A tribute to Anganetha Dyck Bergen Baerg (1859-1942)
by Margaret Klassen Neufeld

For a considerable length of time before her death, grandmother was a semi-invalid. I remember as a little girl asking to be allowed to assist grandmother to walk to the table for a meal, and being granted this privilege while a strong person held her up on the other side. Since I could not remember seeing her walk alone and generally we were expected to be subdued and respectful around her, perhaps unconsciously I longed to connect with her as the person she had been, or still really was inside.

Grandmother meant peppermint candies which we politely ate, colorful embroidery on a black shawl, a long dark Sunday dress, and a black Sunday cap made up with ribbon, lace and beads (which I still possess). Grandmother meant flowers — a huge Christmas cactus in full bloom, tall Amarylis with four or five blooms and the ever present cheerful geraniums, all set in the bay window on the south wall of the parlor. Grandmother meant an old ornate Russian made clock with pink flowers artistically hand-painted on the face of it, and a long, swinging, golden pendulum that slowly ticked away time. Grandmother also meant quiet conversation on a dark winter evening lit only by one kerosene lamp set under a beautiful hand-painted glass shade with glass prisms hanging round the bottom rim, as well as around the circular piece above the lamp chimney and at the bottom of the metal frame which hung by a chain from the ceiling. How I loved to run my forefinger along those glass prisms and watch the refracted light shimmer in rainbow colors as the glass glistened in the light! And grandmother meant reciting the biblical story of the birth of Christ for her in German at Christmas time.

Grandmother died at age 83, when I was seven. Having immigrated to Canada with her parents from South Russia in 1875, first to the East Reserve, then moved to the West Reserve in Manitoba, and later accompanied her husband to pioneer 2-1/2 miles North of Waldheim, Saskatchewan in 1898, grandmother to me was an historic figure. I was told much later that grandmother had been a strong woman in body and character. She had had a lively disposition with a great sense of humor. Grandmother had been the type of person who was called on by the people in the community in time of need. When someone was ill grandmother was brought over to nurse them back to health; when a baby was about to be born, grandmother had to come to the home to attend the delivery; and when someone died it was grandmother who prepared the body for burial. So grandmother was not only a nurse and midwife, but she was also an undertaker.

Grandmother was not a trained practitioner, but gathered experience and expertise as she worked. Hence, judgements were made on the basis of her experience and good common sense. In those days, being called on to prepare a body for burial meant washing the body and dressing it, then placing it in a homemade coffin. Occasionally, when a person was in a deep coma for some time, confirming a death without medical help was difficult. She would wait, even several days if need be, until she was absolutely sure so that no mistake would be made. The body was then washed, using alcohol (spirtus) to cleanse and to prevent a potential odour.

At one time, the deceased was dressed in a white burial gown which grandmother called "ein stoave Hamd." Having experienced situations where a child had died and no cloth was available to make this burial dress, grandmother made a couple of them to have on hand, and kept them in the bottom drawer of the "glaus Schaup" (cupboard with glass doors ) in the parlor. My mother and her twin sister, who were children at that time, seemed to have the notion that these dresses had been made for them in case they died. Of course, this was a source of great consternation for them, so Grandmother eventually used the fabric for some other purpose.

When grandmother was present at the time a person died, she and her helper, Mrs. (Rev. David) Epp, could very soon carry out the required preparations. However, if the family came for her after rigor mortis had set in (as people in the medical profession will readily understand) it was much more difficult to carry out this task. Such things as closing the eyes of the deceased or putting a rolled up towel under the chin to keep the closed mouth in position, are done routinely in medical institutions today. But not every family knew what to do, unless Grandmother was able to give instructions immediately. One also needs to keep in mind that telephones and cars were not in use at that time to deliver messages. On occasion grandmother shared about the difficulties of washing and dressing a body after a significant time had elapsed following death.

One can also readily understand that keeping a deceased body at home for several days before the funeral without the modern benefits of refrigeration and embalming practices was not a simple matter. Whether or not a body could be kept for several days had a lot to do with the type of illness the person had prior to death. The result was that some bodies simply deteriorated more quickly than others. Some homes had an ice house — in the winter, river ice was sawed and hauled to the farm and put into the ice house which was partly dug into the ground. The ice was then covered with sawdust so that it wouldn't melt until well into the summer time. This facility allowed a deceased body to be kept cold in the spring and summer by packing it with ice. In the winter the body was sometimes kept in the "summer kitchen." This was an unheated room, attached to the house or as a separate small building, used to do the cooking in the summer time to keep the rest of the house cool. In some cases the body was kept in a cool church basement, which was at that time not a finished facility, but was used as storage. On occasion the coffin was kept closed without a viewing because the body had deteriorated very quickly.

Usually a man in the community who had carpentry skills built the wooden coffin. Frequently grandmother and Mrs. Epp would put in the lining using white satin or silk. Sprigs of greenery from grandmother's "Bloumen Fensta" (bay window) were sometimes sewn onto the lining and, when available, flowers were placed in the hands of the deceased and/or on the coffin. When a woman and her child died at childbirth, which was not uncommon, the baby was buried in the same coffin with its mother.

On the day of the funeral my uncle, Peter D. Friesen, who lived three miles north of Waldheim, and who had a beautiful team of black horses, would transport the coffin to the graveyard. Uncle Peter took pride in keeping his property in mint condition, and on these occasions he also used his best harnesses with polished studs and special hames that had a black tassel attached to the pointed top (the hames fit over the collar on the horses). Sometimes the back seat of a black, two-seater buggy was removed and the coffin placed in the resulting box behind the front seat. Many times they used a low box on a wagon or sleigh in which to place the coffin to take it to the cemetery. Pallbearers and family wore wide black armbands stitched onto the sleeve, and sometimes there was a bow attached to the armbands of the pallbearers(1*). The grave was dug by relatives and friends of the deceased, using pick axe and spade. The body was buried facing East and the grave was closed by the same people who dug it, while the family and friends stood around the grave.

Grandmother expressed that she particularly enjoyed attending to the burial of young children. For one thing, they were easier to handle; but more, it was rewarding to be able to carry out this special service with love and care for a bereaved family. In a list she wrote up of people she had prepared for burial (eingebettet) as she could recall at that time, there were 19 women, 17 men and 36 babies and children, for a total of 72. This included attending to the burial of her father-in-law, Gerhard G. Baerg, in Minnesota in 1910.

Yes, my grandmother was an undertaker in her own right. But she was also a courageous, resourceful woman of tremendous inner strength and depth of character, a woman who had the love and concern for her people that it took to carry out this difficult, yet essential, task for her family and her extended community.

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FOOTNOTES

1. pallbearers — My oldest sister recalled that in another community (namely Tiefengrund), when the "Aeltester" Rev. Peter Regier died in April, 1925, the pallbearers walked 1-1/2 miles beside the wagon carrying the coffin to the church and cemetery, in honor of the deceased. This was remembered as a special tribute because it was not a common practice.