Abe and his wife Eva shared 47 years of marriage, raised 10 children and delighted in the laughter of 37 grandchildren. Eva had a way of serving others: driving neighbours to appointments, organizing meals for grieving families and offering every act of kindness with a faith rooted in her friendship with Jesus.
In 2021, Eva became ill. A year later, she was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. After months of treatments and hospital visits, she spent the final three months of her life at Covenant’s St. Joseph’s General Hospital in Vegreville.
Care that Became Sacred
Those months were heartbreaking, but they were also deeply blessed.
The St. Joseph staff cared for Eva like family. They eased her pain, soothed her restless nights and never left her feeling alone. When she was too weak to leave her room, they wheeled her bed to the chapel so she and Abe could listen to local youth sing hymns. And one Easter, when Eva could not come home, they made it possible for the whole family to gather in the chapel so the grandchildren could sing for her. This was a moment Abe says he will carry in his heart forever.
When Eva passed away peacefully on June 23, 2025, her family surrounded her in song. In the stillness of that moment, Abe knew the care she had received was more than just medical. It was compassionate. It was personal.
A Legacy that Lives On
In the months since her passing, Abe has found strength in carrying forward the spirit that defined Eva’s life: a spirit of generosity, faith and quiet service to others.
In one remarkable act of gratitude, Abe donated a brand-new trailer from his family’s business to Covenant Foundation. The gift became the centrepiece of a special raffle at St. Joseph’s General Hospital in Vegreville, with proceeds dedicated to supporting the hospital’s Echocardiogram Program, helping ensure timely access to heart ultrasound services for patients in the community.
The response was extraordinary. The raffle sold out in just one week, raising $20,000 in a matter of days.
What began as one family’s gift became a powerful act of collective compassion. A community came together around Abe’s generosity, transforming it into life-saving technology that will serve countless patients for years to come — a living tribute to Eva’s legacy of love in action.
For Abe, supporting Covenant Foundation is a way of honouring Eva’s life and faith, and of helping ensure that other families experience the same tenderness and dignity during life’s most vulnerable moments. Through the generosity of donors, Covenant Foundation strengthens palliative care, supports comfort-focused equipment and helps create spaces where families can gather, pray and simply be together when it matters most.
Abe’s story is one of many.
But it reflects something deeper — the heart of Catholic health care.
This is Our Sacred Legacy.
And it lives on every time faith is put into action.
Join us in carrying forward Our Sacred Legacy.
Support Catholic health care across Alberta through Covenant Foundation.
