Ilona "Helen" Holzli

Other Events:

• Name: Ilona "Helen" Goetz
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-382900

Notes:

GOETZ, Ilona "Helen"

Ilona was born at home, at the Holzli family farmhouse, in Erdud, Romania, on April 30, 1931. After living a full life, her journey peacefully ended 83 years and six months later, on November 1, 2014. She was the youngest of nine siblings and grew up in the small rural village, where she learned that family, community, Catholic faith and hard work would always see you through. As the Iron Curtain was coming down around Romania during WWII, she fled to Austria, with her parents and her sisters, Elizabeth, Margaret, Mary and Theresa. Her sister Julie and brothers John and Michael, had chosen to stay behind. As homeless refugees upon their arrival in Germany, her sister Margaret passed away. Her brother Michael was a casualty of the War. Her father passed away in Germany. When she was 19, she immigrated to Galt, Ontario, joining her sister, Paula's family, who had immigrated to Canada before the War. This is when she first began using the name "Helen," which is a variant of Ilona. She met the love of her life, Nicholas Goetz, at the Schwaben Club in Kitchener. Like Helen, Nicholas was also born in Romania and also liked to dance. They married and settled in Preston, Ontario and raised two sons, Nicholas and Michael. In 1980, Helen's husband Nicholas died unexpectedly and she carried on, learning to drive, leveraging the self-reliance and resourcefulness that was always part of her character. Modest and kind, generous and loving and always respectful of others, she easily made many friends and endeared herself to her constantly growing family. She will be lovingly remembered by her sons and daughters-in-law, Nick (Cindy) and Mike (Diane), her grandchildren, Erin (Jeff Snook), Jason (Helene Petschko), Jonathan and Christopher, Amelia, and Jared, and great-grandchildren; Avery, Jordyn, and Hayley. Her memory will live on with her best friend and only surviving sibling, Theresa Schmied, her sisters-in-law, Dorothy Goetz and Shirley Goetz and by many other relatives, friends and neighbours. Helen was a member of the Catholic Women's League, Preston Horticultural Society and Quilting at the Reuter's Centre. The family will receive friends at the Barthel Funeral Home, 566 Queenston Road, Cambridge, Ontario, on Thursday, November 6, 2014, from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. Prayers at 2: 30 p.m. and Rosary at 6: 45 p.m. A Funeral Mass will be held on Friday, November 7, 2014, at 10 a.m. from St. Clement's Roman Catholic Church, 745 Duke Street, Cambridge. Interment at Parklawn Cemetery, Cambridge.

Waterloo Region Record 5 Nov 2014

Ilona — Nicholas Goetz. Nicholas (son of Mathias "Matthew" Goetz and Katherine Grossmayer) was born 1930, Romania; died 16 May 1980, Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried 19 May 1980, Parklawn Cemetery, Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]