Nancy Friesen (nee Kehler)

Obituary

Nancy passed away peacefully May 19, 2023 after a lengthy battle with dementia at the Red River Valley Lodge in Morris, Manitoba at the age of 72 years.

Nancy was born in Altona on September 19th, 1950, the oldest child of Anton and Lena Kehler. She attended school in Altona for Grades 1-6 before moving to Rosenort for Grades 7 and 8 and back to Altona for Grades 9 and 10. The family moved back to Rosenort where she completed Grade 11 at Morris, before moving to a house on Jesse Street in Winnipeg with friends and getting a job as a keypunch operator for Federal Grain in the Richardson Building. She met Jerry in Rosenort while in Grade 11 and they were eventually married on April 11, 1970. They lived in Winnipeg for a few months before moving to Rosenort where they raised their 4 children. She spent several years working as a bookkeeper at the gas station they operated.

She loved following her grandkids in all their activities like sports and recitals. Reading was a favourite activity of hers and would devour books while Jerry watched hockey on TV. She loved the Lord and was very active in their church, serving with Jerry as a deacon couple, on the library committee and on the Ladies Fellowship executive. One of her strengths was caregiving as she would spend time visiting those who were sick, bringing food to those in need and greeting people in church. She had many hobbies, taking numerous pictures of family, scrapbooking, puzzles, crafts, needlework, and cross-stitching. She also enjoyed a scalding hot cup of tea. Nancy and Jerry took pleasure in vacations going to places like Hawaii and Florida and many family vacations to the mountains. Nancy liked listening to music and was a fan of the Beatles right from the beginning, while as a teenager watching their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan show in 1964.

Around 2010, she began to exhibit signs of dementia, eventually necessitating her move to the Red River Valley Lodge in Morris in 2018, where she lived until succumbing to the disease.

Nancy is survived by her husband of 53 years Jerry, son Jason (Jennifer), son Ryan (Sandra), son Brent (Terrilee), and daughter Debbie Wozny (Darek). She will be missed by her 12 grandchildren Aaron, Serena, Maya, Kaden, Trey, Taysia, Emery, Griffin, Santina, Anika, Cruz, Nash.

She is also survived by her brother Orville Kehler (Jenni), sister Angela Siemens (Peter), sister Becky Reimer (Don), sister Christine Warkentin (Jim) and brother Paul Kehler (Tammy) and their families.

Nancy is predeceased by both her parents Anton and Lena Kehler, and her sister Mary Jane.

Funeral service will be held Tuesday, May 23, 2023 at the Rosenort Fellowship Chapel at 2:00pm.

A private family burial will take place prior to the funeral service at the Rosenort EMC Cemetery.

The family wishes to thank the nurses and staff at Red River Valley Lodge.

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