ELLENBERGER, Adam

March 1, 1931 — January 17, 2026

With great sadness, we announce that Adam Ellenberger, our dear Schatzi, Dad, and Opa, has gone home to his heavenly Father, after a brief illness and a life full of love in this world. He was 94.

Adam leaves behind the love of his life, Edith (née Hein), his wife of 61 years; his beloved children, Verena Benson (Paul), Ingmar (Kirsten), and Ben (Christine Marie); six grandchildren, Adam (Rebecca), Daniel (Janine), Jordan (Josh), Simon (Chantelle), Solomon (Quinn), and Annabelle; and seven great-grandchildren, Nova, Felix, Audrey, Nell, Ezra, Mya, Lia, and one more to be born in June.

Adam also leaves behind a younger brother, Peter; sisters-in-law Miriam and Kathy (all of Toronto); and many beloved nieces and nephews in Canada and Germany.

Adam was born to Adam and Anna (née Stikl) Ellenberger in Ecseny, an ethnically-German village in Hungary. His older sister Anna (aka Anni), younger brothers John (aka Hans) and Peter, and much younger brother Henry (aka Heni), helped tend the family farm, spoke German at home, and learned Hungarian at school. Adam excelled in math, history, and sports. But the Second World War, already raging in Europe all around them, was nearing their village, so the school was shut down when Adam was 12. He had just completed grade seven.

By then, Adam’s father had already been sent to fight on the front lines, where he was injured. The rest of the family was eventually displaced as the Russian army advanced and properties owned by ethnic Germans were confiscated. In 1947, at age 16, Adam and his siblings Anna, John, and Peter, left their mother and youngest brother Henry to embark on a perilous journey, amid the wave of refugees fleeing Eastern Europe. These four teenagers traveled unchaperoned, with no money, maps, or permissions to cross borders. Their journey took them first by train to the Austrian border, where they crossed under cover of darkness. They continued on foot, waded through a river, and hitched rides on the backs of passing trucks, until they reached the British-occupied zone of Austria. There, unwilling to wait out the winter in a series of crowded refugee camps where food was scarce, the teenagers left the camps to find an unofficial route into Germany, traversing a snowy mountain road on foot.

Adam then led his siblings to board a train bound for Stuttgart, hoping to find their father. But on the train, border guards apprehended them and attempted to send them back to Austria. Somehow, these under-aged and stubborn illegal border-crossers were instead granted permission for transport to a Displaced Persons (DP) camp in the American-occupied zone of Germany, where they were ultimately reunited with their father.

In 1950, 18-year-old Adam boarded a ship in Bremen and immigrated to Canada. He settled in southern Ontario and was eventually joined by his parents and siblings, where they all worked as agricultural labourers, notably on tobacco farms. Later, the extended family bought a house in Toronto, and Adam enrolled in the International Correspondence School to study radio and television electronics. His English was still very rudimentary, so he learned the language as he studied to learn his trade – technical manuals and a dictionary side-by-side. He worked for a time at Canadian Westinghouse, and famously had a stint as a cameraman on the Tommy Hunter Show.

At age 30, Adam dedicated his life to Jesus Christ, and eagerly returned to West Germany to study at Theologisches Seminar Beröa. There he met and married his dear Schatzi, Edith, and soon afterward returned with his new bride to Toronto, where their first two children, Verena and Ingmar, were born. Adam opened his TV and radio sales-and-service shop (Award Television) on Christie Street, and served on the board of Christus Kirche, the German church which was an integral part of their new life in Canada.

After some years, Adam grew frustrated with big-city life, so in 1974 he moved his family to Kelowna, BC, where their third child, Benjamin, was born. The family attended Glenwood Church (German PAOC) where Adam again served on the board. In nearby Winfield, Adam ran his small business (Award Electronics) until his retirement in the early 1990s.

Adam loved learning. Well into his later years he kept pace with the latest computer technology and video editing software. He taught himself to play the keyboard, mastered the Rubik’s cube, wrote his “memwars” and refurbished several vintage radios and televisions. Friends called him to fix their TVs and VHS/DVD players, and he collected many hours of audio cassette and digital video recordings of the people he loved.

An avid gardener and handyman, Adam renovated their homes, outfitted a Ford Econoline van for family camping trips to Canyon Hot Springs, and expertly pruned their cedar hedges and fruit trees. In retirement, Adam and Edith travelled several times to Germany, re-visited his childhood village in Hungary, and enjoyed a tour of Israel. Adam was also part of an Evangel Church Missions trip to Belize. He served as an usher at church, and enjoyed A&W coffee with his buddies every Thursday.

Opa was so proud of his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren whom he loved very much, and was so grateful for his patient and loving wife, Edith. Hours before he passed away, Adam requested the song, “Praise God from whom all blessings flow…” We think Adam would be glad for his family and friends to know that despite the sudden and traumatic final weeks when his body succumbed to Guillain-Barré syndrome, in the end his heart was full of gratitude and praise.

A Celebration of Adam’s Life will be held on TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2026, at 10:30 AM (PDT), at EVANGEL CHURCH (in the Heritage Room, with access through the Courtyard), 3261 GORDON DRIVE, KELOWNA, BC. A light lunch will follow.

If you are unable to attend in person, please join the family online by Livestream at the time of the service: https://site42.com/adam/

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Evangel Church Missions Fund, in memory of Adam (evangelkelowna.com).

If you wish to send a condolence, post photos, or share a memory, please scroll down the page to the area called “Condolences”.

Service Details

The service for ELLENBERGER, Adam is scheduled for TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2026, at 10:30 AM (PDT). Below you will find the map for the service location and the contact information should you have any questions.

Address & Contact for Service Location:

EVANGEL CHURCH

3261 GORDON DRIVE, KELOWNA, BC

Phone:

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Special Requests:

None.

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Funeral Pointers: