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Rita Reuvekamp Obituary

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Rita Reuvekamp

Holland, MB

July 4, 1940 - January 24, 2021

Rita Reuvekamp Obituary

To view the recorded service for Rita please click the attached link, and follow the prompts to enter your email address etc. Available at 6:30pm.

https://event.forgetmenotceremonies.com/ceremony/?c=1c50dec7-da2b-4679-8b2d-6f2b02b73449

 

Rita Reuvekamp (nee De Pauw), of St. Alphonse, MB. passed away unexpectedly at her residence on Sunday, January 24, 2021 at the age of 80 years. 

Rita leaves to mourn her passing her loving husband Ben, her four children, sons Anthony & Nicolas Reuvekamp of St. Alphonse, MB & Andrew Reuvekamp of Winkler, MB, daughter Anita (Casey) Bramhoff of Burnaby B.C., sister Rachel (Gaston) Claeys of Holland, MB as well as numerous extended relatives both here and overseas.  Rita was predeceased by her father Achiel De Pauw in 1964 & her mother Renilda (nee De Smet) in 1993.

Rita was born on July 4, 1940 in a farmhouse located 4.5 miles northwest of St. Alphonse and a few miles northwest of her Uncle Jules’ homestead – the farm where she later moved and settled into married life.  She grew up with a fierce love of nature, animals and country life and a determination to travel Manitoba.  "Before we go anywhere else," she used to say, "I want to see more of Manitoba first."   

In 1960, Rita met the love of her life, Ben Reuvekamp.  Ben arrived in Canada in April of 1958 from Beltrum, Netherlands.   Two years later, in a double wedding with her sister Rachel, Rita married her sweetheart in the St. Alphonse church.  Personal dreams of being a teacher set aside, Rita dedicated herself to the hard life of a farm wife.  "She isn't afraid to get her hands dirty," her mother used to say.”- a criteria of “good farm wife material”.  In the barn milking cows, on the fields bringing meals or in the garden picking beans, during frigid winters and sweltering harvests, Rita worked long hours to help her husband build a thriving mixed farming operation.  “She sure was a big help to me,” Ben reflected. 

Amid her duties as a farm wife, Rita made room in her life to care for and raise four children.  "I remember," she said, "taking care of three children in diapers...I don't know how I did that!” 

Anita, her third child, recalls some of her most memorable moments with her mum, “I remember sitting at the kitchen table munching on home-baked treats and talking non-stop about school concerns and friendship woes, dreams and ambitions. while mum sat and listened – she was such a good listener!  She loved animals too.   After the cows had been milked, we would sit together on the front step of the dairy barn and laugh at the antics of the farm cats as they ran, played and vied for our affections.  Later in life, mum totally surprised me when she became ‘mom’ to several HOUSE cats – notice the emphasis on HOUSE???  This, after repeatedly saying, “I DON’T want ANY cats in the house!  Perhaps one of my fondest memories of mum, was sharing pop and peanuts on cold Sunday afternoons while the family played well-worn board games like “Sorry” and “Trouble.”

Rita loved going on Sunday sight-seeing drives with her family and always made a point of stopping for a coffee and something to eat.  Although she loved going out for the day, what she loved more was coming home to the farm at day's end.  Whether it was returning home for a day or two on the weekends after spending long, lonely days and nights at the Convent where she attended school in St. Alphonse from 1946-1952, or parking the car securely into the garage after a full day of visiting friends in the Interlake area, Rita re-lived the joy of coming ‘home’ each and every time she returned.  As a teenager, she was so happy to make the transition from the Convent in St. Alphonse to Campeau School in the fall of 1952 because she was able to return home at the end of each day.  Her heart was in her home and her focus was always on caring for her family.  Rita’s life was hard and the problems she faced head-on each day made her into a very strong-willed and determined person.  She prided herself on being resourceful and for choosing what she felt was right.  But inevitably, every traveler on their journey slows, wearies and eventually must stop….  

It is with heavy hearts that we say good-bye to Rita.  We are deeply grateful for the ‘room’ she made in her life to be our wife and mother. 

Mass of the Christian Burial will be held in the Holland Chapel at 2:00pm on Wednesday, February 3, 2021 with Father Vincent Lusty as Celebrant.  Interment will take place in the St. Alphonse Cemetery.  Webcast will be available at 5:00 pm on our website at www.willmorchapel.com.  Friends may sign the memorial register book by calling 204-526-2380 or email us at jamiesonsfuneral@gmail.com and we will insert your name.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made in Rita’s memory to the Sarah Gaulin Memorial Scholarship Fund https://www.gaulinfoundation.org/en/scholarship.php or by mailing to 2334 De Mexico, Laval QC, H7M 3C9.

To share a memory or send a condolence gift, please visit the Official Obituary of Rita Reuvekamp hosted by Jamieson’s Funeral Service.

Events

Event information can be found on the Official Obituary of Rita Reuvekamp.