A beautiful and meaningful service of celebration

On August 20th, the celebration of life for Mrs. Margareta Weingartner, took place.  I did not say funeral as it truly was a celebration of her life.

Mrs. Weingartner was born in 1911 which made her 102 years old when she passed into the next stage of life.

She was born in Southern Hungary on the 4th of January, 1911, the fourth child of Christina and Johann Kiltz.  She married Philipp Weingartner, a Pastor of the Lutheran Church in 1932.

In World War 11, they became refugees along with their four children.  They were driven from their home and all that they knew.  They fled to Austria where they remained for nine years.  In 1953, they boarded a ship to reach their new home in Canada.

She and her whole family, had to adapt to a very different lifestyle with a new language and culture.

Pastor and Frau Pastor Weingartner, watched their family grow to ten grand-children and 17 great-grandchildren.  Pastor passed away in 1992 and their third child, Arthur died in 2010.

These are the bare bones facts.  They show a life with upheavals, trauma and new beginnings and yet it was her faith in God and her quiet strength which came through loud and clear when one had the pleasure of knowing her.  I myself have only known her for ten years but counted her as a friend.

Mrs. Weingartner's life was in the church where she served as organist, choir director, Sunday School teacher, superintendent, youth educator, women's group leader and much more.

Another of the milestones in her life was when her book, "Milestones of my Life" was  published in 2006 when she was age 95.  I shall be doing a book review of her book in the near future and will post it on my Writing and Publishing Blog as well as this blog.

Pastors Doug Schweyer and Thomas Arth  officiated at this life celebration and as usual, the wonderful talent of Volkmar Hindrichs shone through as he played the meaningful hymns for the congregation to sing.  The church was packed.  Many of the people went to the cemetery for the burial ceremony but others stayed behind in the church hall.  An amazing spread of delicious food was served when everybody returned.

May God give comfort to the family members and friends of Mrs. Weingartner.

Well done, faithful soul!  An example to all of us who knew her.