Irene Harnack

1914 - 2020  (105 years)

• Name	Irene Harnack
  Born	18 Oct 1914	Shantz Station, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  Gender	Female
  Epidemic	2020
  	Covid-19
  Name	Irene Bitschy
  Eby ID Number	Waterloo-213987
  Died	22 May 2020
  Person ID	I213987	Generations
  Last Modified	11 Jun 2024

  
  

  Father	Joseph George Henry Harnack,   b. 3 Oct 1881, Breslau, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 1968  (Age 86 years)
  Mother	Johanna Reinhart,   b. 24 Aug 1882, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 1965  (Age 82 years)
  Married	3 May 1904	Maryhill (New Germany) Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario   [1]
  Family ID	F189124	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	William Remigius "Bill" Bitschy,   b. 16 Jan 1910, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 10 Aug 1988  (Age 78 years)
  Married	25 Apr 1935	Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  Children	1. Charlotte Bitschy   2. Sheila Bitschy   3. Marlene Bitschy   4. Lynda Bitschy
  Last Modified	11 Jun 2024
  Family ID	F58469	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  'We don't want her to die feeling that she's alone' 105 years old and diagnosed with COVID-19, woman is isolated from the people she loves She was born on a farm as the First World War was beginning. She had eight brothers and sisters. As a teenager during Prohibition, she worked in her aunt's hotel in downtown Kitchener, and helped hide bottles of illegal booze in the laundry basket when the police came by. She married, raised a family and then worked at the University of Waterloo. In retirement, she loved meeting new people, travelling all over North America, and playing with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Now, at the end of a long life filled with warm relationships, Irene Bitschy has been diagnosed with COVID-19. Last week, she was moved from a nursing home in Kitchener to Cambridge Memorial Hospital. For the first time in her 105 years, she is isolated from the people she loves. "We don't want her to die feeling that she's alone," said her granddaughter, Heidi Sproul. Bitschy (pronounced Beechy) had lived nine years at the Forest Heights Revera long-term care home. Her family visited several times a week. At a time when seniors' homes are the battleground for the disease, Forest Heights is by far the worst hit in Waterloo Region. There have been 34 deaths from coronavirus there. That's more than half of all the 66 deaths across this community..... by Luisa D'Amato Luisa D'Amato is a columnist with the Waterloo Region Record. D'Amato, L. (2020). Opinion | 'We don't want her to die feeling that she's alone'. Retrieved 29 April 2020, from https://www.therecord.com/opinion-story/9964511--we-don-t-want-her-to-die-feeling-that-she-s-alone-/ ___________________ Lifetimes: Childhood memories lasted more than a century By Valerie Hill Special to the Record Growing up on a farm meant hard work but there were also magical moments, such as when the pond froze over and the kids on the Harnack family farm would don their skates and slip onto the smooth surface. The boys would light warming fires at the pond's edge and illuminate the surface by lantern so they could skate themselves into exhaustion. For Irene Bitschy, these were special childhood memories of the 1910s, memories that would only become more colourful as she grew up. Born Irene Harnack on Oct. 18, 1914, on a Shantz Station farm, she was the middle kid in a family of nine. Irene was born months after the outbreak of the First World War and in her 10 decades, she would live through many world events including the Spanish Flu epidemic and Prohibition. Her life became really interesting and a little subversive during the latter. At age 14, Irene took a job at her aunt's hotel in downtown Kitchener. Thanks to overzealous temperance workers, Prohibition was in full force by 1916, banning the serving of alcohol in public places. So it simply went underground, or in the case of the Kitchener hotel, it went up into a laundry basket. Irene's main job at the hotel was to wash and iron linens in a second-floor room but she had another, equally important role. The hotel posted a guard at the street entrance and when he spotted police heading toward the hotel for a raid, a chain of events began: the men inside gathered up the liquor and knocked on the ceiling. A trap door would suddenly open, Irene would drop her laundry basket down the hole for the men to place the offending liquor in, then she'd haul it up, close the door and hide the bottles under sheets. Irene admitted that this was the scariest time of her life, always living on the edge, always facing the possibility of arrest. Life on the farm was also somewhat risky. Her father, Joseph Harnack, ran a still on the farm and he was lucky to have a pal on the police force who alerted him to planned raids which would have ruined his bootleg operation. Irene had remembered that times were desperate, her father had many mouths to feed and limited options. There were happy times as well on the farm. Picnics and garden parties were frequent, and it was at one of these events at the Harnack home that Irene met William Bitschy, from Maryhill. William was quite smitten by the pretty Irene, but she wasn't exactly feeling the same. Uncomfortable with his attentions, Irene left the party and hid in her room. William had to take a different tack. He danced with her grandmother and convinced her to intervene on his behalf. It must have worked because Irene agreed to go out with him and the two married in Kitchener in April 1935. Bill's priest in Maryhill had refused to marry the couple, given Irene was not a parishioner, so they married in Kitchener. With the Depression in full swing, the newlywed's wedding brunch was surprisingly generous, serving a rare treat of hotdogs. The young couple honeymooned in Niagara Falls and would go on to have four daughters: Charlotte, Sheila, Marlene and Lynda. In the early part of their marriage, the couple lived at a gas station. Irene served ice cream and pumped gas while Bill delivered coal. They later moved to Breslau where they lived for five years before purchasing a farm. Irene was back to farm life, working alongside her husband. In 1953, Bill landed a job with CN Railway and four years later, the couple moved to Kitchener. With four daughters to raise, Irene was a stay-at-home mom until she learned about a new residence opening at the University of Waterloo. They were looking for a "house mom" to help students, many who were on their own for the first time. Several were foreign students and these kids were often invited for dinner with Irene and Bill, easing their homesickness. Irene retired in 1975 and in 1988, Bill died. Always stoic, Irene sold the family home and moved to an apartment. In 1990, at 76, Irene boarded her first airplane, for an Alaskan adventure. Lynda Tranebo said her mother was kind and loving. "She would do anything for anybody." Irene was also an exceptional cook, particularly potato salad and popcorn balls that she made every Halloween for dozens of neighbourhood kids. In May, Irene was diagnosed with COVID-19 and made local headlines when the nursing home moved her to hospital for more intensive care. Though she didn't exhibit symptoms, the illness did weaken her organs. Irene died May 22, 2020, at 105. Lifetimes: Childhood memories lasted more than a century. (2020). Retrieved 14 July 2020, from https://www.therecord.com/news/waterloo-region/2020/07/13/lifetimes-childhood-memories-lasted-more-than-a-century.html?fbclid=IwAR09KruEN6o1b2gw-FDdn-Vhuub3IthUxZQHU3sml5K5EwNkLJrvjHzUYzk

  
  

• Sources

  [S4] Vit - ON - Marriage Registration, 018744-04. Joseph Harnock, 22, Occ. Laborer, b. Breslau, Res. Waterloo Twp, son of Christian Harnock and Eva Karachnoska married Johanna Reinhardt, 21, b. Waterloo Twp, Res. Waterloo Twp, daughter of Gottfried Reinhardt and Mary Bruder, Witn: Joseph Harnock and Kate Bruder Both of Breslau, 3 May 1904 in New Germany

  
  

• Event Map

  Born - 18 Oct 1914 - Shantz Station, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Married - 25 Apr 1935 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  = Link to Google Earth