SARAH GLOCKNER (NEE KRAFT)

SARAH GLOCKNER (NEE KRAFT) April 27, 1933 March 28, 2025
The family of Sarah Glockner are deeply saddened to announce her passing in Calgary, Alberta on Friday, March 28, 2025, at the age of 91.
Sarah was born in Leipzig, Bessarabia, Romania on April 27, 1933, the fourth child of Friedrich and Martha Kraft (nee Radke). Her parents had a farm, and her father also ran a cattle trade in the Leipzig area. Until she was eight years old, the family, including her sisters Emma and Ottilie, her brother Otto, and her grandmother lived in Leipzig, where she also started her school attendance.
The war in Europe disrupted the family’s life in Bessarabia. Under the protection of the Hitler-Stalin Pact, Bessarabia was occupied by the Soviet Union in the summer of 1940. At the end of 1940, many Bessarabian Germans responded to the call for resettlement to the “German Reich.” In October 1940, her family was resettled in Germany. Like so many Bessarabian Germans, they spent over a year in the Molkau resettlement camp near Leipzig, Saxony. From there they were settled in 1942 in Jägern, district of Kosten, Warthegau (Poland). Her father was drafted into the Wehrmacht and spent several years in Russian captivity. Her younger sister, Irene, was born in 1943 in Jägern.
When the Russians approached, her mother had to take the escape route with five children in January 1945, in the cruel cold and with horse-drawn carriages. As refugees, they made it to Güterfelde, near Berlin, before the Russians overtook them. There they experienced the end of the war and spent the next few months.With the help of the Protestant church, the family set off again in the spring of 1946. After a short stay in the transit camp in Eisenach, they were sent to the US occupation zone and were accommodated in Elpersheim, district of Mergentheim. Her father had found them there again, with the help of the Red Cross, in the summer of 1947.
After completing the eighth grade of elementary school in Elpersheim in the summer of 1947, Sarah began to work as a 14-year-old, first in the household and then in a spa. In November 1950, her parents immigrated to Canada with their three younger children, Otto, Sarah and Irene. They landed with the Canadian Pacific refugee ship, the Beaverbrea, on November 23,1950 in Quebec City. Her two older sisters were both already married and stayed behind in Weikersheim, district of Bad Mergentheim, where they still live today.
From Quebec City they took the train to Medicine Hat, Alberta, where her uncle, Rudolf Radke, welcomed them. He had already emigrated from Bessarabia to Canada in 1928. In the spring of 1951, Sarah began working in the pottery factory, Medalta Potteries Ltd., Medicine Hat, where she was employed for over three years until the closure of the business 1954.
While in Medicine Hat Sarah met Peter Glockner, another immigrant of German heritage. They married in 1955. On November 18, 1956, Sarah and Peter were blessed with the birth of their daughter, Marilyn Elizabeth Vernica Glockner. The family moved as Peter completed his academic studies in Cambridge, Massachusetts and Ann Arbour, Michigan. The family settled in Calgary in 1960, where Peter helped found the Faculty of Engineering at the new University of Alberta, Calgary.As a wonderful cook and fabulous baker, Sarah busied herself with the family. She was active with the University Faculty Wives’ Association, playing in the bridge club and meeting others in the lunch bunch. Sarah also accompanied Peter as he attended academic conferences around the world. Together they visited every continent except for Antarctica.Sarah is survived by her daughter Marilyn (Jack Dale), her brother Otto Kraft and sisters Emma Buchwitz and Ottilie Frank, as well as numerous nephews and nieces. She was predeceased by her parents, her husband of 61 years, Peter, and her sister Irene Fode.Marilyn and Jack wish to thank the staff at The Manor Village at Varsity, where Sarah has lived for the past four years. She expressed a desire to live out the rest of her life in her suite at the Manor. While in the Manor she enjoyed watching her favourite sport, tennis, and staying current with world affairs on CNN.
The funeral service will be held at the PATTISON FUNERAL HOME & CELEBRATION OF LIFE CENTRE at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 12, 2025, with reception to follow. Those who wish to attend virtually, please visit Sarah’s obituary page on our website for the link. Interment will follow in the Hillside Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, as an expression of sympathy, donations may be made to your local chapter of the Canadian Cancer Society. To leave a message of condolence you may visit www.pattisonfuneralhome.com.
PATTISON FUNERAL HOME
AND CREMATORIUM
540 South Railway St. SE,
Medicine Hat T1A 4C2