Lore Burkert

It is with heavy hearts that we announce the peaceful passing of Mrs. Lore Burkert, age 88 years, on September 7, 2021 at Southbridge Pinewood Nursing Home.

Lore was born on October 16, 1932 in Konstanz, Germany. In 1957 at the age of 25 she immigrated to Canada, settling first in Montreal and then later moved to Thunder Bay where she married Willi Burkert. In 1968, Lore started working at the Thunder Bay General Hospital in the autoclaving department until she retired in 1984. Lore and Willi built themselves a beautiful home in the country where they spent many years together, enjoying their property, cutting trails, and tending to their flower and veggie gardens. They also loved going camping and simply exploring the outdoors, whenever time allowed. For several years she took Tai Chi lessons through Pengyou Tai Chi.

After her dear Willi passed away in the early 90s, Lore especially liked ‘hanging out’ with her neighbours and friends and visited them frequently. She loved ‘going places’ with her friends, whether it was an outing to Kakabeka Falls, a drive across the border or going with a friend to her favourite place for dinner to Kangas Sauna.

Lore was a huge animal lover, donating for many years to different animal charities. Right from the start, she always had cats and dogs, and even rescued a few here and there.

Lore will be lovingly remembered and missed by her stepdaughter Caroline (Harri) Ropponen, her stepgranddaughter Jenny (Manuel) Nordheim as well as her two remaining cousins in Germany, Irma and Gerlinde.

We would like to express our special thanks to her close friends, Barbara, Kirsti, Arlene and the Alsch family for their friendship and support over the years as well as to all the staff from the nursing home at Southbridge Pinewood for the many years of incredible care and kindness.

Lore was predeceased by her parents Wilhelm and Anna Margarete (Kopp) Waibel, husband Willi Burkert and sister Elizabeth (Waibel) Manga.

A celebration of life will be planned at a later date. Friends and family will be notified. Cremation will take place on Tuesday, September 14, 2021 at Sunset Memorial Gardens.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Alzheimer Society of Thunder Bay or to the Thunder Bay Humane Society.