Obituary of Mary Burrows

MARY Burrows · Mitchell · Kinzel (Nee Dyck) November 18, 1924 – August 3, 2020 How to summarize a life so well lived, and describe a woman so loved. Mary died quietly at RUH on August 3, 2020, well into her 96th year, after a short stay in hospital and precious time with her family. She was a loveable force to be reckoned with from beginning to end. Mom was born November 18, 1924, to Gerhard and Anna (Hamm) Dyck on the family farm near Tiefengrund, SK (Laird District). Premature and weighing 4 pounds, she was a fighter, bundled up beside the woodstove. Her strong sense of place and attachment to the family farm endured, as did her Depression-era values of conservation, living within one’s means, self-sufficiency, modesty, and community service. Mom treasured the Dyck Family Century Farm Award, and it filled her heart when relatives expressed interest in the family and community history she was so eager to share. Family has always been Mary’s core. She was the youngest of George, Peter, Ann (Horne), Johnny, Abe, Bill, and Helen, all of whom predeceased her. Mom loved extended family – nephews, nieces, and cousins were important, and she welcomed in-laws warmly. She hosted many family gatherings over the decades. Mary was, and remains, a beloved aunt. Mom married Robert Kinzel on July 15, 1945, and they moved to the Kinzel family farm near Hague that Robert, his mother Clara, and siblings Mina (m. Finlay McLeay), Henry (m. Edie Kinzel), Alex (m. Gertie Kinzel), and Elfrieda (m. George Guenther) had operated since the sudden death of their father 6 years prior. Bob’s aspirations for police work led them to Saskatoon where they built their family and community. Mom reveled in making a home and raising their 3 children, Ann, David, and Ruth. She was an active member of Augustana Lutheran Church and choir, took in university student boarders, became a neighbourhood matriarch, established the Ladies Auxiliary of the Saskatoon City Police, and sang in the University Chorus. She accomplished all this while cooking and baking from scratch, on a budget, sewing clothes, knitting, ensuring we practiced piano, engineering household innovations, and instilling values of community-building within her children. Where there is family and fellowship, there is food. So. Much. Good. Food. Nourishing her beloveds was a favorite love language. Mom became a single parent with a grade 10 education when Robert died of cancer in 1971. In short order, she completed her GED and went on to start her Library Technician career at age 50. Mom enjoyed several years working on the Book Mobile, then found her home as the Librarian at the Lutheran Theological Seminary until her retirement at age 70. She loved that job, the people, the Seminary itself. She influenced many a student and faculty member extending her maternal care and wise counsel. As well, her fluent German allowed her to adeptly locate and translate materials for students and faculty. She was also admired for her devout faith. While under her management, the Seminary became accredited, due to her outstanding organization and efficiency skills. In 1980, Mary married Donald Mitchell (d. 1988). This partnership opened up whole new worlds of travel and culture for Mom, and the opportunity to expand her mind and education. Don knew how keenly intelligent she was and together they enjoyed long energetic conversations, music, gardening, entertaining, and again, family. A beautiful retirement lay before them but their time together was cut much too short with Don’s cancer, and he died at home in her loving care. With her impeccable taste in husbands, Mom was blessed a third time with her marriage to Harvey Burrows (d. 2000) in 1996. Theirs was a warm and gentle companionship, and she came to love his family dearly. She remains their Gramma Mary. At 80, Mom moved to Luther Tower where she enjoyed her independence for most of the next 15 years. Mary became a lively part of the Tower community, where she made others feel welcome, worked diligently on jigsaws, played bridge and cribbage, made many dear friends, enjoyed singing in their group choir, and of course continued her love of reading. Through it all, Mary was a profoundly resilient person. Her faith saw her through many sorrows including the death of three husbands, her son (2001), son-in-law, parents, siblings, in-laws, many friends, and other relatives. She always remained positive and appreciative despite so many losses. There are many other memorable characteristics we continue to enjoy: her strong sense of aesthetics evident in her wardrobe and when home decorating, sewing, arranging flowers; her signature hair and red lipstick; her class, creativity, wonderful dancing, and quick sense of humour. She had a special gift of elevating the spirits of those around her. We held onto these, especially after her diagnosis of vascular dementia in recent years. As her clarity and independence became more compromised, she moved to a wonderful small private care home in November 2019. She quickly came to feel well cared for at Baraka. Covid was not kind to her descent, and her condition declined rapidly in recent months. Despite confusion and lost capacities, it is of great comfort that the gracious, appreciative essence of Mom remained to the end. Her living legacy includes her daughters Elizabeth Ann (Richard Nostbakken, d. 2014) and Ruth Kinzel (Pierre Cadrin); grandchildren Kristine Nostbakken (Levi Carlton), Jonathon Nostbakken (Christina Winter), and Soren Nostbakken (Andrea Sprentz), Nik Kinzel-Cadrin (Ana Conly) and Anya Kinzel-Cadrin; beloved great-grands Liv, Mila, Bec, and Vero Carlton, Freya and Leif Nostbakken, Elsa and Ole Nostbakken; brother-in-law Henry Kinzel; her many nieces, nephews, and godchildren; husband Harvey Burrows’ family (The Tollefsons, The Burrows). The Philip and Penny Dyck family brought particular joy to their Aunt Mary and have been so helpful in recent years. Condolences can be left at funksfuneralhome.ca. In place of flowers, please consider a donation to a charity of your choice. As Covid currently precludes large gatherings, we look forward to sharing a celebration when it is safe to do so. In the interim, we gather as her immediate family to mark this important passage. To mirror our mom’s abundant generosity in sharing her time, knowledge, skills, and belief in giving, we invite you to aptly honour our mom by doing something lovely: Share a smile and speak kind words. See the best in people. Strive always to do a “good job”. Let music move you. Build your resilience and help others find theirs. Make joy, gratitude, and optimism a habit. Give generously. Love family fiercely. Keep family history alive. Laugh often and nourish others.