A memorial mass for Elizabeth will be held Tuesday, November 19th at 11:00 a.m. at the Slovenian Hall, 16703 66 St NW, Edmonton.

Elizabeth Mary Jober was born at home on the Flondra homestead near Goodfish Lake, Alberta on November 30, 1939. She was the third child of eight children born to Metro and Mary Flondra. She has five sisters and two brothers Rose, Lucy, Irene, Henry, Shirley, Grace and Peter.

She attended Wayatau school in the countryside by horse and buggy till grade 8 or 8 1/2. That was all the curriculum the teacher was able to teach to his students. Elizabeth was at a disadvantage to continue any further education due to her location on the farm. She couldn’t attend school in Vilna because it would cost her parents money to send her to live with her grandpa Chemlyk and they could not afford it. She worked hard on the farm alongside her older sisters participating in all aspects of farmwork including rock and root picking, cutting hay and looking after the cows, pigs and chickens. She also tended to her younger siblings with sister Grace taking to her like a second mother. 

At the age of 15 ½ years she went to Edmonton to live with her sister Lucy and Lucy’s friend Lily. Lucy was able to secure Elizabeth a job at the St. Joseph Hospital working in the kitchen a 6am to 2pm shift. Once her work was complete, she would go upstairs and spend time among the patients. It only took a couple months for senior staff to notice her compassion and caring nature to nurture others. She then trained to work as an LPN (nurse’s aid) working the night shift.

Elizabeth loved to go dancing with her sisters and cousin Elise (Elsie is what we called her) to Moose Temple Dance Hall on White Ave. It was there she met a handsome dark haired, smart dressed young man named Eddie Jober. Elizabeth had met another kid off the farm. Eddie mustered the courage to ask her to dance and they danced the night away. When it came time to leave, Eddie offered to give Elizabeth and Elsie a ride home in his friend Ted Gizoski’s car. Smooth move on Eddie’s part since his car was in the shop getting repaired. Apparently, his dad had backed into his brand-new car on the farm. Eddie didn’t have a pen or paper to write Elizabeth’s phone number down, so he got creative and wrote on the frosty window. Elizabeth thought Eddie would never call due to this fact, but he did and the rest the story is history. A little tidbit, Eddie was smitten enough to write the number down as soon as he got home that evening. Sparks continued to ignite over an actual first date, and they courted for over a year and half.

Eddie and Elizabeth were married July 02,1960 at the Assumption Catholic Church in Edmonton, Alberta. The wedding reception being held in Bruce, Alberta. They made their home in the city of Edmonton. Elizabeth continued to work as an LPN until her work uniform would no longer fit. Low and behold the first of three children were born. Debora on April 9,1961, Darrell the following year on August 27,1962 and Duane on November 3,1965. As the years progressed, she gained both a son-in-law Shane and a daughter-in-law Sandy in 1989. Four grandsons came next Dustin and Dylan in 1992, Brendan in 1995 and Damon in 1996.

The family was growing – Brendan surprised us all with the first great granddaughter Clara in 2016, then Dustin and Kristina created the next two great grandchildren, Dalton in 2020 and Kaylee in 2022.

Elizabeth spent most of her married life as a homemaker. She took pride in her appearance and made sure she looked beautiful every day, even if she didn’t have to leave home. She returned to work for a few months to help a family friend Vicky at a manufacturing plant called Prairie Maid until the plant closed and moved to Vancouver. She was a wonderful, caring and compassionate human being. She was always available to help those family members when needed, spending many nights in hospitals caring for them or driving them to appointments in Edmonton. She kept an immaculate house, enjoyed planting a garden and flowers around her home. She welcomed all the kid’s friends into their home like they were her own, often finding a house full. She dabbled a bit in sewing. Debbie and Lindsay received gifts of special homemade Barbie doll clothes. Debbie still has hers; Clara might be lucky enough to inherit them one day. 

The family spent many weekends/days off at both the Flondra and Jober family farms helping with farm work or repairs. Elizabeth and Eddie enjoyed a few family vacations with their parents Mary and Metro Flondra and Frances and Nick Jober to a few Canadian provinces and the United States. Funny how the Jober kids were always shipped off to the farm during these trips. They were also fortunate to travel with many other family members and friends to Mexico, Hawaii; and they even took an Alaskan land and cruise trip. Darrell and Sandy managed to go on one Mexico trip with them.

Elizabeth loved to watch her grandsons play sports; Jober boys were soccer stars, and the Johns boys were hockey stars in her eyes. She even managed to attend one single game of Clara’s Soccer and hockey debuts. Camping, quadding, fishing with her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren was another favorite pastime of hers over the years. Her last family camping trip to Rollin’ Hills Lakeside Ranch was this past September long weekend. Shirley offering her a bed in the house as Elizabeth required a little more convenience and help getting around. She managed to stay awake that Saturday evening enjoying the night sky and the fire until 10:30 pm. That weekend will hold a lifetime of memories with many family members as we laughed, cried (a few wasp stings were had), swore, ate and drank a few beverages. Elizabeth asked Brendan to take her on a quad ride along the shoreline to what we call the swimming hole just to view the lake closer. It would be her last quad ride. Elizabeth’s actual last trip to her childhood home place was a day trip on October 5,2024 with Darrell to pick the quads. You can take the girl out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the girl!

By this point in Elizabeth’s life, she was frail and weak. Having suffered many health issues over the course of 20 years she spent the last couple years in her recliner chair watching her favorite shows. One being “the Young and Restless”. We joked and called her “our cat with nine lives” as she miraculously came back from near death experiences on a few occasions. Debbie and Darrell swore it was Duane keeping her on this earth. Elizabeth loved life, her family and her friendships.

It is with heavy hearts that we announce Elizabeth took her final breath late Friday evening on November 01,2024 at the Royal Alec Hospital with Debbie by her side. She was 29 days shy of her 85th birthday.

She leaves to mourn her loss, husband of 64 years Eddie Jober of Sherwood Park. Daughter Debbie (Shane) Johns of Edmonton, sons Darrell (Sandy) Jober and Duane Jober of Sherwood Park. Four grandsons Dustin (Kristina) Jober, Dylan Johns and Hasanna, Brendan Johns, and Damon Jober and Katelyn. Three great grandchildren Clara Johns, Dalton and Kaylee Jober.

She is survived by siblings Shirley Mastaler of Vilna, Grace (Don) Spurgeon of Edmonton, Peter (Mary) of Vilna, brothers- in-law Peter Goruk of Edmonton, George Karpyshyn of Spedden, Ted (Glenda) Jober of Bruce, sister-in-law Caroline Jober of Camrose. Also, numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins.

She is pre-deceased by her parents Metro (1997) and Mary (2003) Flondra, sister Lucy Goruk (1971), brother Henry Flondra (1997), sister Rose Karpyshyn (2001), sister Irene Karpyshyn (2019), niece Peggy Borle (2006), nephew Gregory Flondra (2017), and brothers-in-law Gordon Jober (2000), Kenneth Mastaler (2016) and Steve Karpyshyn (2021).

She will be greatly missed by all those who loved her. Elizabeth will be forever in our hearts and always on our minds.