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It is with great sadness that we announce the peaceful passing of Maria Kunze on Saturday, January 30, 2015, at the age of 88. Maria was born in Berlin, Germany. After graduating high school, Maria worked as a secretary. It is in Berlin that Maria met her husband, Karl- Heinz. Married for 51 years, they raised three sons, Dietmar, Reinhard and John.

In the fifties, the family began a new life in Calgary and called this city home for many years. Karl-Heinz and Maria eventually retired to White Lake, BC, where they took pride in tending to their garden and orchard. A woman of faith, Maria was active in the Seventh Day Adventist church. She also loved to sew, knit and fish. In her final months at Hillside Manor in Salmon Arm, she enjoyed playing the organ, listening to German music and writing her memoirs.

Maria is predeceased by her husband, Karl-Heinz in November 2003 and her son, Dietmar in May 2007. She will be lovingly remembered by her sons, Reinhard and John, daughters-in-law, Rae Kunze, Cheryl Guttridge, and Claudette Fink-Kunze, grandchildren Cindy (James) Gibbons, Christine (Dennis) Kovacic, Chartotte (Walter) Mandel, Carolynne (Steven) Wolfe, Corrine (Gary) Gordon, Daniel (Zlata) Kunze, Christopher Kunze, Laurie Tripp and 12 great-grandchildren.

A celebration of Maria’s life will be held at the Seventh Day Adventist Church (3270 60 Avenue NE) in Salmon Arm BC on Sunday, February 6, 2016 at 1:30 pm. Memorials in Maria’s name may be made to a charity of one’s choice.

Online condolences may be sent through Maria’s obituary at www.bowersfuneralservice.com



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