Kruppi
Anita Kruppi passed away peacefully, at Hanna Long Term Centre on Dec. 15, 2020 at the age of 82 years after a 12-year battle with Alzheimer’s.
Anita was born on April 10, 1938 to Lydia (Losing) and Jacob Oster on the farm west of Hemaruka.
Anita married Ewalt at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, Hemaruka, Alta. on Oct. 26, 1956.
After their marriage, they resided in Hanna until 1960 when they moved to the farm formerly known as the Beck Farm and in 1970 the Kruppi family moved to the Jacob Oster farm.
After the passing of Anita’s mother Lydia, her dad and Floyd moved to Medicine Hat.
Mom was fortunate to spend most of her life living on her family farm.
Her favourite scenery was right in her yard – she commented that she loved sitting at the kitchen table and looking out at the panoramic view of the old red barn. A picture was made for her to hang in her room at long term care.
A person’s life is more than a summary of events and milestones. It is also characterized by how the life was lived.
Mom loved the land, her family and was a hard-working woman.
She was honest and fair, and it was not unusual at Christmas to have a card attached to your gift with some money in it to ensure that the same amount was spent on each of our gifts.
Mom had the gift of gab. It was quite common that Mom would run into people all over the province that she would know.
You could be in Calgary shopping and sure enough, she would come across someone that she knew. One would ask Mom – “how do you know that person” and she could always give you an idea of where they had crossed paths: “That person is from Castor but they come to Veteran Auction Mart.”
Mom did not travel too far but she did manage some trips to Saskatchewan, Portland, Oregon; Cancun, Mexico; British Columbia and Montana.
Mom was a hard-working farm woman as she spent many hours in the tractor, farming, milking cows, raising chickens and turkeys and then would be in the house canning, baking and making meals.
She had a fun side to her as she loved dancing, especially the polka and in her younger days could be the life of the party.
Mom and Dad spent many evenings playing Skip-Bo and other card games with their good friends, Irene and Margaret Geduhn.
Mom was known for her great baking and we all enjoyed coming home to homemade buns, butterhorns, cream kuchen and poppyseed roll.
The Anhorn boys always were asking Aunty Anita to make them pickled pork hocks or asking, ‘Will there be apple salad?’ at special holiday dinners.
Mom would make tapioca pudding and after making it recently, it showed the effort she would put into the little pleasures for her family after realizing how time-consuming it is to make; thank you, Mom.
Mom enjoyed spending time with her children, and then came the grandchildren, who were the apple of her eye.
She enjoyed being out in the community at social events and on Mondays, you could find her and Dad at Veteran Auction Mart.
We would often tease her that they had a rotation – Monday -Veteran, Tuesday – Stettler and then Friday – Hanna.
It was hard on Mom losing her independence when she could no longer drive herself to town and to appointments.
In August of 2015, Mom moved to Long Term Care in Hanna and enjoyed the activities, especially when the local band would come in and play music. You could see her tapping her foot away to the music.
As we approach Christmas, we would tease Mom when we heard the song “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer”. Please take a moment and listen to the song and remember her.
Anita is survived by her husband, Ewalt of 64 years; her son, Floyd (Carol) Oster, grandchildren: Lacy (Sean) McLachlan, Linden and great-granddaughter, Emmersyn of Medicine Hat; and her children: Donna (Bruce) Bignell of Youngstown, Debra (Ross) Ellas of Calgary, Sheila (Dale) Crowle of Hanna and Brenda (Jeff) Bauman of Calgary.
Also survived by her grandchildren: Steve (Jenn) Bignell, Wade Ellas, Mark (Julia) Crowle, Leanne (Colton) Ouellette, Scott (Lauren) Crowle; great-grandchildren: Brady, Chase and Ryley Bignell, Emery and Cash Ellas; and many cousins, nieces and nephews and special friends.
Anita will be dearly missed by her family and friends. She touched many in a positive way on her life journey and left this world a better place.
“Mom, in life we loved you dearly, in death, we love you still. In our hearts you hold a place that no one will ever fill.”
In lieu of flowers, and if desired, donations in Anita’s memory can be made to Veteran Cemetery, STARS Air Ambulance or the Hanna Ladies Auxiliary, Box 23, Hanna, Alta., T0J 1P0.
Due to the recent COVID-19 restrictions, we cannot honour Anita the way she deserves in a funeral or graveside service.
Please share your memories of Anita with the family through this website.
Hanna Funeral Services Ltd. is entrusted with the care and arrangements, 403-854-5956, www.hannafuneral.ca
Card of Thanks
Anita’s family wish to thank Dr. Fortna and the staff of Hanna Long Term Care for the great care they provided to Anita during her time there as a resident.
