Annette Strunz died peacefully on the evening of January 16,
2022, at the Dr. Everett Chalmers Hospital in Fredericton New
Brunswick.
She was born Annette P. Knoppers on February 2, 1930, in
Groningen (the Netherlands) and was the eldest daughter
of Jan C. and Liesje Knoppers.
Much of her early childhood was spent under the difficult
conditions prevailing in Nazi-occupied Holland. The occupation, not
surprisingly, resulted in some disruption of her early
schooling.
She was very close to her younger sister, Els (deceased
2011).
Although the Knoppers family usually managed to find enough
to eat, wartime was a very stressful period for all. On the other
hand, one positive result was that the hardships drew her family even
closer together.
After graduating from school at the end of the war, Annette
was employed by an aircraft company in Schiphol (Amsterdam) for a few
years. In her early 20s, Annette and a school friend embarked to
Venezuela where she found work with a couple of Dutch companies while
living in Caracas, Maracay, and Maracaibo. During her time in
Maracaibo Annette would rise at 5am each day and take a small plane to
work at an oil camp in the jungle!
After some five interesting and challenging years in
Venezuela, she lived briefly in New York City, before moving on to
Fredericton, New Brunswick where she worked at the University of New
Brunswick for several years, before her marriage to George Strunz in
1972.
Annette was an excellent linguist, and besides Dutch and
English, she was fluent in German and Spanish, and she had a good
working knowledge of French.
A talented weaver, Annette also practiced several fiber
arts. These were regularly displayed at Government House in
the annual exhibitions mounted by the Fredericton Guild of Fiber
Artists, an organization of which she served a term as
president.
Annette was passionate in her love of birds and animals and
an enthusiastic supporter of the Fredericton and Oromocto
SPCA.
For more than forty years, Annette and George and their
family enjoyed spending their summers among their friends at their
property beside the Otnabog Lake in Queenstown NB. Working in their
garden was a source of great pleasure for them both. Annette loved her
leisurely walks down to the lake on the trail where she planted trees,
as well as a host of bulbs and plants to bloom in spring and summer.
As a gift to his wife, George and then 8-year-old daughter Stella
spent part of one summer secretly cutting a new path through the woods
down to the lake.
Her greatest joy in life was her family: daughter Sylvia and
husband Andrew Stiles (deceased June 2021) and their children Wyatt,
Audrey, and Daphne; Stella, her husband Dean Fletcher, and their
children Myra and Owen.
Annette loved to travel and saw a lot of the world. As she
got older, she was content with the day-trips she would take with
George to visit with friends but she always looked forward to their
longer trips to Nova Scotia to spend time with Sylvia and her
family.
During her last five months, Annette was at the DECH. Her
family is very thankful for the warm attention that she received from
extraordinarily kind and professional caregivers on 3E and
4E.
A celebration of life will be held at a later
date.
For those who wish to remember Annette with a memorial
donation, the family suggests the Fredericton SPCA,
Oromocto SPCA, the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) or
any charity of the donor’s choice.
Bishop’s Funeral Home & Crematorium 540
Woodstock Road Fredericton have been entrusted with the arrangements.
Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Annette Pietronella Strunz 1930 2022..
Death notice for the town of: Fredericton, Province: Nouveau-Brunswick