Oorzaak: Effectus Plaga
Rosalie (Hoffmann) Kelm was one of seven children born to Johann Hoffmann and his wife Eva Rosalia Kuenast near Dubno, Volhynia in 1885. Her father Johann was a miller by trade and was also a village official. Nothing is known about her mother, Eva.
The family enjoyed a life style that was, by several accounts, very prosperous. Rosalie once stated that the family enjoyed a very good life in Volhynia. The climate in their area was mild, they owned an orchard with many fruit trees. Many other items, such as watermelons, grew in abundance.
Rosalie was baptized on 14 April 1885 and confirmed in the Ev. Lutheran Church of Volhynia on 2 May 1900.
She married Wilhelm Kelm, a carpenter by trade, in 1904 or 1905. Their first son, Rudolf was born in Volhynia in 1906. In 1907 the family arrived in Strathcona, (S. Edmonton) where Wilhelm soon found employment in his trade. Second son, Albert, was born in 1908 followed by Henry in 1910, Otto in 1912 and daughter Martha in 1917.
Tragedy struck in the autumn of 1919. Wilhelm Kelm fell from a scaffold and landed on a carpenter's plane which punctured his side. In spite of doctors' best efforts for the time, he developed blood poisoning and died on 21 November of that year.
Rosalie Kelm was left a widow with five children. In 1920, she was introduced to William Gabert, a widower with four children from Beaver Hills, Alberta. They were married at Trinity Lutheran Church in Edmonton on 24 November 1920. The newlyweds and their combined family of 9 children made their home on William's homestead in Beaver Hills where the "pitter patter" of an additional 4 pairs of feet brought the total number of children by 1928, to 13!
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Rosalie was a virtuous woman, kind, loving and possessed a strong christian faith which sustained her through many tribulations. She is remembered with fondness by many of her grandchildren to this day. After a brief, but severe final illness, she entered life everlasting on 11 March 1969.