeting new friends and attending Church at King Road, Northview and Fellowship. The Lord always provided for them.

Later in 2013, Karoline needed to have four dental implant posts installed into her lower jaw. This was a very complicated process because the freezing didn’t exactly work and she had to have it done without freezing. It was incredibly painful for her and she was prone to infections on her lower gums often during this time. Still God answered their prayers and provided strength for them through this difficult time.

Karoline had spent time working at the Menno Home and then later the Tabor Home where she had a position for sixteen years in house keeping. She was incredibly gifted in helping the elderly and she put time into loving and praying for them. She enjoyed her job and was a hard worker. She was also very gifted in baking, preparing food, even taking the time and care to plan and prepare for her husband’s 65th birthday just this past spring.

February 19th, 2024 was Karoline’s last day at work. She was diagnosed with breast cancer and had surgery on March 25, 2024. After this the surgeon told them that they had gotten the cancer out. During the process of recovery George got injured, he fractured his tibia plateau at work on November 26th, 2024. She was now working to care for both George and herself. Through her endurance, love and trust in the Lord, and prayers for strength she never gave up.

Shortly before her 60th birthday the breast cancer returned and her second surgery took place June 11th, 2025. She had a cough that lingered for four months, her wound wasn’t healing and she was dealing with a large and infected cyst on her back. God gave her a high pain tolerance to withstand all she was going through. It wasn’t long before she was diagnosed with cancer in her liver and lungs and Karoline could no longer handle the pain at home. She was admitted to the hospital and then to Holmberg Hospice on July 29th, 2025. The staff supported her and treated her with care and dignity. Many of the nurses taking care of her were also Christians.

Despite living with significant pain for many months Karoline still did amazing work planting seeds, even while in hospice, she would pray for others, sing and praise her saviour with arms lifted high, and doing this all day long. She was truly grateful for the visits she had with family and friends and every visitor was greeted with her beautiful, joyous smile.

Even when her body was exhausted she grabbed a pen and paper and was praising Jesus writing ‘Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so,’ she kept writing in English and German

On November 10, 2025 she began to decline and she had good intentions with pen in hand but she was out of strength.  She never complained, and despite months of great pain she leaned into her faith and was confident that her saviour Jesus was coming for her soon to take away all her pain.
Karoline and George shared 30 married years together and during her declining health it gave her the greatest comfort to have him there with her everyday advocating for and praying for her.  During those difficult months she enjoyed the breakfast he would bring for them to share and although it was a challenging time they still had many moments of laughter together.

Karoline continued to demonstrate gratefulness, faithfulness, joy and thanksgiving even in the hardest walk of her life.

On November 24th, 2025 Karoline passed away.

George feels blessed to have shared 30 married years with his beloved wife and was devoted to her.

TO GOD BE THE GLORY