Abram Reimer

Obituary

On Wednesday, January 9, 2019, with some of his family at his side, dad passed away peacefully after a lengthy battle with cancer. He reached the age of 83 years, 9 months and 8 days. Dad was born in Plum Coulee, MB to Jacob and Anna Reimer on April 1, 1935. He was the third child in a family of 12.

Dad’s growing up years were spent in the Tolstoi and Roseau River area. He attended school in Planky Plains reaching a high level of education by the third year of school. He always said that he attended the days the teacher was missing, preventing him from getting a higher education.

Dad was baptized upon confession of his faith in May of 1955 by Bishop John A. Friesen in the Sommerfeld Mennonite Church at Stuartburn, Manitoba. He married our mother, Anna Hildebrandt, on October 23, 1955. They were married for 63 years, 2 months and 17 days. Their marriage was blessed with eight children.

Dad was working for Manitoba Telephone just prior to their marriage and for another three months after they got married. Then he started working at Neufeld Garage in Randolph and worked there as a fuel truck driver and mechanic for 16 years from 1956 to 1972. He then decided he would like to be his own boss and purchased a repair shop in Kleefeld and named it Abe’s Auto Repair. He operated this shop for six years until a back injury prevented him from continuing. He sold the business in October of 1978. He was unemployed for awhile while seeking treatment for his back injury. The right treatment was found in the spring of 1979. The healing of his back allowed him to realize his dream of opening a cylinder head repair shop in Steinbach which he named Abe’s Cylinder Head Clinic Ltd. He operated this business for 33 years until he sold it and retired in 2012.

Dad was a song leader in church for many years. Every Sunday he kept an eye on his children from the front of the church. In 1986, he was ordained as a minister in the Sommerfeld Mennonite Church where he served faithfully for 20 years. Due to health reasons, he retired from pulpit ministry in 2006. In spite of various health issues, he continued to serve in other areas of ministry like baptism classes, Bible study, and visitations. The visitation aspect of his ministry was what gave him extreme pleasure. He continued that until very shortly before his passing.

He is survived by his loving wife Anna, three sons and five daughters: Dan (Sylvia), Mathilda (Abe Peters), Ruth (Dave Klippenstein), Pat, Ed (Darlene), Esther (Dennis Mark), Tim (Mavis), Rebecca (Wayne Friesen); 26 grandchildren and their spouses and 28 great-grandchildren. He is also survived by four brothers and three sisters and three sisters-in-law.

He was predeceased by his parents, one grandson, Christopher, three brothers and one sister.

The family would like to thank doctors, nurses and staff at the Bethesda Regional Health Centre, for their friendly and compassionate care. We would also like to thank all the friends and extended family who faithfully came to visit him during his journey with cancer.

Viewing will take place on Sunday, January 13, 2019 at 6:00 p.m. at Birchwood Funeral Chapel, Steinbach, MB, with a devotional at 7:00 p.m.

The funeral service will be held on Monday, January 14, 2019 at 2:00 p.m. at Southland Church, Steinbach, MB. The burial will follow at New Bothwell Sommerfeld Mennonite Church Cemetery, New Bothwell, MB.

In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Abram may be made to Southern Health – Sante Sud (in memo line: Cancer Care Steinbach), Box 470, La Broquerie, MB R0A 0W0).

• mySteinbach Jobs
• Steinbach Homes
• Steinbach Real Estate
• Steinbach Jobs
• RSS Feeds
• Get in Touch