Adele (Bieler) Appelt

Our mother Adele, also known as “Oma” passed away on August 1, 2023, in Edson. She was of German descent, born in Jozefow, Poland, on July 16, 1930, to Emilie and Adolf Bieler. She had 3 sisters, two of whom died at a very young age. Her surviving sister Ingrid lives in Germany.

Prior to the second world war, Adele’s parents farmed in Poland for many years and were established in the community. During the second world war she and her family were required to vacate their home in Poland and flee to Nennhausen, East Germany (as it then was).  At that time our mother was a teenager. Conditions in communist East Germany were difficult. She and her family established a new home and small subsistence farm on their homestead. Their farm was close to Berlin, which was war-torn and in shambles after the war. Fortunate to have a small farm with some livestock, our mother would bicycle to Berlin to sell eggs on a street corner: a few pennies each, helping support the family. As a teenage girl in the midst of the wreckage and broken streets that was Berlin, she undoubtedly acquired some of the pluck and resilience which defined her for a lifetime.

Adele met her partner for life, Gerhard, when he gallantly fixed her broken bicycle. The more time they spent together the more Adele’s father (and presumably Adele) recognized Gerhard’s qualities.  At age 18 Gerhard was hired to work on the family farm. Therein began a friendship and a union that lasted all of 70 years until Gerhard’s passing in January 2021. 

When they were 20 years of age, Mom and Dad fled East Germany, again leaving their home, this time for a refugee camp in West Berlin. There they were protected as political refugees until the opportunity arose for the young couple to move again: this time leaving country, family and language for a new life in Canada. On arrival in Canada they had enough money to buy a few western goods including a coveted bottle of Coca Cola, and then were penniless. To get on their feet they were separated for some years with Mom working as a chamber maid and Dad as a farm hand in the new world they called home.

Adele and Gerhard had two sons, Garry and David, and Mom’s role became homemaker. They lived in Edson making dear friends, many of whom were immigrants like themselves. Life was simple, centred on good food, good friends, hard work, a big garden, raising a family, and creating memories in a house they built with their own hands. They lived the rest of their lives in Edson, content, productive, surrounded by friends and family, and happy to enjoy the freedoms of Canada.

Adele is survived by her two sons Garry (Joanne) and David (Brenda), grandsons Corey, Andrew (Jodi), Ben (Alyssa) and Eric (Devyn), great grandchildren Olive, Araya, Paisley, Remi, Oakley, Joe, Ella, Drake and another great grandchild expected in September!

Our mother was adventurous, sociable, tenacious, and a woman of faith. She provided for her family and others with a servant’s heart, selfless, full of love and compassion for others. She lived well.   

We will miss our Mom, our Oma.

The Appelt family wishes to thank Dr. Roder and all the professional and compassionate staff who cared for our mother while in the Edson Hospital. Those wishing to make a gift in Adele’s honour please consider the Edson Food Bank in lieu of flowers.

A Funeral Service will be held on August 4, 2023 at 1:00 PM  at the Bethel Pentecostal Family Worship Centre in Edson, interment at the Glenwood Cemetery will follow.

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