Eva Brabant
BRABANT, Eva, 82, TUNKHANNOCK, PA, at Bangor, December 21, 2010. The life of Eva Brabant will be celebrated in a Mass of Christian Burial a the Nativity BVM Church in Tunkhannock, PA, on Wed., Dec. 29, at 10 a.m., with interment at Sunnyside Cemetery in PA. Arrangements are in the care of Sheldon-Kukuchka Funeral Home, Tunkhannock, PA.
Final Chapter
The final chapter of Mom’s life was written unexpectedly on Tuesday, December 21, 2010, at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, Maine. She had been working on her memoirs with the help of her children for the past several years and now, her book will know completion.
Eva Brabant was born in Braunschweig, Germany, on February 14, 1928. Her death was not expected but at the age of eighty-two, she’d lived a long and happy life and was at peace with God. She had suffered a heart attack in the early morning hours and on that final afternoon, she’d been entertaining the doctors and nurses with stories of her German homeland. One remarked to our sister, Lynne, “Where did you find this woman?” Her spirit was contagious and her strength kept everyone guessing as to her level of discomfort. “She doesn’t understand our pain rating scale, does she?” Lynne responded that she understands but won’t tell the truth. She doesn’t want anyone to worry. One of Mom’s favorite sayings was, “When you’ve survived a war and raised eight children, this is nothing.”
That was the courage and good humor of Eva Maria Martha Magdelena Poppendieck Brabant, a war bride from WWII Germany. Arriving on Ellis Island in 1949, speaking no English and her soldier-husband, Jack Brabant no German, the two began a twenty-five year marriage in Brooklyn, New York, where their first three children were born, and later moved to Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania, where the family increased to eight children. Their home on Wyoming Avenue sheltered them all until Jack’s death in 1975, at the age of fifty-three. During those years, Eva helped to raise dozens of children of working parents, whose lives were graced by her unconditional love and happy-go-lucky nature.
Asking very little for herself, she was a most generous and creative woman. She learned to knit as a third grade child in Germany, and one of her greatest joys was to create original sweaters, hats, mittens, socks, scarves and even a wedding dress for anyone who asked. She used no patterns, would measure sleeve and back length, ask about the desired collar, and a week later a sweater would be ready.
Eva’s final years were lived in her own little home on the Pritchard family farm in Maine, with three of her eight children within walking distance. She surrounded herself with her doll collections and cooked and baked for the entire neighborhood. She recently added a Samoyed dog named Molly to her home and the two grew to be great partners. Proud of her ability to keep her own home, she finally admitted that perhaps a clothes dryer would be a reasonable compromise to her clothesline in the Maine winter. She never got to use that Christmas gift.
Eva Brabant is survived by eight children: Maria Everson, husband, Darryl, and grandchildren, Lindsey, Emily, and Benjamin of Shawnee, Kansas; Christopher Brabant, wife, Michelle, and grandchildren, Cassie, Abby, and Jessica of Lawrence, Kansas; Barbara Finkelstein, husband, Bryan, and grandchildren Isaac and Marta of Mishawaka, Indiana; Susan Baxter, husband, Richard, and grandchildren, Miranda and Daniel of Mishawaka, Indiana; Dr. Elizabeth Norris, husband, Kris, and grandchildren, Adam and Keith of Wheelock, Vermont, grandson Peter Brabant of Kansas City, Kansas, and granddaughter, Kate, and husband, Josh of Virginia Beach, Virginia. Family living nearby in Chapman, Maine, include Paul Brabant, wife, Lynne, and grandson, Luke; Jack Brabant, wife Elizabeth, and grandson John; Martie Pritchard, husband Jim, and grandson Joshua Ambrutis, great-grandsons, Connolly Ambrutis of Presque Isle, and Anthony Carbone of Oak Harbor, Washington, and their mother, Shannon Ambrutis; granddaughter, Mariah Patterson, husband, Joe of Winthrop, Maine, and great-grandchildren, Caleb Ambrutis, Cabot Lancaster, Madeline and Sarah Patterson; granddaughter, Dawn Merriam, husband, Sam of Naples, Maine, and great-grandchildren, Gabriel, Elaina and Charlotte; granddaughter, Wendy Pritchard; and great-granddaughter, Brittany Overby. In Germany, Eva is survived by her sister, Dorthea Scharenberg; and nephews, Volkmar, Wolfram and their families.
She was predeceased by her father and mother, Walter and Matha Poppendieck
In the past six months, Eva had insisted upon a visit from every one of her children. It had been four years since she’d hugged her youngest, Maria. When it looked like this would be financially impossible, her second oldest made it happen. On her final Thanksgiving, celebrated in Vermont, each family member in attendance composed a message telling for what they were thankful and after reading, tossed them into the fireplace. These were the words written by our mother: “I’m thankful for all the years that I have lived and all the things that have happened to me that I can tell stories about. I really love it all. I thank God for my children and that they are so good to me.”
The life of Eva Brabant will be celebrated in a Mass of Christian Burial at the Nativity BVM Church in Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday, December 29, at 10 a.m. with interment at Sunnyside Cemetery in Tunkhannock, next to her beloved husband, with arrangements made by Sheldon-Kukuchka Funeral Home.
Eva knew great hunger as a child in war-torn Germany. In her honor, the family requests that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to any local food pantry, soup kitchen, homeless shelter or mailed directly to GIFT (Grace Interfaith Food Table) 24 Industrial Street, Presque Isle, Maine 04769-2536.
Live every day as if it were your last. Reach out and let people know you care and that they are loved. Smile and fill every corner of the world you touch with joy and peace, as our mother did, and your reward will be immeasurable.
