Brita Kuelken
December 27, 1932 – July 2, 2025
On Wednesday, July 2, 2025, after 92 years of loving service to family and community, Brita Kuelken, of Fort Assiniboine, Alberta, gently bid her children goodbye and went to be with the one who’d answered so many of her prayers.
Born into a family of merchants in Berlin, Germany, in 1932, she knew by the age of five that she wanted to be a farmer. Her courage and faith saw her through the difficult years of WWII, deeply influencing her commitment to tolerance and acceptance throughout her life. She met Klaus at a dance the night before he left for Canada, and after exchanging letters for many months, agreed to come and wash his clothes in the Athabasca River. They eventually found their dream farm near Fort Assiniboine adn welcomed six children to join them on their adventures of farming, canoeing, skiing, and community service. In their later years they travelled extensively, and Brita commented often how grateful she was to have seen so much of our beautiful world. But it was through example, and not words, that she taught those who knew her best, to cherish the gifts that life has to offer through living simply and loving unconditionally.
As she joins Klaus whom she missed dearly, she leaves behind her brother Christian (Eva) Jacoby, and six children and seventeen grandchildren: Christine and Wayne Ayling (Britt and Christopher), Peter and Doris Kuelken (Kristofer, Nicholas, Eric, and Anna), MaryAnne and Dave Lehman (Virginia, Rebecca, Heidi, and Michael), Irene and Bruce Law (Becky, Jeffrey, and Peter), Jeanette and John Sterling (Janelle and Atlee), Susan and Mark (pre-deceased) Picard (Elena and Sophia), and twenty-five great-grandchildren.
Celebration of life will be. held Thursday, July 17th at 1:00 p.m. at the Topland Community Hall.
Donations in Brita Kuelken’s memory can be made to the Topland Recreation Society or a charity of one’s choice.
