ZEPP, Gertrude Barbara

October 28, 1936 - May 17, 2026

Gertrude Barbara Zepp RNDM passed away peacefully on May 17, 2026, at St. Boniface Hospital, after a brief illness. She was 89 years of age.

Gertrude was preceded in death by her parents, John Jacob Zepp (01/12/60) and Eva Mary (Schneider) Zepp (01/15/64) and by her sisters Irene Marjorie Hoffman (04/17/2020), Eugenie Augusta Wegner (06/14/2018) and her brother John Peter Zepp (03/25/2013). 

Gertrude is survived by her brother Lawrence Philip Zepp (Prince Albert), her sister Dorothy Zepp (Edmonton AB), several nieces and nephews, and members of her religious community, the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions.

Gertrude spent her early years on a farm near Kenaston, Saskatchewan.  After completing grade school, she moved to Regina to attend Sacred Heart Academy.  After one week in school, Gertrude contracted Scarlatina, and was hospitalized for three weeks. Her time in hospital was exacerbated by not having been able to really connect to the new school in Regina, nor with any of the other pupils in her new school, in the new city.  Returning to school after that three-week absence, at such a critical time, Gertrude felt disconnected from her fellow-students, and far behind them scholastically. 

However, one of her new teachers, Sr. Mary Martin RNDM, helped Gertrude catch up on her missed assignments, a kindness that made a big impression on Gertrude, and inspired her to pass on such kindness to others in return. That moment may have been the remote inspiration for Gertrude the teacher!

Following High School, Gertrude entered the novitiate of the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions in 1956. She made first vows in 1959, and perpetual vows in 1965. 

Teaching was the “mission path” that opened for Gertrude.  First in Regina, following Teacher’s College in SK (1960-66); then in Sioux Lookout, ON (1966-69); followed by St. Edward’s in Winnipeg, MB (1969-72). Because the first years of her teaching were so eclectic, Gertrude also qualified for teaching certificates in three different Canadian provinces.  Gertrude cites her love for teaching, and the fact that she could teach in three provinces, as a significant gift in her life.

Eventually Gertrude’s “mission path” lead her to Oxford House MB (1972-1995) where her mission path, and the deep desires of her heart became one path.  Gertrude loved living among the Cree people of Oxford House, and it was among the Cree that she discovered further parts of her soul.

Besides teaching, Gertrude loved reading, and in a reflective piece she wrote, named reading as one of the great joys of her life.  Gertrude read for leisure, for pleasure, for research and for learning.  She was particularly engaged with the reading she did after retiring from teaching - research she did in compiling a history of Oxford House, using the Hudson's Bay Company Archives, which was published as a gift to future students of Oxford House. 

Gertude cared for her students, and that warmth enabled her to see life through her students’ eyes – to see both the wonder of life and the tragedy.  That ability inspired her students to put forward the “extra effort” that was recognized by principals who knew that if a child was going to learn to read after being in school for several years without having acquired that skill, he/she needed a chance in Sister Zepp’s classroom.

Gertrude was a practical and pragmatic person.  She was also a prayerful woman.  After a time of renewal when Gertrude learned of the work of Thomas Keating, she became an earnest practitioner of Centering prayer. 

Gertude also had a quick sense of humour, which enabled her to laugh often and whole-heartedly at the unexpected surprises of reality.

As we grieve Gertrude’s passing, we thank, Bonnie Dickie and Anna Murray for their attentiveness to Gertrude’s health needs in the last several years.  We also thank the many health care and Home Care attendants at Villa Aulneau who were so accommodating to Gertrude’s needs, the Nurses, Doctors and staff in Palliative Care at St. Boniface, for their compassionate care for Gertrude in the last week of her life.

Funeral service will be held on Saturday, June 20, 2026 at 1:00 pm in the Chapel at Villa Aulneau, 601 Aulneau Street, Winnipeg, MB

In lieu of flowers, friends so wishing may donate in Gertrude’s memory to the Mission Fund of the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions, 393 Gaboury Place, Winnipeg, MB, R2H 0L5. OR, make an online donation at: https://rndmcanada.org/donate/