Alfred Hirch

1926 - 2016

Alfred Hirch beloved husband, father, opa and great opa left the struggles of this earth to his eternal rest and into the arms of  his Lord and Savior in the middle morning of Wednesday, August 3, 2016 at the age of 90 years.

 The Funeral Service was held at Peace Lutheran Church, 4619 - 56 Avenue, Taber on Wednesday, August 24, 2016 at 1:00 P.M. Burial followed at the Taber Memorial Garden. 

  Alfred is survived by his beloved wife Elizabeth, son Roy Hirch of Taber, daughter Brenda Renner of Lethbridge and son Mark (Gill) Hirch of Taber, in addition his much loved grandchildren Dannielle (Jamie) Renner, Mackenzie (Chance) Jensen, Amanda Hirch, Kyler Hirch and Morgan Hirch; his truly beloved great granddaughter Harlynn, who shares the same birthday as Opa. He is also survived by his brothers Edmund (Ruby) and Reinhold (Lottie); sister Irma (Alan) Neufeld and his beloved kliene bruder Helmut as well as his cousins Inga and Waldemar. We apologize if we have left anyone out, but our Hirch clan is so large we have been called a tribe and our father truly loved you all his nieces, nephews and cousins.

  He was predeceased by his eltern Daniel and Olga, in-laws Jacob and Susanna Zottnick, sister Rose,  brother Otto, Tante Munda, sisters-in-law Lilly Hirch and Hanna Herman and by other relatives.

  Alfred was born in 1926 in Werben, Poland, into a devoted German Lutheran farming family that had lived in the German colonies of Volhynia, in the Ukraine for at least a hundred and fifty years. Our father was told that when his mother gave birth she shortly thereafter continued her work in the fields and that was the story of Alfred Hirch's life hard work, struggle and trust in God on the farm. Adversity seemed to be his middle name and he met all with a quiet confidence even his last which he met on his own terms.

 Shortly after his birth his father took his family to the Polish Second Republic which had defeated the Red Army and ruled the Western Ukraine. The Second Republic had the greatest cultural mosaic of any country in Europe and the leader Josef Pilsudski was a Lutheran. The Hirch family prospered and our father grew up in an area near Kiev. In 1942 at the age of sixteen, he heard the patriotic call of his people and joined the Heer of the Werhrmact. Serving with distinction and rising through the ranks in a mere two years to unteofficier in an elite regiment and serving in the bloodiest campaigns in the east and west, most notably the attempted relief of Stalingrad and the battle of Aachen.

 Following the war the Hirch's settled in Germany for a short time and in 1951 immigrated courtesy of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod to their beloved Canada and Alberta. He met the love of his life Elizabeth, got married and for a short time farmed in Readymade, before moving to the farm south of Taber where he lived for the last sixty two years of his life. He was immensely proud of his three children, grandchildren and great grandchild. He set a fine example of hard work, thrift accountability and faith in God that will be hard to match.

 Papa wir liebe du and treasure your example, no one could have a better example as a German and Christian man and you will be sorely missed by your family and friends. May you have found the peace you need and deserved until we are with you again.