SCHOLL RAPPAK, Ruth
Ruth Rappak (née Scholl)
December 23, 1916 January 14, 2015
It is with great sorrow that we mourn the passing of our mother, grandmother and great-grandmother Ruth Rappak (née Scholl) at the age of 98 on Wednesday January 14th 2015.
She leaves behind her two sons, Wojtek and Peter; her daughters-in-law Penny and Mary; her grandchildren Natalia, Roman, Amanda and Amilia and her two great-grandsons Konrad and Rayn. She also leaves Herta Beck and other close cousins, as well as her many valued nieces and nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews.
Ruth was born in Kalisz, Poland, in 1916 to Juliusz and Karolina Scholl, prominent members of the local German-speaking Baptist community. She was a student at Poznań university when war broke out and moved to Lublin where in 1941 she married Tadeusz Rappak, a lieutenant in the Polish army and in the Polish resistance. They lived through the 1944 Warsaw uprising and after the war moved to Gdańsk where Ruth had two sons, Wojtek and Peter. The family left communist Poland and emigrated to Canada in 1961where they joined Ruth's brother Henry and sister Hanna Scholl. After swiftly learning English, Ruth graduated with a BA in Education from the University of Alberta in 1968. After a fifteen-year teaching career in Alberta and following the death of Tadeusz in 1984, Ruth retired and became an active member of both the local Baptist community in Edson, Alberta, and of the Polish Canadian Women's Federation. In 1999 Ruth moved to Aylmer, Québec, to live closer to her son Peter and his family, where she continued to be a dynamic and engaged member of her church and of various local and Polish associations. Her energy astonished and humbled many who knew her in her later years; even in her nineties she corresponded by email, was deeply involved in the affairs of her local church and in Polish charities and she became the oldest ever member of her fitness club.
Her family is grateful for her intelligence, strength of spirit, deep love and humour. Ruth took a keen interest in the lives of her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren at home in Canada and in the UK, maintaining regular contact with them all through frequent visits, telephone calls, letters and emails. She was an enthusiastic gardener and birdwatcher, a lover of the music of Chopin, Bach and Schubert, an avid reader, and an impassioned follower of the politics of Poland and of her adopted Canada. Ruth also took great comfort and wisdom from her deep religious faith and, while Polish to the core, she loved Canada and felt proud and fortunate to be and to call herself Canadian.
A thanksgiving service and a celebration of Ruths life will be held at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, 1 Eardley Road, Gatineau (Aylmer), QC, J9H 7V5 on Friday January 23rd, 2015 at 1:30pm. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation in Ruths name to the St. Andrews Presbyterian Church Memorial Fund, at the above address. If you are attending the service, please allow time for parking.
She lived a long life and we are thankful for her cherished and enduring presence in our lives. Good-bye Mother! Żegnaj, kochana Mamo!
Online condolences may be transmitted via : www.cfo.coop . Coopérative funéraire de lOutaouais tel.: 819-568-2425; fax: 819-568-2426; email : conf@cfo.coop
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