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Agnes “Aggie” Petkau Obituary
Agnes “Aggie” Petkau
With profound sadness at her passing and deep gratitude for her life, we share that our Mom, Aggie Petkau went to be with her Lord and Saviour on Sunday, February 16th at the age of 93.
Mom will be lovingly remembered and greatly missed by her children:
Bev (daughter) & Brian Larmour, Audrey (daughter-in-law) Voth Petkau, Dave (son) & Judy Petkau, Laurie (daughter) & Ernie Reimer, Julie (daughter) & Ken Wall, Chris (son) & Gwen Petkau.
Predeceased by her cherished husband Henry (2013) and her adored son Terry (2022).
“Grandma Aggie” will be greatly missed by her grandchildren:
David Larmour, James Larmour, Tyler & Andrea Petkau, Evan & Vanessa Petka, Bethany & Joel Black, Elise & Brad Lott, Ellis & Jamie Reimer, Kendall & Steve Stone, Richard Wall, Marc & Joti Wall, Mackenzie Wall, Ethan Wall, Carly & Jesse Perry, Max Petkau, Mia Petkau and Ruby Petkau.
“Gigi” was also adored by her 20 great grandchildren: Everly, Lucy, Felix, Ben, Easton, Avyn, Toby, Jackson, Duke, Nova, Daisy, Callum, Reya, Logan, Elliot, Blake, Addie, Benjamin, Blythe and Kylo.
Mom was born on January 13,1932 in Arnaud, Manitoba and moved to Ontario in 1946 when she was 14 years old. She was part of a large family of five boys and seven girls and she was the middle daughter. She adored all of her brothers and her sisters were her closest friends. Mom has so many memories of the time they spent together as a very close-knit family. She remembered doing all of her sisters’ hair on Saturday nights to be ready for church the next morning. She braided or curled their hair with curlers or rags. Probably one of her most cherished memories was of singing together as a family. Mom had a wonderful alto singing voice but also a beautiful gift of playing piano. After only a year of piano lessons, Mom honed her gift by practicing daily and playing for her family as they sang together. She learned to sight read very quickly as she was asked to accompany choirs and other singing groups. Her brothers often asked her to play for them as they sang in beautiful four-part harmony. Mom said she got tired of only playing the “love songs” that they always wanted to sing, so that’s why she learned to play hymns.
Mom was the pianist for the church choir and met our Dad, Henry Petkau, when he joined to sing. He sat in the bass section, right next to the piano and loved to tease her and make her blush. He was outgoing and she was shy. They started dating in March, 1951. She knew right from the beginning of their friendship, that he was “Mr. Right”. On June 21, 1952, Mom and Dad were married and they enjoyed a loving marriage for 61 years. Together they enjoyed watching sports, Florida trips to watch the Blue Jays and involvement in church ministry and music. She was always a huge support to Dad in his teaching and pastoring. Throughout their marriage, he continued to tease her and she continued to giggle and blush in response. They were perfect together and gave all of us a wonderful example of being a “team” in all that they did together.
Mom’s life revolved around us, her 6 children. She loved us unconditionally, supported and encouraged us and we were her highest priority. Imagine a houseful with six kids (and their friends), the noise volume, the amount of food that she had to cook and the laundry she had to do! As we remember, she did all of this without ever complaining, ever raising her voice and seemingly never tired. Raising 6 kids would have been a lot for anyone… but Mom had a wonderful coping mechanism of being able to nap anywhere and at any time. She laughed when she remembered napping on the couch while we played around her and even climbed all over her.
As we got older, she never missed any of our sports games, music involvements or events at school, often being our biggest cheerleader. If we ever got into trouble at school, her “Mama bear” side rose up and she always defended us completely.
We spent many hours singing together as a family. We learned to sing and harmonize while the 8 of us traveled in our station wagon. Whether it was on the way to church, going to visit family or on our long trip up north, we sang constantly. As we developed our singing skills, Dad would book performances for us, but it was Mom who chose our songs, practiced with us and accompanied us while we sang. She really gave us the gift of music and taught us all to love singing.
