Wife, mother, Oma

Born: 1943-02-15
Died: 2024-08-09 in Hamilton, Ontario
Interred: Resurrection, Ancaster

Erika was born on February 15, 1943, to Paul and Margarete Parzen in Bacsalmas, Hungary and grew up in the village of Dorndorf, near the city of Ulm in southern Germany. In 1956, together with her mother and grandmother, she immigrated to Canada, joining her sister, Marzella and her brother, Josef who had immigrated earlier.
In Hamilton, she obtained her grade 12 diploma, apprenticed as a hairdresser and obtained her Certificate of Qualification as a hairdressing instructor.
Shortly after arriving in Hamilton, she became a founding parishioner at St. Boniface Roman Catholic Church. There she met her future husband, Hans. It was love at first sight. They were married in 1965, after a 7-year courtship.
Erika used her many talents to make her corner of the world a better place. As a young girl in Dorndorf, she volunteered in the parish library. Throughout her adult life, she edited or co-edited newsletters at St. Boniface Church, the Germania Club of Hamilton, and the Villages of Glancaster. She joined a theatre group, a gymnastic club, the VOG bowling league, and a church choir. She was a member of the Board of Directors at the Germania Club. She loved to do crossword puzzles as well as playing cards with family and friends.
Erika had many hobbies such as knitting, embroidering, cottaging at Lake Erie, and travelling to distant places such as the Canadian Rockies, Germany, Hungary, Prince Edward Island, Cuba, and the Italian Alps; always with family and friends in tow or making new friends.
Once a friend of Erika, you were a friend for life! An excellent cook and baker, the grandchildren always requesting “Oma Cookies” for their birthdays, and others requesting her amazing Black Forest torte or Bienenstich cake.
Erika died peacefully after a long struggle with Parkenson’s on Aug 9, 2024 in her 82nd year.