In Loving Memory

My Aunt Louise passed away suddenly of heart failure on Sunday Night December 14 2008. This is my version of her Life story.


From the view point of a Niece.

Louise Hildebrand was born August 31 1926 As far as I know she did not have a middle name. I asked her as a child once what it was, she said she didn't have one and asked me what should it be. I can't remember my answer but what ever I answered she said that would be her middle name.

My first memory of her was visiting in her basement suite in Saskatoon in the basement of Mrs. Thiessen's house on Ave B. She worked in the city for Decades. She started at the" Yard Stick"Dressing Windows, then worked at Ricki's in Midtown Plaza for over 30 years. I used to get to skip school and go along with her to work for the day. I would sit in the Bridal room( which was her territory) and watch Brides try on Dresses all day long. She would send me to go get coffee, a treat and her Scratch and Win Tickets, if she won I would go back and redeem them and get more. Try that now a days! By the way we found new scratch tickets in her purse, I scratched them last night and she won $5!She moved to the farm in the early 80's after Grandma Hildebrand passed away. And drove in to the city through all that bad weather in Winter. She often had passengers along with her. She always worked Monday to Friday with Wednesday off and on Thursday, the only day of late night shopping, she worked noon till 9pm. Mr. Dings was her boss for most of those years , he would give me special jobs to do as well. I got the very special and important job of putting Sales tags on racks of clothing. This is the job the other sales girls hated doing. I have always been good at the small tedious jobs.

Dick Epp was a long time Companion to Louise. He was a very nice man and was pretty much a part of the family. He passed away in Summer of 1982( I believe this date to be accurate). The 2 did a lot of travelling together. And he was always a part of the family celebrations.

Louise was a vibrant person, who loved clothes, flowers,travelling, and her family. I can't remember a Sunday that I didn't go over there before Sunday School to show her what I was wearing. In winter when I wore tights, she always said ,"They feel so tight let me snip the elastic a bit". She proceeded to snip a little cut with scissors. All my tights had little snips in them. I remember the day I was big enough to fit into Ricki's clothes. I got to go pick out an outfit. I was grade 7 and picked out Red stirrup pants and a plaid shirt that was not tucked with a wide red belt, I was so proud!! Every Christmas you could be sure that all the Hildebrand Women came to Church with new clothes from Ricki's that next Sunday.

For those of you who have known Louise for a while, you have seen her hair. Yes ,she has almost always had her hair in the piled up style. Her hair was about down to her waist in some years . I know her natural hair color was dark brown but as far back as I can remember it was always black.

As for flowers I can still picture the red geraniums she planted every summer. She had this plastic Swan and Lamb that made their appearance every summer. There was also a hanging basket or 2 by the front Door.

She did a lot of Travelling before I came around and mostly when I was really young. I know she went to Jamaica, Spain, and Hawaii a couple of times.

Family was very close to her heart. She always remembered birthdays and anniversaries. You could always count on a card in the mail no matter where you lived, the address wasn't always correct and how some of them got to Elm Creek was beyond me. If you know the Hildebrand's we love a good "Get Together" and there will always be lots of food. Louise loved to bring food and to cook. She would be the first to ask, "what can I bring?" And it usually was a sweet of some kind. We were also a family that ate very quickly, I timed a Thanksgiving meal one time. 15 Minutes from start to finish. Trevor and my Mom were barely starting when the rest of us were pushing away from the table exclaiming how full we were. Yup, it was "survival of the fittest" at the table, "you snooze, you loose" when the cookie plate was passed around.

She loved to give gifts. We had family Christmas the day before she passed away. We had said no other gifts other than the box names we had picked. She still came with bags of chocolates for everyone and a card with money in it. She was also easy to buy for, and appreciated every gift that was given to her.

Growing up with a second house on the yard had it interesting moments. I would often run over next door to see what was going on. There were times where I would get close to the house and then would stop and turn and make a quick retreat back to home. Louise lived with Adina, her sister. Sister's argue. Adina and Louise argued in German, and loudly. I often thought," so that's what my arguments with my sister sound like, but in German!" You would just wait it out for about half an hour and try again.



Louise loved animals, mainly cats. She had a name for every cat . We often would get the privilege of naming some of the cats: Angel, Spunky, Snowball, Whitey, Calico. The 2 cats that stand out were 2 Siamese cats named Ming and Cocoa.

Our family Dynamic may have been unique. But we love each other and care for each other. I treasure all the memories I have with Louise, and everyone else in our family.

Louise we miss you and love you. Give Grandma and Grandpa a big hug for me. I know some day we will have one big family gathering and there will be lots of food and rejoicing!!