(artist unknown, Froschauer art collection)

Ave Maria, gratia plena,
Dominus tecum.
Benedicta tu in mulieribus,
et benedictus fructus ventris tui,
Iesus.
Sancta Maria, Mater Dei,
ora pro nobis peccatoribus,
nunc et in hora mortis nostrae.
Amen.

Born on St. Joseph's day in 1937 into a family of five children in a rural village in Bavaria, Josefine lost her parents while a teenager. The family of Dr. Arbter employed her and passed on skills in homemaking, dental assistance, and camping in Italy.

Starting anew in 1960 in a pioneer sawmill south of Prince George, owned by her sister Martha's husband, Josefine (also Finny or Fiona) cooked with her sister for hungry mill workers and braved mosquitoes, moose, bear, iced over creeks as a water source, and immigrant English. Employed in West Vancouver in Dr. Anthony's young family, she learned about Westcoast living, including boats, cottages, islands, camping, and beaches.  After hairdressing courses, she worked for the New York branch of a beauty salon in the Bay downtown for years before marrying Karl and starting a family in the 1970s.  With their children Toby and Christina, another new start in Ottawa in the 1980s, where Karl became a "born again academic" (Toby's observation) at Carleton University.  Back in Vancouver, while hairdressing for friends and Karl teaching university students in the 1990s, she assisted pre-school teachers by helping children with special needs.

After a severe stroke in 2008, she found herself in a wheelchair. Approaching it as an unexpected new beginning, caregivers, physiotherapists, excellent doctors and specialists, staff of the L'Chaim Adult Day Centre and the Family Respite Centre, as well as her physician Dr. Kuljit Sajjan, and her pharmacist Peifeng Tai, among others, allowed her to remain close to her children and grandchildren. Conditioned as she said, by a "heart on extended warranty," she lived at home and outdoors every day until her death on May 2, 2020.

What can we learn from Josefine's life of many beginnings? Her care team and friends offer some of the answers:

" So many of the therapy team and volunteers learned so much from her!! Her spark for life was contagious!! Her will to keep working hard and pushing herself was also such an inspiration." (Pauline, physiotherapist)

"I have very fond memories of Finny [Josefine]. She was one of kindest, generous, and talented people I’ve met. I was always amazed at how organized and immaculate she kept everything, and admired her wonderful baking skills. Still remember all those fabulous looking Christmas cookies etc." (Priscilla, friend)

"I want to thank you (and her) for allowing me to work with her for all these years. I genuinely enjoyed her company. She was a great friend and I cared about her a lot. I will miss her humour and our adventures together. Those are memories that I will treasure forever." (Anna, caregiver)

"I felt as though she did more for me than I did for her. She shared her wisdom, stories and humour with me and for that I am forever grateful. She was such a kind, loving and compassionate woman who brought so much love and light to this world." (Tessa, caregiver)

"Her children and grandchildren were the greatest joy to her."  "A gift which she accepted with so much graciousness and gratitude." (Marianne, friend and caregiver)

"Even under difficult circumstances it is worth living one's life to one's natural end." (Karl, husband)

"When a person passes she takes a secret with her of just how it was possible for her to live in a spiritual sense" (Hofmannsthal)

"I know Josefine's wonderful spirit will live on in all of those she has touched in her life!!" (Pauline, physiotherapist)

"She gave it all she had, her prayers and love day and night." (Marianne, friend, and caregiver)

Her spirit lives in all of us , including her husband of 49 years, Karl, son Toby with Lindsay, daughter Christina with Yanik, her grandchildren, Jenavive, Theadora, Kaiden, and Sadie, sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law, nephews and nieces.

Josefine Maria Froschauer
(nee Heindl)

Born
March 19, 1937 in Drahthammer, Bavaria
Passed Away
May 2, 2020 in Vancouver, British Columbia

Funeral Mass (by invitation only)
Saturday, July 11, 2020, 10 AM
St. Mark's Catholic Parish
University of British Columbia
5935 Iona Drive, Vancouver, BC
{ Celebrant: Robert Allore, SJ; Soloist : Gina Oh; Eulogy: Karl Froschauer}

Her Music Requests
Alleluia (L. Cohen) Ave Maria (Schubert) Panis Angelicus (Franck)
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Her Ashes will be interred in the
Chestnut Columbaria
Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver

Donations
L'Chaim Adult Day Program and Family Respite Centre