Edrith Rohwer

CURRIE, EDRITH (ROHWER)

February 11, 1932 - August 15, 2016

Edrith Delores (Rohwer) Currie died peacefully with her husband at her side. She is survived by her husband, five children Janet (Bentley MacLeod), Princeton, NJ, James (Lois Tessier), Winnipeg, MB, Joan (Charles Smith), Waterloo, ON. Ruth (Lones) Smith, Madison, WI) and David, Ottawa, ON. and by ten grandchildren; Joana and Ben MacLeod, Elizabeth, Anna and Paul Currie, Isaac, Matthias, Naomi, Titus and Phileas Smith. Edrith was born on a farm near Forest Green, Missouri. Her mother died when she was 14, and she finished high school only because of the dying wish of her mother. After four years keeping house for her father, she was able to study social work at Valporaiso University thanks to a scholarship. She was the first person from her community to attend university. She then earned a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Chicago, where she met her husband of 57 years, Ken Currie. Following graduation and marriage, she worked briefly in Kingston, before settling in Ottawa to raise five children and make a major impact on the social service scene, helping to found the Distress Centre, Ottawa Christian Counselling Centre, and the Ottawa Pastoral Care Training Program, playing a key leadership role in the Caldwell Family Centre, the Ottawa Lutheran Refugee Sponsorship Committee (which has sponsored more than 30 refugees from seven countries), and founding and leading Project Compassion which trained over one hundred volunteers for compassionate visiting at the Perley Hospital and other places. A lifelong Lutheran, she led various womens groups within Lutheran Church-Canada, as well as advocating for social ministry. For more than three decades, Tuesday morning women's Bible study was a fixture of her schedule, fostering the creation and deepening of lifelong friendships. A memorial service, followed by a reception will be held at Christ Risen Lutheran Church, 85 Leacock Drive, Kanata, ON. on Tuesday, August 23, 2016 at 10:00 am. For those wishing to make a memorial donation, please consider Christ Risen Church or the Ottawa Lutheran Refugee Sponsorship Committee, 2429 Sudbury Avenue, Ottawa, ON. K2C 1L6 would be appreciated.

Funeral arrangements in the care of the

Westboro Chapel of Tubman Funeral Homes