Anne-Marie Edith Bergen (née Loewen) was born in Vosswinkler, Germany on December 15, 1944 to parents, Karl Loewen and Tina McKay (née Friesen). Due to the chaos of WWII, her father knew of Anne-Marie’s birth but was never able to see her as he was sadly lost to the front lines.
Anne-Marie, along with her mother, sister and paternal grandmother, fled the bombs and found a refugee camp where they stayed for over a year. Eventually they immigrated to Canada in November of 1948 to Didsbury, Alberta. They lived there until 1950 when they then moved to Calgary.
Anne-Marie enjoyed school and excelled in her studies and maintained a life-long love of learning. She also enjoyed sports and played basketball in high school. After high school, she made her way to Canadian Mennonite Bible College for one semester of college, but found she missed her boyfriend Henry Bergen so much that she came home and they were married in August of 1963.
Henry and Anne-Marie started their family and have four living children: Lara, Annamarie, Karl and Tania. Anne-Marie, being a lover of animals, also invited various cats, hamsters, budgies and even horses into the family circle. There were many fun adventures with them: Henry taking apart a couch to find a hamster that escaped Anne-Marie’s housecoat pocket, the family trying to coax a budgie down from the curtain rod; trying to convince a black-haired cat name Rex Butler to stay off a white chair, and the humorous scene of Anne-Marie slowly slipping sideways on her horse because the saddle was not tightened properly.
Her love of nature included hikes in the Canadian Rockies and tending to her flower garden and trees in her yard. She was even seen on a few occasions trying to even out the height of the grass with scissors to meet her gardening standards. This love for a meticulous yard passed to all 4 of her children.
Her home was an energetic, welcoming, and loving one, always filled with friends and family. Anne-Marie was a second mom to many of her children’s friends and enjoyed providing incredible baking and masterfully presented meals to all for many years.
Her other love in life was music. She and Henry made sure to provide all four of her children with piano lessons at the Conservatory of Music at Mount Royal College. Many hours were spent listening to her children practicing piano, attending their band and choir concerts, countless piano recitals, watching her children perform at many Kiwanis Music Festivals, and encouraging participation in church music at First Mennonite Church.
Anne-Marie’s love of learning continued when her children were older and she had time to go back to university to study towards a Bachelor of Science in Psychology, earning an award of distinction in 1988. She then went on to obtain her Masters in Psychology, graduating in 1991.
She began her Psychology practice after her Master’s degree and deeply loved her job which allowed her to help others. She practiced until 2019 when she decided she needed to spend more time with her husband Henry.
Her love and pride of her grandchildren was expressed at every opportunity as Oma always gave the best hugs, and a smile with a twinkle in her eye. She never missed an opportunity to talk and visit with all of them.
While Anne-Marie dealt with type 2 diabetes in her life, she continued to live life on her terms, even after it led to kidney disease. Many thanks to the care of Dr. Vitale and his team at the Sheldon Chumir Kidney Care Clinic with helping Anne-Marie and her family navigate the progression of her kidney disease. Sincere thanks are also given to the Cardiac care team at the Foothills Medical Centre, Units 103A and 82, for making Anne-Marie comfortable during the last days of her life.
She will be sorely missed by her husband of over 57 years, Henry, and her children, Lara and Henry Janzen, Annamarie Bergen, Karl and Carolyn Bergen, and Tania and Jason Middleton, and her grandchildren: Luke & Micah Janzen, Jiovan (Jovy) & Roehm Bergen, and Brody and Tiana Middleton, as well as many friends and colleagues.
In lieu of flowers donations can be made to the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada or the Kidney Foundation of Canada, Southern Division
A Celebration of Life to honour Anne-Marie will be held at a later date. Family members, friends and colleagues interested in receiving a notice of this event can email celebration4mom@shaw.ca Once the date is set, an email will go out to those that have expressed interest.
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