Tribute

On Wednesday, May 15, 2024, Elisabeth ‘Lisa’ Demetrick of Oliver passed away peacefully with her sons by her side after a long battle with cancer at the Moog and Friends Hospice House in Penticton at the age of 84. She is predeceased by her parents Jacobus H. (Ko) and Johanna (Jo) Brautigam (nee Dekkers); brother Conny Brautigam; and aunt Allegonda Francoeur-Dekkers. Lisa is survived by her husband James and sons Paul and Jason Demetrick.

Lisa was born on March 19^th, 1940, in Amsterdam, Holland, two months before the invasion and occupation of German Troops during World War Two. She was the only daughter of artist/sculptor/stage and film set designer Jacobus Brautigam and needlework artist Johanna Brautigam.
Lisa was educated by nuns in an all-girls private Catholic School from Kindergarten through College and graduated with distinction at the age of 16. She received a diploma in Religious Education and Business Administration and excelled in her extracurricular classes in gymnastics, ballet and music, and ballroom dancing.

After graduation, Lisa worked in the credit department at the National Bank of Commerce in Amsterdam before emigrating to Canada in the spring of 1958. She lived with her aunt Allegonda in The Pas, Manitoba and worked for the St. Antoine Grey Nuns Hospital as an assistant accountant and as a private secretary for the Scott National Fruit Company – it was there that she met James Demetrick.
The two were quickly engaged and she followed her new fiancé to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, where he was attending university. While in Saskatoon, she got a day job at the university hospital and took night courses at the university in the fine arts department.

Lisa and James were married at St. Paul’s Cathedral in Saskatoon on May 18, 1963, and welcomed their first son Paul Rembrandt in 1967. The new family moved to Oliver, BC in September of 1970 after James was hired on as Phys. Ed teacher at the Oliver Elementary School. They welcomed their second son Jason Andreas in 1972.

Lisa was a member of the Catholic Women’s League and a religious education teacher for many years at Christ the King Church in Oliver, helping to write and direct the annual Christmas plays. She was an active member of the church’s development and peace organizations, was a peace activist, and offered aid and support to many refugee families. She believed that your education was never finished; loved the arts; was well versed in politics, history and archeology; collected antiques; and enjoyed interior design and gardening.