Anneliese Riek

Anneliese Riek (née Schönhardt) passed away peacefully on Sunday, September 13, 2026, at the age of 95.

She will be deeply missed by sons David (Christine), Thomas (Barb), and Stephan (Sharron), her grandchildren Emma (Hayden), Heidi (Ian), Paul (Iryna), Jack and Sean, and Anne, mother of Heidi and Paul.

Anneliese was born in 1931, the youngest of four children, and grew up in rural Alt-Simonswald, in the heart of Germany’s Black Forest. Her childhood was filled with family, nature and adventure. Together with her siblings (Lotte, Gertrude, and Albert) and her many cousins, nieces and nephews, she explored the forests surrounding the family home and swam in the Wild Gutach River at the back of the property. Those early experiences nurtured a lifelong love of the outdoors and an adventurous spirit that stayed with her throughout her life.

After the war, Anneliese began a rural home-economics apprenticeship at the Schaferhof near Tettnang, on Lake Constance. It was there, between 1947 and 1949, that she met Robert, the man who would become the love of her life.

Their young romance was interrupted when Anneliese travelled to Örebro, Sweden, where she worked as a nanny from 1950 until early 1952. Returning to Simonswald, she worked as the municipal treasurer, taking over from her father, until 1959.

Those were adventurous years. Anneliese travelled through Italy and England by motorcycle with her brother Albert and enjoyed hiking, skiing, the theatre and events with her sisters Lotte and Gertrude. Meanwhile, her relationship with Robert continued across the distance after he emigrated to Canada in 1952. Eventually, after an on-again, off-again and then very much on-again long-distance romance, Anneliese made the courageous decision to leave her hometown and begin a new life on the other side of the world.

In 1959, she travelled to Princeton, British Columbia, a small frontier sawmill town, where she married Robert.

Together they built a family and a life that would span more than six decades. Anneliese devoted herself to creating a warm, loving and comfortable home for Robert and their three boys. Her baking became legendary within the family, and her boys grew up surrounded by the care, creativity and determination that defined her. Visits were always timed to take advantage of ‘kaffee und kuchen’.

In the early 1970s, the family moved to the Lower Mainland and eventually settled in Abbotsford, where Anneliese and Robert lived for 48 years.

Anneliese filled those years with the things she loved. She had a lifelong passion for hiking, gardening and the arts. She created pottery, knitted, sculpted and even ran a small pottery business. Her magnificent garden became a reflection of her creativity and patience, filled with her favourite rhododendrons, azaleas and hydrangeas.

She also never lost her sense of adventure or her competitive streak. She enjoyed hiking and travelling, five-pin bowling, and games of Rummikub, where she was always happy to compete. Her catch phrases including, “life is life”, “what is this junk?”, “anyway…” , and the way she often referred to bad weather, still ring in our ears and bring smiles to our faces.

Above all, Anneliese was devoted to her family. She created a home in which her children and grandchildren knew they were loved, and she carried the warmth of her childhood in the Black Forest into the family she built thousands of kilometres away.

Anneliese and Robert shared 60 years of marriage before his passing in early 2020. Their life together was a remarkable journey from a young romance in post-war Germany to a new beginning in a small Canadian sawmill town, and ultimately to a long and fulfilling family life in the Fraser Valley.

Anneliese leaves behind not only her family, but a legacy of love, resilience, creativity, curiosity and adventure.

She will be remembered with great affection and will be deeply missed.