Renate Elisabeth EULIG-TOLMAN

EULIG-TOLMAN, Renate Elisabeth October 29, 1936 - August 20, 2014 Renate has departed this life, relieved of suffering from the complications of cancer after a lengthy struggle that became particularly difficult in the last half-year. She was an exceptionally generous and loving person who will be sorely missed by all her family and many friends. Renate was born in Magdeburg, Germany, the daughter of Werner and Elisabeth Eulig. Her elementary schooling was interrupted in 1943 by an extended stay in hospital with scarlet fever and diphtheria, and then by the bombing of Magdeburg in 1944 and 1945, when she and her sisters, Ursula and Marianne, were evacuated to the countryside. At the war's end in 1945 she returned to Magdeburg and went on to highschool in 1949. In 1953 she had a run-in with the Staatssicherheitsdienst (Stasi), and was compelled to flee to West Germany. Renate was sent to Braunschweig, and then to Petershagen where she completed her Abitur in 1955. She continued her education at the University of Mainz in Germersheim, but soon decided to switch to a nursing programme at the hospital in Gerabronn, which included two-months' service at the Claybury Hospital in Essex, England. In 1957 she married Jerold Huggins and moved with him to Washington State. In Everett she worked in nursing at the local hospital. When they moved to Seattle, Renate became a Surgical Technician at Swedish Hospital. She and Jerry had two children, Albert in 1959 and Elizabeth in 1962. Renate resumed her education at the University of Washington, obtaining both a B.A. and a teaching certificate. She moved with her family to Forks, Washington. There she taught school and eventually took charge of the local library, a branch of the North Olympic Library System. In 1974 she and Jerry were divorced. In 1976 she married Charles Tolman, whom she had known since 1959. This added four step-children to her family: Richard (1959), Jeannette (1961), Peter (1964), and Eric (1966). Renate joined Charles in Victoria where he had been teaching at the university since 1964. In Victoria, she worked first in teaching and then in healthcare until her retirement in 2001. Renate and Charles moved to North Saanich in 2003. Those who survive Renate are profoundly grateful to the personnel of the B.C. Cancer Clinic and to all the medical and support staff at the Saanich Peninsula Hospital who did so much to keep her comfortable to the end. Respecting her wishes, there will be no memorial service. Those who wish to do so are encouraged to make a contribution in her name to the Saanich Peninsula Hospital Foundation [http://sphf.ca/donate].