Rhonda Margaret Aitken

Rhonda Margaret Aitken passed away peacefully in her home with her family at her side on August 25, 2024, at the age of 65. Rhonda was the oldest of two daughters born to Jerome and Helena (nee: Kaiser) Kuemper on January 24, 1959 in Humboldt, SK. Her early childhood years were spent in Humboldt and went to St Augustine, until the family moved to Yorkton, SK. Rhonda attended St. Mary’s, St. Al’s, and St. Paul’s Elementary Schools. She graduated from and Sacred Heart High School (SHHS) in 1977. Rhonda met the love of her life, Billy (William) Aitken shortly after graduating. After Billy saw her, he said, “One look of her smile and I was done.” The two moved to Lloydminster, SK and then returned to Yorkton where Rhonda began her career of 35 years at the Yorkton (now Cornerstone) Credit Union.

 Rhonda and Billy were married on November 20, 1982. They welcomed two daughters, Courtney and Deidra, and proudly raised them in Yorkton. Rhonda and Billy always had at least one Samoyed after the loss of King, their first. They shortly after adopted Misty and Muddy, then Nikita, Mugsy, Dakota, Liam, and Shilo. After their girls moved to Saskatoon, SK to pursue their educations and careers, Rhonda and Billy purchased an acreage plot outside of the city to be closer to their family. For 8 years, the two built their dream home together: both conceptualizing, Rhonda designing, and Billy building it to bring her dreams to life. In 2018 and 2020, the two were overjoyed to welcome their two grandsons, Oliver and Winston. She quickly formed a bond with both boys, sharing an unimaginable love of one another. In 2020, Rhonda was diagnosed with Triple Negative Breast Cancer. But cancer did not stop her from continuing their home as she hand-painted the tiles for their living room ceiling. She also made incredibly detailed sketches and notes of how she wanted to design, paint, and decorate every wall in their home.

 Rhonda and Billy started out their love of traveling in their teenage years heading together to California in Billy’s brand-new van. The two continued to travel across Central/Western North America with their girls, and their dogs. Although once their family grew with two adults, two kids, and two dogs, the family upgraded from the van life to a bus that they converted into a motor home. On their trips, Rhonda frequented her favourite shopping destinations and outlet malls, and enjoyed the family exploration adventures of biking, hiking, and canoeing to see some of the greatest sights in Central/Western North America. Once they became empty nesters, they often went to Las Vegas until they found their new favourite vacation spot and beaches at Maui. Of all the places she went, these were some of her favourite memories: camping on the ocean beach and seeing the spectacular sight of the floresenct algea rolling on the waves in Corpus Cristie, TX; the unbelievable show the whales put on for their boat in the Pacific Ocean; enjoying nature during a wild rainstorm while watching the sea turtles coming ashore then sleeping in a yurt in Maui, HI; the many waterfalls and geysers in Yellowstone, WY; the incredible mountain views in Maligne Canyon, Jasper; catching bats in Drumheller; sunsets at Cypress Hills; and the countless nights watching the aurora borealis, especially the time they surrounded her and Billy like a spaceship and they got so scared they hopped back in the car and drove away!

 She was well known for her ability to make others feel welcome. Friends would often joke that with her personality, she never met a stranger. Their home was always open to friends and family and she loved to entertain – even to the girls’ friends the Aitken home became a teenager zone of couch parties for movie nights and sleepovers. Her pantry was always stocked for her girls and their friends, and later included her two grandsons, ensuring the fruit snacks were always topped up. During and after her breast cancer treatments, she supported and mentored women being treated for breast cancer as part of her healing journey as she had received from other survivors.

 Rhonda was an avid collector of décor and loved to decorate and craft for the holidays, especially Halloween and her favourite was by far Christmas. With a ceiling tall enough for a 9’ tree, Rhonda definitely required additional tree decorations and spent the last few years searching for the perfect ornaments, ribbons, bobbles, and lights, to bring her holiday visions to life. Billy had to bring the scaffolding in for her to safely decorate their tree! The two also loved to dress up for Halloween and would go all-out for their costumes at parties, even crashing their daughter’s parties. She would dress up to hand out custom treat bags at home and at the Western Development Museum where she volunteered.

 Rhonda always had a least one side-hustle at any given time. She was passionate about the products she would find, especially if they were made naturally, safe for her family to use, and bonus points if they looked good too! She sold everything from Lipstick Lady to Norwex, silk plants, Weekender, Melaluca, Seint Makeup, Gel Moment, and recently honey from their very own beehives.

 Rhonda, like her father, always loved music. Her and Billy were avid concert-goers and brought their girls along to see most their favourites including Paul McCartney, Cher, Celine Dion, Rolling Stones, Shania Twain, Bon Jovi, Eagles, Reba McEntire, Kiss, Rod Stewart, Nazareth, Stampeders, April Wine, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Chilliwack, Bryan Adams, Amanda Marshall, The Guess Who, Terri Clark, Paul Brandt, Kenny Rogers, Alabama, Anne Murray, the Australian Bee Gees, and many others at Dauphin Country Fest for many years. She always wanted to have the radio on or play CDs of her favourites, especially while cleaning or doing DIYs around the house. Rhonda was also very passionate about musicals and live theatre. Her favourite show was The Beatles: Love (she saw it three times!), and she also loved Cirque du Soleil KÀ and O, Phantom of the Opera, Tournament of Kings, Menopause, The Musical, and many SHHS musical productions when her girls were in high school.

Rhonda is survived by her loving husband, together for 46 years, William (Billy) Aitken and their two dogs Dakota and Shilo; eldest daughter Courtney Aitken Kehrig (Chase Kehrig) and grandsons Oliver and Winston, granddog Trek; youngest daughter Deidra Aitken (Gregory Hoenmans), granddogs Luna and Kaiser; mother Helena Kuemper; sister Valerie Kuemper Hootz (Wade Hootz) and nephews Craig Kuemper (Maeghan, children Tayzen, Preston), Drake Kuemper (Mackenzie, children Dawson, Harlow, and Jax), Mark Kuemper; mother-in-law Francis Wood; sister-in-law Deborah Wood, brother-in-law Blair (Helen) Wood, their sons Jeremy, Ryan, Micah and families; and many aunts, uncles, cousins and their families. Close family who passed prior to Rhonda were her father Jerome Kuemper; stepfather Ernie Kuemper; grandparents Katherine & Anothony (Tony) Kuemper and Katherine & Michael Kaiser; dogs King, Misty, Muddy, Nikita, Musgy, Liam, and granddog Cash.

 Rhonda’s Celebration of Love will be May 3, 2025, in Peace Point, SK. The family will share additional details closer to the day.

Donations can be made in Rhonda’s name to Breast Cancer Canada https://breastcancerprogress.ca/donate/