Tribute

Margaret Krause (nee Rempel) was born in Paraguay in the German-speaking, Mennonite colony  of Fernheim on March 7, 1932. She was the fourth surviving child of Jakob Rempel and Helena (nee Vogt) who had emigrated from Siberia in 1929. Her family moved to the Friesland Colony when she was five years old. She said they moved from the desert to the jungle.

Margaret’s father became very ill and died when she was 13 years old. After 3 years, because her mother lacked the means to care for them herself, she moved with her mother and brother Henry to Oliver, B.C. Her oldest sister, Tina, was married by that time and her other sister, Lena had moved to Germany in 1939. Margaret was sixteen when they moved and they lived with an Aunt and cousins who had an orchard there. Margaret was baptized into the Mennonite church in Oliver on May 28, 1950.In the late summer of 1951, Margaret moved from the fruit orchards of Oliver to Vancouver, living in a Maedchenheim and working as a domestic helper. On her first afternoon in Vancouver, she met a young man named Dietrich Krause at a gathering of Mennonite young people in a nearby park. A year later, on September 14, 1952, Dietrich and Margaret married.

Margaret was mother to seven children, eighteen grandchildren and eighteen great grandchildren.  They were active members at Sherbrook Mennonite Church in Vancouver until they moved to Abbotsford in 2019. Dietrich and Margaret enjoyed the community at Primrose Garden together for eighteen months before Dietrich passed away in September of 2020. They had been married sixty-eight years. Margaret continued to enjoy the community there, especially socializing at lunchtime, and she appreciated the care of the chaplaincy staff.

Much of Margaret’s life revolved around her family and household. From washing cloth diapers to sewing new special-occasion dresses for her three daughters, from baking zwieback, paska, perishky, dozens of Christmas cookies, and delicious mocha and Napolean tortes, to putting dinner for up to ten family members on the table every night, much of her life was centered around the home.

Margaret was also quick to say yes to travel, and she and Dietrich travelled to Europe, South America, Hawaii and took several cruises. They also spent much time during their retirement years in Palm Desert, California and in Oroville, Washington on Osoyoos Lake. It was in Oroville that the family gathered numerous times every summer and Margaret delighted in seeing her grandkids and then great-grandkids enjoy themselves there. When asked by others how she could stand all the noise and activity, she always replied “I love it!”  Margaret loved her family deeply. She loved spending time with them, always happy to go out for dinner with her kids, eagerly anticipating the large family Christmas celebrations and trips to Oroville, and continuing to join weekly Zoom calls with her children since the COVID lockdowns began in the Spring of 2020.

Margaret passed away quickly and unexpectedly on April 20, 2025, Easter Sunday. She had spent her last hour reading the Easter story and visiting with family members. We will miss our loving, patient and kind mother, but also rejoice that she has gone to be with the Lord after a long, well-lived life.
She is survived by her seven children and their spouses, Erich (Gerda), Elsie Toews (David), Laurie Toews (Willie), Victor (Yvette), Walter (Shauna), Anita Wiebe (Tom), and Steven (Kristine). She is also survived by her eighteen grandchildren, eighteen great-grandchildren, and her brother Henry Rempel.