‘She loved the Battlefords’: local resident donated $437K in a final act of giving

In her final months, she left behind a parting act of love that still ripples through the Battlefords. Four local charities each received $75,000 from her estate, and the Battlefords Healthcare Foundation received $137,000 — gifts that, Terry and her close friend Karen Rawlyk say, reflect exactly who she was.

The $75,000 donations went to the Battlefords District Food & Resource Centre’s Empty Stocking Fund, the Battlefords Boys and Girls Club, the Battlefords Humane Society, and Anchor and Thread Community Services — formerly the Battlefords and Area Sexual Assault Centre.

‘She loved the Battlefords’

“She loved the Battlefords,” Terry said.

“She told me, ‘I don’t know what to do with this money. My son is gone.’ And she said, ‘I wanted it to stay in the Battlefords.’ She gave us a list of places so we did exactly what she wanted.”

Karen noted that generosity summed up her friend perfectly.

“For most people, the thought of cooking for 60 people would be [intimidating], but not Theresa. She could put on a spread, and she was the boss of her kitchen.”

“She was so welcoming,” she added. “This is where people wanted to be, including her family and friends and Terry’s family too.”

The late Theresa Kolberg is pictured with her partner, Terry Strueby. (submitted photo)

Terry said Theresa’s pride in her hometown ran deep.

“She’d get mad when people would talk bad about our community, crime town. She didn’t like that,” he said.

“She would stand up for our community. She’d say, ‘I lived here all my life. It’s a great place to live.’ She loved it here.”

Her home still carries that warmth — quilts made from her and Ian’s T-shirts, friends still dropping by, and the lingering smell of food from countless shared meals.

A life rooted in humour, hard work and giving

Theresa’s love for people was matched by her commitment to her work. For 35 years, she served as the office manager at the North Battleford Comprehensive High School.

“At her retirement, they said that basically Theresa ran the school,” Karen recalled.

“She was the office manager, but really, truly, she knew every piece of that school. She was friends with all the staff. They wouldn’t go to the principal; they’d go to Theresa first.”

Outside of work, she poured that same energy into her community. She was a familiar voice on the phone during Pattison Media’s fundraisers for the Battlefords Union Hospital — known for her humour, persistence and knack for turning a “no” into a laugh.

“She wouldn’t take no for an answer,” Karen said. “She’d kind of coax you through teasing into parting with your money.”

“The next year, they’d say, ‘I was waiting for your call,’” Terry added. “Yeah, they wanted to talk to her again.”

The late Theresa Kolberg is pictured with her late husband, Weldon, right, and their late son, Ian, left.

She also volunteered for the hospital’s Festival of Trees — selling tickets, joining the annual tree-fluffing crew and helping with countless other local fundraisers. Always eager to pitch in, Theresa often put her hand up for community causes — sometimes on behalf of both herself and Terry.

“She’d come home and say, ‘We volunteered to do this.’ Oh, I guess we have,” he said, laughing.

Karen laughed remembering how Theresa “used to call tall, thin, attractive women TSBs — tall skinny bitches — because she was short.”

“She liked to tease,” she said. “But she could take it too, and she could dish it out.”

Even as her health declined, her humour never wavered.

“The nurses would come and she teased the crap out of them too,” Terry said. “They quite enjoyed [spending time with her].”

Wherever they travelled, her energy drew people in.

“Our table was always the loudest, because she would have everybody laughing, and other people would come and say, ‘Can we join you guys? You guys seem to be having fun.’ And that happened all the time.”

Always giving back

Even before she became ill, she had already donated $50,000 to the Humane Society in her son’s name. When Ian died suddenly in 2024, that lifelong instinct to give only deepened.

When she had to make decisions about what to do with her estate, she said, “You don’t need the money. I’m going to give it away,” Terry recalled.

“She just wanted to spread it around, which is why she decided to give to charities mentioned above.”

Her donations went to the causes she loved most — the hospital that cared for her, the Humane Society she supported for years, and the Boys and Girls Club, where she helped raise funds by donating Ian’s sports posters, signed prints of hometown football star Rueben Mayes.

Keeping her light alive

For those she left behind, the goal now is to carry her spirit forward. Karen hopes the story of her friend will encourage others to do the same.

“That’s exactly what we’re hoping for,” she said.

“By doing this, we hope it’ll inspire others to say, ‘Hey, we can donate. We should donate to the food bank.’ And if they can’t financially donate … give up your time. Because again, Theresa was a huge volunteer.”

For Terry and Karen, every donation and memory feels like a way of keeping her close. Across the Battlefords, traces of Theresa’s generosity remain — in the laughter she shared, the charities she supported and the community she refused to stop believing in.

“She loved people,” Terry said softly. “She just wanted people to be around.”

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Kenneth.Cheung@pattisonmedia.com

by Kenneth Cheung

‘She loved the Battlefords’: local resident donated $437K in a final act of giving