A celebration of life will be held next week for a Port Coquitlam pioneer who had a city park named after her.
Marian Aleida Kroeker died from dementia last month at a White Rock nursing home. She was 93.
Kroeker's legacy can be seen at Kroeker Park — a popular family picnic spot on Guest Road, near the Mary Hill bypass, that's listed as a local landmark on the Canada 150 Community Explorer guide.
In 1988, her husband Henry sold about three acres of their land to the municipality at the request of then-mayor Len Traboulay, a neighbour who wanted a green space at the base of the rapidly developing Citadel Heights, said Kroeker's eldest daughter Karen.
"A condition of the sale was that it be named after mom," she told The Tri-City News on Wednesday, adding, "I think she was very pleased. My dad was all over it. He was so happy the mayor was going to do that. It was a lovely tribute to her."
Marian was the love of his life, Karen Kroeker said. A sergeant with the Royal Canadian Engineers, he married his war bride in Saskatoon, on Feb. 22, 1947, after the couple met in Holland following its liberation by the Canadian Army and other allies in 1945.
About two years later, they followed his siblings to B.C. and temporary lived in a Burke Mountain home before buying five flat acres — and later another two — at Argue Street and Pitt River Road, in 1950.
The Indonesian-born Marian raised their three children and worked on the hobby farm and garden while Henry was a foreman for a Port Moody bulk loading company.
In 1979, the provincial government bought two acres of their homestead to construct the Mary Hill bypass.
And it was during an excavation of their land that artifacts from a First Nations seasonal village was uncovered. Students hired for the dig discovered ancient arrowheads, beads and cooking pots, among other things. "We had no idea that was under our feet," Karen Kroeker said. "All we thought we had were horses and cows in the field."
After the highway project was over, Marian continued to find First Nations' treasures and she donated them to the PoCo Heritage Society, of which she was a member.
Next Saturday — the same day as Kroeker's memorial service at the Leigh Square Community Arts Village — the museum will display some of Kroeker's finds.
As for her park, Marian later added a concrete picnic table she bought from the city. "She loved being there," her daughter said.
• The celebration of life for Marian Kroeker is Saturday, May 27 at 2:30 p.m. in The Outlet (behind PoCo city hall).
