Obituary of Margarete Higenell
Margarete A. K. Higenell
November 7, 1928 - October 18, 2023
The family of Margarete Higenell announce that she passed peacefully into the Presence of her Lord on Wednesday, October 18. She would have been 95 on November 7. Predeceased (2018) by her husband Gerald after 67 years of marriage, as well as by 4 brothers and a sister. Much-loved mother of Peter (Gail), Robert (Elizabeth), and Barbara (Bruce) Chambers, Margarete was blessed to be “Oma” to 10 grandchildren and “Urgrossmutter” to 6 great-grandchildren. Margarete was born to Otto and Ernestine (nee Lange) Wilkens in Northern Germany. The family left for Canada (pre-WWII) in 1934 when she was 6 years old. Her childhood was spent in Petitcodiac, NB, and her young adult years both in Niagara and Toronto, before she and Gerald settled in St. Catharines to raise their family.
When she was over 40, Margarete fulfilled a lifelong dream and graduated from the Mack School of Nursing in the early 1970s. She especially enjoyed working with elderly patients (before she became one herself), both in the former St. Catharines General Hospital and at Heidehof. Gerry and Marg enjoyed their retirement years for the next 30-plus years on Warner Rd., on the Niagara Escarpment near Woodend Conservation Area, moving back to Grantham Avenue, St. Catharines, in 2003. Margarete’s final 2 years were spent at Shorthills Villa in Fonthill, where she was treated like family. We are forever grateful for the wonderful and kind staff at Shorthills.
Margarete was an environmentalist long before it was a thing. She loved trees (planting them and watching them grow) throughout her life and befriending them right up until her final days. If you asked her what she’d recommend for the good of our planet, she would emphatically say, “Plant trees!” With that in mind, in lieu of flowers, please make any donations to Tree Canada (https://treecanada.ca) or any reforestation organizations.
Visitation at George Darte Funeral Chapel (585 Carlton St.) on Tuesday, October 24 from 2pm-4pm and 6pm-8pm. Funeral service Wednesday, October 25 at 11am at Christ Lutheran Church (140 Russell Ave.).