Anne Friesen

Peacefully on February 13, 2025 at Red River Valley Lodge in Morris, Anne Friesen nee Martens passed away at the age of 95 years and 9 months.

She was predeceased by her loving husband William, her daughter Martha, her parents, one sister, one brother in infancy, two brothers-in-law and all of her Friesen in-laws.

She is lovingly remembered by her children and families: Mary and Frank Rempel of Rosenfeld area, Barb Rempel, Corney, Emma and Simon Unger, Lisa, Neveah, Carlin, Taran and Kiana Giesbrecht, Franklin, Bethany, Elliot and Marygrace Rempel, Bill and Rosemary Friesen of Woodmore, Peggy, Ken, Jaycie and Karlee Petrick, Bill, Malanie, Billy, Nicholas, Troy and Amber Friesen, Terry, Paige and son Jace and Camryn Friesen, Orry, Amar, Zoey, J.D, and Lindsay Friesen, Ed and Judy Friesen of Roseville, Becky, Marlin, Myla and Sadie Froese, Brent, Juanita, Bane, Billie and Abel Friesen, one sister, many nieces and nephews and friends.

Our mom, grandma and great-grandma was born on April 26, 1929 to Jacob H. Martens and Maria Martens nee Sawatsky, at Silberfeld, close to Gretna, MB. She was the second daughter of three girls, and she was her father’s helper on the farm. This included driving tractors, driving grain truck, doing field work, taking care of the animals, and everything else needed on the farm. She attended the Silberfeld country school until grade 8 and then helped on the farm. 

Mom valued her independence which showed in various ways. Five days after her 16th birthday on May 1st 1945, she went to the Altona Post Office, signed a paper, and for a dollar, received her driver’s license. Having her driver’s license was very important to her and it was a milestone that she celebrated in all of her children and grandchildren’s lives.

She was baptized in 1950 in the Silberfeld Sommerfeld Church, and married William Friesen on July 15, 1951 in that church as well. In the first year of their marriage, they lived with her parents-in-law, and that was when she learned how to cook and bake. She always said that when she got married she couldn’t even boil water.

The following year, they built a new house on her parents-in-law’s yard. Mary, Bill and Ed were born when they lived on that yard. In 1963 they moved to their farm about ¼ mile south, and it had a bigger house which they needed by then.

After getting married Anne continued to help on the farm wherever needed including doing field work. She also had a big garden, that she would can and freeze for the winter. For example, she would can 100 quarts of tomato juice every year.

There were many family get-togethers and visiting, even on weekdays. Many farm tasks such as butchering chickens or spending an evening collecting beets that had fallen off the truck were done with a sister-in-law or nieces and nephews, which made the tasks more enjoyable. 

Later when they were a ministerial couple, much of their visiting was related to church work.

In May of 1969, they moved to Bolivia, but things were not as expected and so they moved back again 3 months later. William had been elected as a minister in the Altona Reinlander Church prior to their move, and when they returned to Canada, he accepted his calling and became ordained, making Anne a minister’s wife.

In January 1975, their daughter Martha was born, but she only lived until she was 5 years old. With Martha not being well, mom stayed home much of the time and took care of her.

Then in 1982, when dad became a bishop, mom became a bishop’s wife.

Mom liked nice things. For example, she loved watering and mowing her lawn, and had the most beautiful lush, green, lawn in southern Manitoba. 

She was a hard worker which showed in her immaculate yard, her very clean vehicles, and her clean house. 

Traveling became part of their life as their children grew up and they typically went to Texas every winter and brought home delicious pecans, grapefruits and oranges which were enjoyed by family. Once there were grandchildren, grandma would bring back dresses or fabric to make dresses for the granddaughters, and t-shirts for the grandsons. It usually timed out that these became our Easter dresses.

For a number of years, they traveled to Ontario and Alberta several times a year for ministerial work. 

They also took vacations to BC during the summer to pick and bring back bing cherries and peaches. Grandma’s peach preserve was very sweet and as kids we found it very delicious. She loved her sugar and salt.

In 2006 they moved from the farm to Winkler Cedar Estates. During their time there, dad had a stroke and mom took care of him. In 2015 they moved to Altona, Gardens on Tenth, into a seniors condo. Dad’s health continued to deteriorate and mom took care of him as long as she could. We moved dad to Eastview in 2019, and mom moved to the Apartments at Gardens on Tenth in February of 2023. In March 2023, dad went to his eternal home. Mom lived in her apartment for a few months and celebrated her 94th birthday with an all-day birthday party that included friends, nieces and nephews, and her family. On May 30, 2023, she had a stroke and ended up in hospital until there was a room for her at Eastview. She moved to Eastview on October 16th, 2023. This was a very difficult transition and she mourned the loss of her independence brought about by the stroke. On December 5th there was a water sprinkler break by her room, which resulted in her moving to Red River Valley Lodge in Morris where she spent her last few months.

We want to thank Eastview Place for their care for mom. She really appreciated the health care aides there. We also want to thank Red River Valley Lodge, Wiebe funeral home, support from the Reinlander Church ministerial and the church.

Funeral service was held on Tuesday, February 18, 2025 at 2:00 p.m. at the Altona Reinland Mennonite Church with burial at the Friesen Family Cemetery. 

Donations in memory of Anne may be made to the Altona Reinland Mennonite Church.