Passed away peacefully on Thursday December 31, 2009 at
Sunset Manor, Collingwood at the age of 83. Trudy, (nee Koch), was the wife of
late Rudy Strote (2002) and beloved mother of Andy and Frank, grandmother of
Alex, Andrew and Daniel and aunt to Peter and Christiane. She is the sister of
her older brother Heinz who lives in Hamburg, Germany.
Trudy was born in Hamburg on February 16, 1926 to Alfred and
Gertrud Koch. Her beloved father was a government administrator who passed away
when Trudy was just seven years old, something she carried with her all her
life.
Her early life was not easy. As she entered her teenage
years, Germany was readying for war. During the war she lived west of Hamburg
in a little “Hansel and Gretel” house in the forest. This meant her family was
under the flight path of British bombers on their way to destroy Hamburg. Night
after night they spent in underground bunkers listening to the bombs and the
pounding of anti-aircraft guns.
Trudy and her immediate family survived the war, and the
hard years thereafter when food was scarce. A winter of living on “101 ways to
eat turnips and nothing but turnips” brought on a lifelong dislike of that
vegetable.
During that time, she resumed her education, becoming proficient
in English and secretarial skills which landed her a coveted position as
assistant to the head of British European Airways stationed in Dusseldorf. It
was there she met her husband Rudy, a chef at the airport.
They married in 1952. In 1953 their first son, Andy was
born. Knowing they wanted to emigrate, they studied world maps and finally
landed on Toronto. Rudy went ahead to find work and accommodations and Trudy
and Andy followed a few months later.
In 1955, her second son Frank was born. In 1957 they bought
a roadside restaurant on Hwy 11, just south of Bradford and the family moved
into the two rooms in the back. Although it was a lot of work with Rudy cooking
and Trudy serving customers, there were also fun times. Most memorable were
private Christmas parties they held for some of the regular customers that grew
raucous enough to draw the attention of the police! They sold this business
five years later and moved to Newmarket. After working as a chef at the
hospital, Rudy took courses in real estate which, a few years later allowed him
to establish his own successful real estate brokerage where Trudy managed the
office.
But all was not smooth sailing. Trudy and Rudy divorced in
the early 1980’s. By this time she spent summers at Wasaga Beach and winters at
a home she had purchased near the gulf coast of Florida. In Florida, she met a
special friend – a naturopath also named Rudy! – with whom she enjoyed over 20
years of companionship and travel throughout the United States.
When her companion passed away in 2003 at age 93, it marked
a turning point in Trudy’s life. She was unable to live alone and travel. She
moved to Wasaga permanently and it soon became apparent she needed help in
maintaining her household.
Her son Frank lived with her and cared for her for two
years. With the help of dedicated caregivers she was able to stay in her home
until August of 2008 when she moved into Sunset Manor.
Trudy’s greatest pleasures were generally simple ones:
walking on a warm beach, hiking in a forest, beautiful sunsets, riding her
bicycle (which she did into her mid-70’s), and generally the freedom to come
and go as she pleased.
The family is extremely grateful for the help of many,
especially her angels: the wonderful Doris, Barbara, Inge and Leslie, the caregivers
at St. Elizabeth’s, and the nurses at Sunset Manor.
A Celebration of Trudy's Life will be held at Sunset Manor, 49 Raglan Street, Collingwood, on Sunday January 10th, 2010, at 1 PM.
For those wishing to commemorate Trudy’s life, instead of
flowers, please consider a donation in her name to the Alzheimer Society of
Canada which you can find at www.alzheimer.ca.
Irmtraud
Joanna"Trudy"
Strote