Obituary of Martha Traikovski
Martha Traikovski (nee Penner) of Three Hills, Alberta passed away peacefully at the Three Hills Health Centre while in Palliative Care on Monday, April 14th, 2025, at approximately 10 p.m. at the age of 83 years.
Martha was born in Hamilton, Ontario at the Henderson General Hospital on September 4th, 1941. Her parents were Jacob Kornelius Penner and Aganetha Penner (nee Friesen) who were immigrants from South Russia (Ukraine) who fled for Canada after the Russian Revolution. After settling in Canada, Jacob Penner became an Ordained Minister in 1927 in the Mennonite Faith and was instrumental in establishing and building congregations in his own home plus churches and Fellowships in Barkfeld, Manitoba and later in Dunnville, Ontario.
Martha was raised on a farmstead on the outskirts of Dunnville, Ontario with her five siblings, Jacob, Nettie, Mary, Peter, and John where Subsistence Farming was the Penner family business, however the family also sold tomatoes and cucumbers to local canneries. As a child, she attended a one room schoolhouse with her favourite Teacher being Ms. Edie. The family relocated to St. Catherines where Martha attended High School at the Eden Christian College in Niagara-On-The-Lake, Ontario to serve the Lord.
The family then moved back to Dunnville, Ontario and Martha held various jobs including secretarial and factory work, farm help and eventually found her love of customer service at the Kum Inn Restaurant working alongside Pearl & Joe who adored her. It was a busy restaurant that catered to American Tourists travelling through Canada and they all loved Martha. When she wasn’t working, Martha had an active social life which included shopping trips to Saint Catherine’s to buy the finer things and to Buffalo, New York to watch the newest movies like Ben Hur and The Ten Commandments at the famous Shea's Theatre.
In 1963, Martha met Sidney Traikovski as they worked together at the Victoria Hotel in Dunnville, Ontario. Sidney was the Chef and Martha was working as a Lunch Waitress.
Both shared a love of Classical Music and dancing to live Big Bands often attending lively Social Club gatherings from all Diasporas including The Serbian and Germania Clubs in Hamilton, Ontario.
Their friendship blossomed into love that was soon followed by a marriage ceremony on April 4th, 1964, where they exchanged their vows at the Diltz Road United Church in Dunnville, Ontario presided by Reverend Litke.
They lived in Hamilton, Ontario after their marriage and soon relocated to Alberta in 1972 with their two young sons and eventually settling in Sherwood Park, Alberta on Willow Street building their family and restaurant business for many years.
Martha loved all of her grandchildren very much and enjoyed travelling with her husband Sidney seeing over 19 countries including some of her favourite destinations such as Herceg Novi, Montenegro, Plitvice Lakes, Croatia, Istanbul, Turkey and Chengdu, China.
In 2005, Martha and her husband Sidney retired and relocated from Sherwood Park to Red Deer, Alberta. Later in 2014, Martha and Sidney fell in love with the small town of Three Hills, Alberta with its charm and wonderful people where she lived until she passed away. Recently, they celebrated their 61st Wedding Anniversary on April 4th, 2025, in Three Hills, Alberta.
Martha is survived by her husband Sidney Todor Traikovski; two children, Theodore (Ted) Sidney Traikovski and Anthony (Tony) David Traikovski; four grandchildren, Amanda Marie Traikovski, Philip Jeffery Traikovski (married to Ana Carolina Traikovski Klahr) Jordan Lanti, Alex Anthony Traikovski and two great grandchildren Hayden and Jaymes.
A private family gathering to honor Martha’s life will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made directly to the Salvation Army in your local area. Condolences to Martha’s family may be emailed to meaningful@telus.net. Please indicate “Traikovski” in the subject line.
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Funeral Service
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587-876-4944