Lorraine Sehn

Lorraine was born on November 15, 1934 and departed to be with our Lord on March 28, 2021. She was predeceased by her parents, Joseph and Margaret Volk; her parents-in-law, Gabriel and Armelia Sehn; her brothers, Joseph and Anton; her husband, Conrad; her son, Bob and 6 grandchildren. She is survived by 9 children, Louis (Joyce), Sheila Dupuis, Amos (Beatrice), Lorne, Janice Stein (Rod), Julianne Chisholm (Douglas), Tim (Beverly), Alana Schmid (Jim) and Corrie Avery (Brent); 33 grandchildren, 2 step grandchildren, 65 great grandchildren and 2 sisters-in-law, Josephine Volk and Josephine Sehn.

Lorraine married Conrad Sehn on November 15, 1951. They initially farmed with Conrad’s brother, Tony, but a few years later, took over the Imperial Oil bulk oil and gas franchise, operated the service station, a meat shop, and lastly were the custodians of the High school.

Mom was a meticulous bookkeeper for the businesses. She could also handle any customer that came along besides looking after a large family. She sewed many dresses for the girls in the evenings when everyone was sleeping, ironed all the white shirts for the boys for Sunday church, had us all in polished shoes, plus made Sunday feasts for us. Working at the grocery store and the hotel were fitted in there too.

Mom and Dad were musicians as well. Dad could play almost any instrument by ear and Mom played the saxophone until parental duties took over. Mom was a wonderful host and they often had parties with their friends who were also musicians and sometimes danced all night long to the music. We also had lots of good records to play so we had loads of fun dancing.

Mom’s mission was to please anyone and everyone, even the pets they had. She loved cooking for the dogs. Mom had such a pure heart and embodied all the highest virtues of kindness, generosity, unconditional love, forgiveness, appreciation and many others. Handing out TV dinners to the bachelors in town was a regular occurrence for Mom. Self-improvement was also a priority for her.  She wanted to improve her grammar, so she took an English grammar course.  She taught herself how to use a typewriter, the computer and used an iPad up until a few years ago. Her cursive handwriting was almost flawless. When Dad retired from the custodian job, Mom took over by obtaining her 5th Class Power Engineer certification.

Cleanliness was almost an obsession for Mom. The house was always spotless and the bedrooms were highly organized. When she was camping with Dad, they would get everything set up and then Dad would have his afternoon nap. Mom would then wash the windows, inside and out and sometimes even the walls. If the campground washrooms were not up to her standards, she would clean them spotless too!

Mom was a fabulous cook, serving up some of the most delicious meals anyone could ask for. Traditional German fare was always a given, regardless of the time it took to prepare. Homemade pasta, pies, cookies, doughnuts, tangles, knipla, bachentla, baking powder noodles, strudels, kuccha, cream and sauerkraut noodles, dumplings, garlic buns, potato salad, cabbage rolls, perogies and many others. The pressure cooker was used often for the tastiest stew or creamed chicken with cornmeal. Some of our favorites were ham cooked with the dough around the outside, chicken and rice, chicken noodle soup with homemade noodles, and the wonderful Chinese dishes that Mom and Dad cooked together.  They used to watch Wok with Yan at lunch time and prepare what he taught for supper that evening because they had all the ingredients that were used in all his dishes. Having the meat shop right next door was certainly optimal for having their choice of meat available at any moment. They used to make the best sausage around with their secret recipe as well.

Being extremely healthy and energetic was normal for Mom. She had some health issues that were more pronounced in the last few years, however she rarely complained about anything. She was always concerned about our happiness and really enjoyed the video chats we had right up until the last day. We will always remember Mom for her unconditional love of her family and her unwavering faith in God, Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary. Prayer was always a priority at home, and the rosary was recited often.

Much gratitude to the staff at Good Samaritan for the loving care she received there, especially the warm blankets. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations would be gratefully received by any shelter for women or the homeless of your choice.

A Celebration of Life service will be live streamed on Tuesday April 6, 2021 @11:00 am from Medicine Hat Holy Family Church with Celebrant Fr. Philip Le presiding. Due to COVID-19 restrictions in place, attendance to the service will be by invite only. To view service, visit www.holyfamilymh.ca or follow this link to view live stream: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCG6zK-XzuXdDHj79rV6ut_Q. A graveside service will follow at Fox Valley Cemetery with Celebrant Fr. Francis presiding. Condolences may be made at www.gracememorial.com. Arrangements made by GRACE MEMORIAL AFFORDABLE BURIAL & CREMATION, 1924 10th Ave NW, Medicine Hat, Alberta T1C 1T5 403-905-0440 info@gracememorial.com.

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