Elsa Bensch (nee Bartel)

After a long life filled with love and adventure, Elsa passed away peacefully on January 6, 2026, in her home. She was 94 years old.

Elsa was born on August 22, 1931, in Piotrkowek, Poland. As a teenager, she made the perilous journey from Poland to Germany where she worked on farms for several years before emigrating to Edmonton at the age of 20 to join her sisters Emma and Frieda and her brother, Willie.  Her mother and youngest sister, Erika, joined her several years later.

Shortly after settling in Edmonton, Elsa met Erich Bensch and they married in April 1953. Together they raised three children.

Elsa had a lifelong love for reading. She liked to tell us often that, as a child, she would sit near the window in the evenings reading until it got too dark to see the words. She always had stacks and stacks of books in her home just waiting to be read.

Elsa also loved to travel and, whenever she could, she would  join family members on their vacations.  She had many wonderful memories from her travels to Mexico, Hawaii, other parts of Canada, as well as to the US. Although her memory was not what it once was, she never forgot the three months she spent camping in Mexico with her sister Frieda and brother-in-law Tony.  You never had to ask her twice if she was interested in coming along - the answer was always “YES of course, when are we going.”

Elsa was predeceased by her husband Erich in 1992, son Jesse in 1996, daughter Kathy (Marzetti) in 2018, and her grandson, Michael, in 2014. She was also predeceased by her sisters Emma, Frieda, and Erika and her brother Willie. She is survived by her son Larry (Renate), grandson Nicholas Bensch (Cassandra), granddaughters Jennifer Fisher (Tom), Meghan Sawchuk (Geoff), granddaughter-in-law Leslie Bensch, son-in law Arden Marzetti, great grandchildren Reanna, Emma, Tyson, Devin, Victoria, Brodie, Clara, Isabel, and Jason as well and numerous nieces and nephews.

A private Celebration of Life was held on January 18th. Interment will take place at a later date.