Obituary of Ilse PEZZI

Ilse Pezzi of Calgary passed away on Sunday, November 22, 2015 at the age of 78 years, following a brief struggle with cancer. Ilse was born in Gelsenkirchen-Buer, Germany in 1937, the fourth of five children born to Wilhelm and Elisabeth Lebro. The family moved to Dortmund when Ilse was a young girl. As a child living in World War II Germany, she experienced upheaval, hardship, and evacuation. These experiences instilled a resilience and practical mindset that would guide her throughout her life. As a teen, she completed an apprenticeship in office work. She learned bookkeeping, typing, and secretarial skills. She soon found work in a local bank. In 1958, at the age of 20, Ilse’s sense of adventure took her across the ocean to start a new life in Canada. She joined her brother Guenther and his family, settling in Lethbridge, Alberta. Although she had little education and spoke not a word of English, Ilse worked hard to get by in her new home. She earned 65 cents per hour serving spudnuts (potato flour donuts) at a café in Lethbridge before being accepted to comptometer school in Calgary. During her training, she worked nights waitressing at a restaurant in downtown Calgary. It was here that she met Galliano “Nino” Pezzi, the man would later become her husband. Ilse and Nino would have two sons together: Bryan in 1972 and Richard in 1976. From 1960 to 1966, Ilse worked as a bookkeeper for the Union Milk dairy. In 1966 she started work at the Oil and Gas Conservation Board (now Alberta’s Energy Regulator). She worked there as a mainframe computer operator until the time of her cancer diagnosis in 2015. Ilse enjoyed working evening shifts, when the office was quiet. She took pride in her work and was always willing to learn something new. Her colleagues described her as diligent, hardworking, and loving. They also enjoyed her baking quite a lot. As a wife and mother, Ilse was devoted to her family. She was a meticulous housekeeper and had great talents in the kitchen. She learned to cook from her Italian mother- and sisters-in-law, perfecting all of Nino’s favourite recipes. She also learned the traditional dishes of her native Germany, as well as many North American classics. But it was baking that she particularly enjoyed. She will be remembered for her magnificent Christmas stollen, apple torte, and Black Forest cherry cake. Friends and neighbours always enjoyed dropping by for coffee. Ilse had a way of putting people at ease. She was easy to talk to, and she took an interest in the lives and stories of others. While Ilse embraced life in Canada, she never forgot her German family and heritage. Over the years, she made many trips abroad and welcomed relatives into her Canadian home whenever they wanted to visit. She was especially close to younger sister Liesel, with whom she shared a special bond. Ilse was predeceased by Nino. She will be dearly missed by sons Bryan and Richard; sister Liesel Steffen and her husband Karl-Heinz Steffen; nieces Petra Brown and Doris Hansen; nephews Jochen Lebro, Thomas Lebro, Ralph Lebro, and Richard Lebro. She will also be remembered by lifelong friends Kathryn Miyashita, Ingrid Smith, and Molly Sperman. The family would like to thank the staff of Foothills Medical Centre, Unit 47, Special Services Building, for their tremendous care and compassion. A memorial service will be held at Calgary Crematorium Chapel, 3219 – 4th Street NW (within the valley of Queen’s Park Cemetery) on Monday, November 30, 2015 at 2:00 p.m. Please forward condolences through www.calgarycrematorium.com. If friends so desire, memorial tributes may be made directly to the Canadian Cancer Society, Alberta/Northwest Territories Division, 200-325 Manning Road NE, Calgary, Alberta, T2E 2P5. www.cancer.ca