Obituary of Inge Belcourt

Obituary of Inge Belcourt (nee Kroeker)

October 21, 1957-June 9, 2023; 65 years of age

Inge was born on Oct 21, 1957, to Heinz and Hannah Kroeker at home in Havighorst, Germany.  Her mother passed away while Inge was very young and in 1959, she moved to Canada by ship with her father, new mother, Irene, and older brother, Klaus.  For the first two years, the family resided with her paternal grandparents, Heinrich and Frieda Kroeker in Winnipeg, MB.  In 1959, her sister, Heidi was born and in 1961 the family moved into their own home on Lipton St.  In 1964, her sister Renate was born and the family was then "completed". 

Growing up, Inge loved to play dolls, house, board games, skip rope and ride bikes with her sisters; she was always close with all her siblings.  Her hobby was sketching princesses in fancy ballroom dresses and collecting the LOVE IS... posts from the Wpg Free Press, which she stored in an album that she kept forever.  From the get-go, Inge had a kind loving heart and shared it with others.  In the summers, much time was spent at Oma and Opa's cottage at Gimli and Inge just loved it there.  She would play in the sand with her siblings and cousins, dive off the dock with Klaus, fish alongside her Opa, swim nonstop, and enjoy many hours of sunning on the beach.  Inge also enjoyed camping with family at West Hawk Lake and in Alberta.

For her education, Inge attended Sargent Park, General Wolfe, Tec Voc and then completed her schooling at Sturgeon Creek when the family moved to St. James in 1974.  Formal education was never Inge's thing; it was real life education that taught her best, nurturing her strongly independent and caring personality.  She made friends with all walks of life and ages and worked to maintain the most special ones throughout her whole life.      

Jobs that Inge worked at included restaurant worker, designer clothing seamstress and others she tried out as she travelled to Saskatchewan, Alberta and even Nova Scotia.  Eventually she moved to Edmonton and her main job was as a recycling plant manager and later, shipper/receiver at Giant Tiger.  She raised 2 lovely sons, Adam and Chris, mostly on her own, and excelled at using her learnt skills of cooking, baking, canning, gardening and sewing.  In 1988 she married Walter Belcourt and gave birth to their son, Shane.  The 5 of them formed a very close-knit family, sharing happy times enjoying music, movies, video games, cooking, camping, trips to the park and zoo, etc.  Having her own family was of utmost value to Inge and she was fully devoted to it!  

In 1991, Inge was predeceased by her father and by Walter in 2007.  This was tough on her and her family, but she forged onwards in Strength and Love.  In 2015, a greater battle ensued when Inge learned she had melanoma.  Here's where her greatest Courage and Confidence showed up, beyond the normal caliber of most human beings.  Throughout a very good treatment regime, her Faith, Zeal for Life, and Tenacity to face this head on, continued to bring her through each episode.  Her go-to words were always: "I've got this!" and she did!    She actually "oversaw" her illness and continually shocked the medical field with her success in overcoming it.  Meanwhile, she continued to look after her family, now with a daughter-in-law and grandkids added, and cherished relationships even more.  Her heart was huge and she never quit giving, but instead, focused on the ever important aspect of Love and Life and she lived it to the fullest ongoing.  In 2020, Inge was very weak and made a trip home to Manitoba as she was insistent on seeing family and going swimming in her favorite lake, Gimli, MB.  Her condition then improved once again and she put up a strong fight for an extra 3 years of life. 

Inge gave continuously throughout her life and taught many of us the importance of putting Love first.  She relied on her Faith and Family Support and was truly devoted to both.  If anyone knew how to give freely from the Heart, it was Inge.  Her comment 1 day before she passed was that she was not herself, but insisted God was right beside her, as she looked to her side.  She also fulfilled her bucket list with her personal items and had her children visit her altogether in Caring Harmony.  

Cremation has taken place and a private service will take place, as per Inge's wishes, at Gimli, MB in spring 2024.  The Family would like to deeply thank Inge's daughter-in-law, Barb, her doctors, the staff at Cancer Care Edmonton, Hanna Health Centre and Hanna Funeral Services for all the care and support Inge and her Family received. 

We all greatly miss Inge, yet we Carry her in our Hearts and will continue to do so, until Dear Inge, we meet again...