Walter K. Friesen

Obituary

Our dad, Walter Friesen, was born to Peter W and Elizabeth Friesen on July 8, 1938, in Kleefeld, Manitoba. He passed away at the age of 86 years, on December 21, 2024, at Rest Haven Care Home in Steinbach.

Dad was predeceased by our mom Doreen, both of his parents and in-laws, as well as by two brothers, one sister, and three brothers-in-law. Dad is survived by all of his seven children, Elda, Clara, Leo, Liz, Rose, Lydia, and Marlys, and by their families.

Dad spent the first 10 years of his life close to his birthplace, where he also started his school years and attended the Seaton School. In 1948, our grandparents’ family, along with a group of other families moved to Chihuahua, Mexico. It was in Mexico where dad finished his school years and grew into adulthood. At the age of 17 years, he was baptized upon the confession of his faith and joined the Kleine Gemeinde church. In August of 1963, dad married our mom Doreen, and together they were blessed with 14 years of marriage during which time seven children were born to them.

On July 08, 1978, exactly on dad’s 40’th birthday, mom passed away very suddenly. This unexpected passing, and suddenly being alone with seven young children, was truly a shock to dad. Not long after this, our family moved back to Canada, to be closer to other family that had moved back earlier.

Dad had spent over 30 years in Mexico. Although times were tough, and raising a family of seven children was not easy, it seems these were the years in his life that dad had enjoyed the most. Mexico had truly become his “Heimatland”, and he never lost his yearning to go back home. Although the rest of the family seemed to settle quite comfortably into our new life in Canada, for dad these years were extremely lonely and difficult. He lived with many regrets, and found it hard to forgive himself for his mistakes. Through all of this, although his faith may have faltered at times, he held onto it until the end, and had a very strong desire for his whole family to follow Jesus.

Dad spent most of his working years driving truck. For many years in Mexico, he hauled fuel for the local service station in our community. After the move back to Canada, dad spent approximately 34 years driving long distance for Penner International. Without this job, especially during the early years back in Canada, it is doubtful that there would have been enough bread on the table for our family to stay intact. We will always be grateful for this.

Dad was a fiercely independent person. And we are so thankful that his health was good enough that he could continue to drive until the age of 77 years. This seemed to keep him strong, and gave him a sense of purpose and meaning in his life.

After his retirement, his health seemed to steadily decline. Especially noticeable was his mental health decline, as his dementia became more and more obvious. Another big blow to him was losing his drivers’ license. This seemed to take away one of his last coping mechanisms for being lonely, and forced him to become more dependent on others.

Late on December 14 of this year, dad took a couple of falls at his residence at Rest Haven. The first one was not as bad, and he seemed to be ok. But the second fall was more serious, and he ended up hitting his head quite severely. He was taken to the hospital, where the cut on his eyebrow was stitched up and he was examined further. He may well have been in shock at this point. His comment had been that “just because of this” they were keeping him in the hospital. We all know he did not like hospitals.

It soon became apparent that his condition was worse than first expected. Tests showed that he had two fractures on his pelvis bone, and that there was some internal bleeding that maybe would require surgery. Fortunately, the bleeding stopped without having to make a decision about surgery. But at the same time it became obvious that his condition was deteriorating and that his body was shutting down. Our only option seemed to be to try and manage the pain as best we could and provide end of life care. Dad was taken back to Rest Haven. Here we watched him suffer one last agonizing stretch until Saturday morning, when finally he breathed his last breath, with all of his seven children at his bedside, singing “God be with you till we meet again”.

We would like to say a special thank you to the Rest Haven care team for the amazing care you provided to dad in his final days.

And last, but certainly not least, a very sincere thank you to the Church of God in Christ (Mennonite) for the many years of walking with our dad, and allowing him to connect with a church community that was familiar and comforting to him. You have truly been a light and a blessing to our dad and to his whole family.

The funeral service will be held Tuesday, December 24, 2024 at 11:00 a.m., at Birchwood Funeral Chapel, Steinbach, MB., with viewing one hour prior to the service. Interment will be held at Heritage Cemetery, Steinbach, MB.

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