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Posted: Thursday, December 10, 2015 12:22 pm


Hope Audentia Forster Strassburg, of Niagara Falls, died in her home surrounded by her family on December 4, 2015. She was 90 years old.

Hope, beloved by all, is the daughter of Archibald Robert Forster and Ethel Crawford, born August 13, 1925, in their home on South Avenue, Niagara Falls.

She has six brothers and two sisters who have predeceased her. They are William, Archibald, Mercia, James, LaVerne, Edwin, Gwendolyn, and Aubrey.

She attended Cleveland Avenue School, North Junior, and Niagara Falls High School. During her high school years she was a member of the Sea Scouts Post in Youngstown, an avid swimmer, and a skilled equestrian.

She would often help her grandparents at their bakery in Youngstown. She loved to roller skate and spent much time at the old Dexter Roller Rink.

Hope and her parents were active supporters of the Thompson Act, which was a predecessor to universal Social Security.

Her first formal job was as a telephone operator for the U.S. Army at Fort Niagara. She then worked as a secretary for Moore Business Forms. Hope worked for Francis Optical as a receptionist/secretary and at the Tops store in Lewiston.

Hope was an early president of the PTA at Colonial Village Elementary School and first PTA president at Edward Towne Junior High School. She helped to found a CCE group in the Colonial Village area called the 'Go-Getters.' She was a great supporter of Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. Hope was an excellent cook and terrific seamstress. She was a member of VFW Auxiliary 969 in Sanborn.

She married Everen Gordon Strassburg on December 18, 1948. He passed in 2012. They have six children, Bruce (Denise Lacey) of Wilson, NY, Heather Squires, (H. Cal) of Sarasota, FL, Jennifer (deceased), Chris (Sheila Smith) of Lewiston, NY, Valorie Marrott (Kevin) of St. Louis, MO, and Layne O'Bryant (Larry) of Puyallup, WA. She has 23 grandchildren, 20 of whom are living, and 20 great grandchildren with two more on the way.
Hope was an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She has held many positions of leadership in the Church, including teacher, organist and music. She partnered with her daughter, Jennifer, researching the genealogies of her family lines.

Hope loved to travel visiting her family spread throughout the country. She and Ev spent winters in Palmetto, FL for over 25 years.

Hope has donated her body as an anatomical gift to the University of Buffalo Medical School. The family wishes to express special thanks to Hospice and her beloved aids, Jamiea and Kim.

A memorial for Hope will be held at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 754 Scovell Dr., Lewiston, NY, on Sat. January 9. Visitation will be at 11:00 AM, the memorial will begin at 11:30, and a luncheon will follow.

Hope married STRASSBURG, Everen Gordon on 18 Dec 1948 in Niagara Falls, Niagara County, NY. Everen (son of STRASSBURG, Wilhelm Gotthilf Friedrich and TRIPPENSEE, Emma Emilie Elisabeth) was born on 20 Dec 1922 in Pekin, Town of Cambria, Niagara County, NY; died on 3 Sep 2012 in Town of Lewiston, Niagara County, NY. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: BOELDT, Clarence J. Clarence (son of BOELDT, Clarence J and GARLAND, Jeanette) was born on 4 Nov 1922 in New York; died on 27 Apr 2003 in Yuma, Yuma County, AZ. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: O'BRYANT, Larry. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: MARROTTA, Kevin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: LACEY, Denise. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: SMITH, Sheila. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: SQUIRES, H Cal. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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July 12, 2014
Jennifer Audentia Strassburg

Niagara Gazette

SALT LAKE CITY, UT - Jennifer Audentia Strassburg, 61, longtime resident of Salt Lake City, UT, passed away on July 4, 2014, being cared for by her three sisters in Puyallup, WA, having suffered many months with the effects of cancer. She was the daughter of Hope Forster Strassburg and the late Everen Strassburg. She was born in Niagara Falls on November 27, 1952.

Jennifer was a graduate (1970) of Niagara-Wheatfield HS, excelling in music, academics and sports. She worked for the Town of Niagara for many years supervising the park at Nevada Avenue School. Jennie was a fine trumpeter who was a member of the Niagara Falls Concert Band. Her undergraduate degree in education and music is from Brigham Young University (1974). She was a member of the BYU Marching Band which performed at the presidential inauguration of Richard Nixon. Her graduate degree in school curriculum and administration is from University of Phoenix.

Jennifer's career as an honored music teacher spanned almost three decades. She taught, coached and directed countless choirs and musicals at West Lake Jr. High School in Salt Lake City, UT. In 1988-89, she was named Granite District Education Foundation Teacher of the Year, and served as a Foundation Board Member until retirement. In 1995-96, she was awarded Teacher of the Year for the Granite District. She was her district's teachers union president for two years and a Teacher Mentor from 1996-2002.

After her retirement from teaching, Jennifer kept active with other employment managing a law firm, serving as interim chair for the "Belle S. Spafford Endowment" in Social Work at the University of Utah, working as the director of curriculum for 22 campuses at the Center for Excellence in Higher Education, and helping to develop an online business with her sister, Heather. Jennifer was an avid audiophile, loving recorded and live musical performances. During her life, she played tennis at a very high level helping to develop and administer Stanford University's youth program, "Tennis 'N Tutoring," in Salt Lake City. She held many stake and ward positions in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She was especially involved as a music director, gospel doctrine teacher and a Relief Society leader. She was also an avid genealogist.

Jennifer is survived by her mother, Hope; and her five siblings with their spouses, Bruce and Denise (Lacey) Strassburg of Wilson, NY, Heather and H. Cal Squires of Sarasota, FL, Chris and Sheila (Smith) Strassburg of Lewiston, NY, Valorie and Kevin Marrott of St. Louis, MO, and Layne and Larry O'Bryant of Puyallup, WA. She has twenty-four nieces and nephews, and seventeen great-nieces and great-nephews, all who were the "lights of her life." The Jennifer A. Strassburg Scholarship Fund has been established as a memorial to her. Anyone who wishes to make a donation may do so by going to this link: www.gofundme.com/b1nukw. A memorial service will be held on July 26, 2014, at 11:00 AM with visitation an hour prior, at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 754 Scovell Dr., Lewiston, 14092.

Visit www.niagara-gazette.com/obituaries for online guest register.