Barbara Hohn PETZ

PETZ, Barbara Hohn

Died peacefully November 7, 2013. Born 103 years ago in the Banat province of Austria-Hungary, second-youngest child of Magdalena Hilbert and Nikolaus Hohn. Predeceased by her three brothers, Josef (Sepp), Georg and Nikolaus. Married Julius Petz and had four children: Jules, Helga and twins, Erich Guenther and Gerlinde.
Forced to leave Romania in 1944 by the western advance of the Russian army, Barbara and her extended family made their way through Hungary to refugee camps in Austria, then after the war to Alsace-Lorraine, France, and finally to Canada, where they settled in Kitchener-Waterloo.
After her husband Julius' death in 1974, Barbara devoted her life to her grandsons: Dan (Andrea Moore) and Julius Darren (Rachel Barker) Petz; Derek Petz (Monica Pasquali); and Christopher (Krista Gallinger) and Michael Borth (Cecilia Moorcroft)
Until very recently, Barbara maintained an impressive intellectual, physical and social life: gardening, cooking in the Austro-Hungarian tradition, reading voraciously, collecting masterpoints in competitive Bridge, knitting designer sweaters and practising yoga.
Barbara once wrote, 'a close bond binds me to my kin; a bond that allows my spirit to hold fast.' That bond encompassed not only her immediate family but also the children of her brothers, Josef and Elisabeth Hess: Hilde (Fred Hibbard), Inge (Richard Quaglino), Erika (Ben Smets), and Hadu (Marjory Strauss); of Georg and Rosa Bresnai: Brigitte (Phil Reynolds) and Werner Hohn (Tracey); and of Nikolaus: Klaus Sr. (Marianne), Werner (Mariele) and Rita. It included also her beloved cousins: Magdalena and Bruno Zyma and their children, Yvonne, Christl and Ingrid (Bill Irwin); Stefan and Ilma Vormittag and their sons, Erich, Walter, Dieter and Gerd; and Barbara Topits and her children, Elfriede (Herbert Philipp), Egmont Topits, and Guenther Philipp (Sonja)
Later in life, she was unable to enjoy fully her great-grandchildren: Viola Gina Ann and William Alan Petz (Derek Petz and Monica Pasquali's children) and Elise Nathalie and Johannes Lysander Borth-Gallinger (Christopher Borth and Krista Gallinger's children), though in their presence her face would light up.
Her grace, wisdom and generosity remain an inspiration for her family.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Kitchener-Waterloo Multicultural Centre.