Annette Strunz died peacefully on the evening of January 16, 2022, at the Dr. Everett Chalmers Hospital in Fredericton New Brunswick.

She was born Annette P. Knoppers on February 2, 1930, in Groningen (the Netherlands) and was the eldest daughter of Jan C. and Liesje Knoppers.

Much of her early childhood was spent under the difficult conditions prevailing in Nazi-occupied Holland. The occupation, not surprisingly, resulted in some disruption of her early schooling.

She was very close to her younger sister, Els (deceased 2011).

Although the Knoppers family usually managed to find enough to eat, wartime was a very stressful period for all. On the other hand, one positive result was that the hardships drew her family even closer together.

After graduating from school at the end of the war, Annette was employed by an aircraft company in Schiphol (Amsterdam) for a few years. In her early 20s, Annette and a school friend embarked to Venezuela where she found work with a couple of Dutch companies while living in Caracas, Maracay, and Maracaibo. During her time in Maracaibo Annette would rise at 5 am each day and take a small plane to work at an oil camp in the jungle!

After some five interesting and challenging years in Venezuela, she lived briefly in New York City, before moving on to Fredericton, New Brunswick where she worked at the University of New Brunswick for several years, before her marriage to George Strunz in 1972. 

Annette was an excellent linguist, and besides Dutch and English, she was fluent in German and Spanish, and she had a good working knowledge of French.

A talented weaver, Annette also practiced several fiber arts. These were regularly displayed at Government House in the annual exhibitions mounted by the Fredericton Guild of Fiber Artists, an organization of which she served a term as president.

Annette was passionate in her love of birds and animals and an enthusiastic supporter of the Fredericton and Oromocto SPCAs.

For more than forty years, Annette and George and their family enjoyed spending their summers among their friends at their property beside the Otnabog Lake in Queenstown NB. Working in their garden was a source of great pleasure for them both. Annette loved her leisurely walks down to the lake on the trail where she planted trees, as well as a host of bulbs and plants to bloom in spring and summer. As a gift to his wife, George and then 8-year-old daughter Stella spent part of one summer secretly cutting a new path through the woods down to the lake.

Her greatest joy in life was her family: daughter Sylvia, her husband Andrew Stiles (deceased June 2021), and their children Wyatt, Audrey, and Daphne; Stella, her husband Dean Fletcher, and their children Myra and Owen.

Annette loved to travel and saw a lot of the world. As she got older, she was content with the day trips she would take with George to visit with friends but she always looked forward to their trips to Nova Scotia to spend time with Sylvia and her family.

During her last five months, Annette was at the DECH. Her family is very thankful for the warm attention that she received from extraordinarily kind and professional caregivers on 3E and 4E.

A celebration of life will be held at a later date.

For those who wish to remember Annette with a memorial donation, the family suggests the Fredericton SPCA, Oromocto SPCA, the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), or any charity of the donor's choice.

Bishop’s Funeral Home & Crematorium 540 Woodstock Road Fredericton have been entrusted with the arrangements. Online condolences and sharing of memories can be made at www.bishopsfuneralhome.com