Elizabeth Koop

Obituary

Elizabeth Koop, entered the presence of her Lord and Saviour, on Thursday, February 8, 2018 at the Rest Haven Nursing Home, Steinbach, MB.

She was predeceased by her husband Peter S. Koop, her parents, nine siblings and many brothers and sisters-in-law.

She is survived by: her stepchildren: Herb (Esther) of Selkirk, Sandra (Ed) of Mitchell, Dennis of Winnipeg, Sharon (Allen) of Steinbach, and Paul of Winnipeg; nine grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren; one sister; five sisters-in-law and numerous cousins, nieces and nephews.

Prior to the 1991 marriage of Elizabeth to Peter Koop, Elizabeth assisted her father in the Kleefeld post office. In 1945, she earned a degree as an LPN. She commented that the medical work in Brazil was difficult. The isolation of the jungle presented challenges, as did transportation of patients to a medical center. In 1950, she joined the New Tribes Mission (now Ethnos) team in Brazil. She happily shared stories of her adventures and the experiences, with family and also the young children participating in the grandbuddy program at the Rest Haven Nursing Home. Many stories she shared involved the challenges of using the Paacas Novos River as their main means of transportation.

In their early years together, they travelled to the Maritimes, Belize, Brazil and to British Columbia. Summers were spent tending to their garden until they were no longer able.

Elizabeth played the Mandolin in the New Horizan Orchestra. She loved to knit, eat hamburgers, look through her photo albums of years gone by and playing scrabble with her husband. She baked delicious brown bread that she served to family at many a faspa. Faspa usually included homemade strawberry jam, raw veggies and canned ham. Next to her plate would be a bottle of hot sauce. All things were better with a bit of a kick.

Elizabeth also loved to read especially the Bible, Oswald Chamber devotional, My Utmost for His Highest and the Steinbach EMC church bulletin.
She moved into the Rest Haven Nursing Home in October of 2008. In the early years, she enjoyed playing crokinole with other residence. She attended all the chapel and singing services while she was able. Elizabeth loved the breakfasts out, with other residences to the Mitchell Senior Center or occasionally Smitty’s.

We also appreciate Valrae Epp (great nice) for kindly cutting Elizabeth’s hair and giving her regular manicures.

Thanks to Audra (granddaughter) for visiting with your grandmother and bringing her Tim Horton’s coffee with a quadruple dose of cream. She did love her coffee with a lot of cream.

At this time, we want to thank the staff at the Rest Haven for the care they gave Elizabeth. We are grateful for the chaplains Bill Kehler and Peter Berg for supporting her emotionally and spiritually through all the years that she lived at Rest Haven.

We are thankful to have had Elizabeth in our lives. Our Dad had been widowed for 10 years and Elizabeth brought much joy and love into the home. With her presence we saw him grow spiritually and his enthusiasm for life flourished.

The funeral service for Elizabeth will be held on Tuesday, February 13, 2018 at 2:00 p.m. at Steinbach Evangelical Mennonite Church, 422 Main St, Steinbach MB, with a viewing prior to the service. The burial will follow at the Memorial Cemetery, Steinbach, MB.

If friends desire, donations in memory of Elizabeth may be made to Ethnos Canada, PO Box 707, Durham, ON, N0G 1R0.