Treena Mielke Obituary, Death – Treena Mielke’s death grieved me because I had known her for many years. I remember her from her days at the Sylvan Lake News, and we later worked together for many years at the Red Deer Express. Treena went on to become the editor of the Rimbey Review, and she was renowned not just for thoroughly covering the communities in which she worked, but also for her superb editorials, which appeared in different local publications over the years.
Treena’s writing style was informed, friendly, and entertaining. More importantly, she was a dear friend to many individuals throughout the years. Treena and I met after I lost my mother in January 2020, and she asked me a question that no one else had, and it meant a lot to me. ‘Tell me about your mother,’ she demanded directly. Nobody had ever asked me that in all my years of grieving the loss of loved ones or friends, and it meant everything to me – and still does.
She took the time to pay tribute to my mother in a very real and personally meaningful way in a place where death isn’t commonly understood and the subject is typically ignored. And she let me tell her about someone I adored and deeply miss. That act of kindness and friendship meant everything to me. Treena’s calm and pleasant nature was another quality I appreciated about her. I saw her being harshly treated a few times, but she never lost her calm or retaliated in any manner. She simply carried herself with grace and dignity.
She was real,’ she was good, and she was always willing to talk if you needed to. We didn’t get to do that very frequently in recent years, but I knew she was there; I knew she was in my corner. Treena was always the same: sympathetic, interested in YOU and what you were going through or dealing with, and a joy to be around. We shared many laughs throughout the years, and I appreciated her warmth and modesty, as well as her enthusiasm to talk about her family. She will be greatly missed.