Erika Olga (Stein) Keipert

24 May Erika Olga (Stein) Keipert

Erika was born on July 24th, 1924 in Geislingen an Der Steige, a little town in Southern Germany. She was an only child. Her mother was a homemaker and her father was a silver smith, a music conductor as well as a very active Anthroposophist and member of The Christian Community- Movement for Religious Renewal.

After attending school she become a primary school teacher and taught during the war. Those were difficult times. She would bicycle to school and often had to hide in a ditch while bombs or gun fire would fly over head. Because there was so little rations, she would often steal or barter food from the Americans.

In 1946 she attended an Anthroposophical lecture and met an Austrian man named Kurt Vincent Keipert who would change her life. In order to show her affection, Erika decided to give him a gift. She knew he loved to smoke but cigarettes were hard to come by. So she collected cigarette butts from the Americans put them in a bowl and gave them to Kurt. He was delighted! Clearly the used tobacco stubs worked and shortly after this they were married on April 21st 1946. They needed to get married quickly because Germany was deporting all non-german single foriegners. To give us a further picture of the extremely frugal conditions, for their wedding present they received six eggs from some friends with which to make a cake. Another friend leant her a dress to wear. Material was meagre, the joy abundant!

After their wedding they lived with her parents for 4 years until in 1950 they moved to Canada. They had $5 and two suitcases.

Moving to Canada was not her first choice and would prove to be one of the most difficult challenges of her life. She describes deep culture shock when they arrived on the boat. She also never really felt comfortable with the French language. She struggled with loneliness and caring for the household by herself as Kurt worked all hours to provide.

In 1955 her first-born, Angela arrived. And in 1958 Peter was born. Erika was an excellent mother. Her children, her husband and her grandchildren were her most precious gift in life. And despite the stress she loved homemaking. Her philosophy was that a mother should be home when the children are sick and when they come home from school. In between she would help with the family income by cleaning houses, working as a medical and legal receptionist and giving piano lessons. Erika ruled the household with a caring but disciplined hand, convicted about just how to clean, and how and what to cook.

She loved to cook for her family. They remember her famous spetzle, her Christmas baking, she loved a slice of pizza and was a chocolate fiend. Her granddaughter Vanessa remembers telling her grandmother that she was now a vegetarian. Erika took this to heart and decided to make her new little vegetarian a potato salad to rival all other potato salads: she added onions and pickles and vegetables and beef fat!

Andreas remembers fondly her Italian buns she would make with a minimum of 4-5 different Jams and honey. Erika would always serve coffee and cake between 3-4pm. She had a very strong routine throughout her life.

The only thing Erika really didn’t like about motherhood was when Angela and Peter would come home with a strangely stinky odour. You’ve been playing in the sewers again! The kids loved to explore the sewer pipes but they knew they could never get anything naughty past their mom.

Erika was an avid gardener. She loved plants and flowers. She is also famous for being able to care for and grow African violets. However, Angela says to beware, Erika was known as a walk by weeder! If she walked by your house and saw any weeds within reach..say goodbye. They could barely take a walk without coming home with dirt filled finger nails.

Erika was serious about life but also loved to laugh. She enjoyed watching figure skating. She sang in a choir for many years. She grew to love red wine when Peter and his family took her on a tour of Napa Valleys finest.

Erika loved dancing but always regretted that they didn’t travel and vacation as a family more. She was independent and proud, but she could also be impossibly stubborn. While she was diligent, disciplined and frugal, Erika also struggled socially as she often lacked tactfulness. The kids heard her say more than once, “I need to learn to keep my mouth shut.’

Besides her family, the most important aspect of Erika’s life was her spiritual and religious practice. She was dedicated to finding and deepening herself in the wisdom of the human being. She was a pillar in the Anthroposophical community. She also prayed and communed at The Christian Community with devotion and commitment for over 50 years.

And at the end of her life, Erika learned first hand of the truth and reality that we are more than our biology, that human beings are spiritual beings and that life doesn’t end at death. One afternoon, Erika fell asleep and couldn’t be awoken. They tried everything but after 18 hours the doctors gave up. Early the next morning, as Peter was morning what he thought was the passing of his mother and feeling moved by the beautiful sunrise out of her hospital window, he turned around to see Erika sitting up and she said “I need to go pee”

When she returned from the washroom, she told Peter that she had been with her mother and that she wanted to stay, but her mother said that it wasn’t time for her to stay, that she needed to go back for a little bit longer….

There was something Kingly about Erika. And in the last book of the bible, The Revelation to John, it says that in the end, we will all become kings, crowned with self mastery and in devotion and service to the lord of lords, in devotion and service for our kingdom, the earth and one another. This is important because the name Erika Olga means Holy King of the Island- Erika lived her name- kingliness is the golden thread of her life and we can see the regal destiny of humanity shown in the bible, reflected in her life. On this Island, here, she held and carried her household, she raised her dear children with high principles and wholesome guidance. She organized financial discipline, making the house into a hearth and directing the spiritual life of the family.