Obituary of Erna Erika Jahn

JAHN, Erna Erika Our Mother, Erna, was an incredible woman. She was so loving, caring, optimistic, gracious, unselfish, generous and always thought of others before herself. She set such a good example for everyone around her. She is, as they say, “a hard act to follow”. Whomever she met, she touched their lives with her kindness, love and sincerity. Erna always had a big smile and such a warm greeting whenever she met anyone. Erna loved music of all kinds. It didn’t matter if it was blues or classical. She could not resist moving with the beat or even getting up and dancing at times. For a number of years, Erna was a member of a choir when she lived in Markham and loved it. She even joined the sing-a-longs in Sunnybrook the last couple of months and also went down almost every day to listen the live music that was provided. Erna donated her time and money to various charitable causes, such as the Salvation Army, the Markham Hospital and the Save the Rouge organization. She was very interested in preserving the environment. Erna’s favourite restaurant was Swiss Chalet. She loved the chicken and we always shared a piece of chocolate cake. It never failed that she said she was in heaven when she ate that chocolate cake. I’m sure she is enjoying some chocolate cake with the angels now. Erna had a very special place in her heart for her only grandson, Evan. She called him “her little sweetheart” even though at 17 years old he was over 6 ft. tall. They shared many special loving moments. Her favourite saying was “What goes around comes around. If you are good to people, they will be good to you”. She lived her life that way and proved that every word is true. This is goodbye to our dear, dear Mother, Erna. We miss you so so much. Your wish was for us not to cry for you, but to be happy and live our lives to the fullest. We will try to make your wishes come true. You have given us the gift of your love and we will treasure it and your memory forever. Rest in Peace. A Brief History of Erna`s Life Erna was born in Breslau, Germany, on December 23, 1919. She had one brother Kurt. Her parents were Julius and Anna Tschimpke. WW2 broke out when Erna was in her twenties when she and her mother had to flee Breslau as the Russians were coming to take control. They had only 24 hours of notice to leave and took only a suitcase and a bicycle to help carry it. Her father had to stay back and defend the town. Erna and her mother travelled at night over the mountains for two days to avoid being caught by the Russian army. They were refugees living in a small room in a farmer’s house and sleeping on straw. They helped with farm work and were given some potatoes and bread and a bit of butter now and then. Life was very tough. Our mother’s brother, Kurt, was in the German air force as a mechanic. His plane was shot down and he ended up in a small town called Wallersdorf in Germany recuperating. Erna and Kurt got in touch with each other by sending messages back and forth via a church. The family was then able to reunite in Wallersdorf after the war. Our Uncle Kurt was a very good football (soccer) player and was very popular in the town. He invited his sister, Erna, to a dance and there she met our future father, Anton Jahn. They got married in 1948 and had a daughter, Brigitte in 1950. Anton was an entrepreneur. He liked to work for himself and not report to anyone. Since the economy in Germany was devastated after the war, he thought it would be a good idea to leave and try to make a go of it somewhere else. The choice at that time was either Chile or Canada. Anton travelled across Canada on the trains during the depression in the 30’s when he was in his twenties. He was living kind of a hobo life and found that people were very friendly and kind offering him food and work. As he had such a positive experience in Canada, in 1951 Anton moved to Toronto and then sent for Erna and Brigitte a few months later in 1952. Erna and Anton lived in a rooming house on Berkley St. as well as Seaton St. in Cabbagetown until Anton saved enough money from his job as a shipper at Canada Dry to put a payment on a lot on King Edward Avenue in East York. Erna and Anton built a house together by hand. It is still standing today. They had a son, Herbert in 1954. They had a rototilling, sod, and snow clearing business. Again, being the entrepreneur, Anton decided to try something new. They purchased an 80 acre farm outside a small community named Zephyr (just south of Lake Simcoe). Sod, chickens (16,000 every 9 weeks), sheep and geese (700) were grown on the farm. A very unconventional farm you might say. A doctor advised Anton to move to a better climate for his health. Anton’s brother Max and wife Josi, lived in Bonita Beach on the Gulf Coast of Florida. That was the next move in 1964. The farm was sold and proceeds were used to purchase a coin laundry and house in Ft. Myers, Florida. In 1968 Anton and Erna decided that there was no future for their children in Florida career wise, so they moved to the outskirts of Seattle to a town named Sumner. Originally they wanted to move to Vancouver, but prices were too high to purchase a home. In Sumner, they purchased some land with a house on it that they could subdivide and then built a new house. They then moved to the new house and sold the original one. Around that time the Vietnam War broke out and Herbert, their son, received a notice to report to the Marines to see if he was fit to enlist. Erna and Anton did not want to sacrifice their Canadian born son for a US cause, so again they packed up, sold everything and moved back to Canada and subsequently retired in Markham. Erna leaves daughter Brigitte, son Herbert, grandson Evan, daughter-in-law Joanne and son-in-law Scott who will all miss her immensely. Please share in your memories, photos, and sentiments of Erna here at her Memorial Website. Your participation in creating her legacy is appreciated. At Erna's request, a private family gathering in celebration of her life will take place at a future date. Uniquely entrusted to eco Cremation & Burial Services Inc. Life Celebrations. Done Differently.