In our adult years, Mom would phone us daily and often come to our homes to help us with any household tasks that she thought needed doing and of course, often spending time with our kids, her grandchildren. The daily phone calls always remained – not only with many great conversations but also in the form of her funny voice messages. In these later years it was often us calling her. We will definitely miss hearing her voice.
When we were growing up and living at home, there was nothing she loved more than all of us being together. Even though we have lived all across Canada for years, when we could all be together, it was her absolute biggest highlight. You could see her beautiful blue eyes twinkle with happiness! We always knew that we, her kids, were her greatest joy but we were her biggest fans.
As we kids got older, Mom found new independence and purpose by finally getting her driver’s licence and starting her work as an administrative secretary. Her favourite years of working were in the office at Tabor Manor. She loved her job as bookkeeper but she also loved working with seniors. She spent 9 years at this job and then many years later, she and Dad moved into the Tabor apartments. Her work place had become her home. Who could have known that her link to Tabor would play such an important part in her life!
For Mom, playing piano was an integral part of who she was.
Although she often played to accompany singers, she also played on her own. It brought her so much joy and at times, was also healing and comforting for her. We, her children, remember waking up on Sunday mornings to the sound of her playing hymns to start the day. In these last three and a half years, she played almost every single day – often playing for her family and friends who came to visit her. When she turned 90, she decided she needed a “project” and in the span of just one month, she played through her entire hymnal of 637 songs. It was only in these past six months, as her health declined, that she stopped playing – but others talked about it often and encouraged her by reminding her how much her piano playing had always meant to them.
Mom’s personal relationship with God was central to the way she lived her life. Her faith was evident in her servant heart, love for others and selfless giving. She was an incredible example of Jesus’ love to all who knew her. Mom cared so deeply for others and most often, thought of them before herself. Even when she would be going through difficult times, she would go and visit others so that she could bring joy to them. She lovingly led her children and grandchildren in their faith journeys and prayed for them every day.
We often would hesitate to tell her some of the tough things that were happening in our lives, because we didn’t want to worry her. She would always respond with: “You can always tell me. I just pray about it. Then I leave it with the Lord and I don’t worry about it anymore”.
Mom has experienced so much loss in recent years. Saying goodbye to her five precious brothers and four of her beloved sisters was so hard for her. They were her best friends. It was the death of her husband, our Dad, and her son, Terry, that truly broke her heart. Through it all, she always relied on God to comfort her and give her strength. Our Mom was such an amazing example of God’s strength living through her.
Mom will be so dearly missed by her sisters: Mary Froese and Clara Schnupp (Clair) and her sisters-in- law Lottie Durksen, Anne Durksen, Esther Durksen and Pepper Thiessen.
Her treasured friends Jana Goss, Lorraine Tutti and Barb Wiens also held a special place in her heart. She was well loved by her large extended family and many friends.
We will all miss her so very much!
The family is so grateful to Radiant Care Tabor Supportive Housing and the 4th floor Long Term Care staff for their compassion and gentle care for our Mom in the past months and years.
Visitation will be on Friday, February 28th from 6-8 pm at Northend Church, 455 Geneva Street, St. Catharines. The Celebration of Aggie’s Life will be on Saturday, March 1st at 12:00 pm at the same location. (Additional visitation at the church from 11-11:45 am)
Prior to the service, a private interment will take place at Victoria Lawn Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, donations are gratefully accepted for www.globalshore.org or www.northendchurch.ca/ministries/foodbank
Livestream of the service can be found at www.Northendchurch.ca
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January 13 1932
February 16 2025
Death notice for the town of: Vineland, Province: Ontario
death notice Agnes Aggie Petkau January 13 1932
February 16 2025
obituaries notice Agnes Aggie Petkau January 13 1932
February 16 2025
We offer our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Agnes Aggie Petkau January 13 1932
February 16 2025 and hope that their memory may be a source of comfort during this difficult time. Your thoughts and kind words are greatly appreciated.
