Bishop William H. Friesen

Our father, Bishop William H Friesen was born November 16, 1929 to his parents Henry D. and Anna (Klassen) Friesen on the family farm about one mile south of Rosenfeld Manitoba. He grew up on that farm and attended the Roseville school. He was the youngest of the family, and had 8 brothers and 2 sisters, of which 2 brothers and 1 sister died when they were very young, before he was born.

Dad was baptized in 1951 and married Anne Martens on July 15, 1951 in the Silberfeld Sommerfeld church. For the first year of their married life they lived with his parents. In the following year they built a new house on his parents' yard. Mary, Bill, and Ed were born when they lived on that yard. In 1963, they moved to their own farm about ¼ mile south from where they were living, which had a bigger house, which was needed by then.

Dad was a Sunday school teacher for a few years, and on August 10 of 1968 he was elected as a minister in the Altona Reinlander Church. In May of 1969 we moved to Bolivia, but things were not as expected and we moved back 3 months later. Then in January of 1970, Dad accepted his calling and was ordained as a minister. In January 1975 their daughter Martha was born, but she only lived to be 5 years old. On April 17, 1982 dad was elected as bishop and was ordained May 2 1982. Dad had a special love for the youth of the church, and so, while he was a minister, he also dedicated himself to God in serving the young people's group. We as a family witnessed God working in his ministry, and we are so grateful for the strong relationship that he had with Jesus Christ, who helped him through all difficult times!

Dad farmed all his life, mostly grain. In 2007 mom and dad moved off the farm to Winkler Cedar Estates. During this time, he had a stroke, but he regained his strength to walk again. In 2015 they moved to the Garden’s on Tenth senior’s condo in Altona.

Dad’s health deteriorated more until mom could not take care of him any longer, so we moved him to Eastview Care Home in September 2019. On March 25th, at Eastveiw Place, dad was called home to be with Jesus, at about 3:00 a.m. He is survived by his wife Anne (nee Martens), daughter Mary (& Frank) Rempel of the Rosenfeld area, sons Bill (& Rosemary) of Woodmore, and Ed (& Judy) of Roseville. As well as 9 grandchildren, 24 greatgrandchildren, 1 great great grandchild, and 1 sister-in-law. He was predeceased by his daughter Martha, by all of his siblings and their spouses, by his parents and parents-in-law, and on mom’s side, by 1 sister-in-law, and 2 brothers-in-law.

Dad reached the age of 93 years and 4 months. Mom and Dad were married 71 years and 8 months. Dad officiated 268 funerals, 170 weddings, and many elections and ordinations of deacons, ministers, and bishops in Manitoba, Ontario, and Alberta. Mom and dad travelled Canada coast to coast and throughout the southern U.S. Through his service in the church, mom and dad made many lifelong friends!

A special thanks to Eastview Place, and Wiebe Funeral Home. And for the support we have received from the church: many ministerial including pallbearers, ushers, song leaders, and the ladies serving group. As well as for the many phone calls, text messages, flowers, and offers of food. And thank you to all who have come out today.

The Family

Funeral service was held on Friday, March 31, 2023 at 2:00 p.m. at the Altona Reinland Mennonite Church with burial at the Friesen Family Cemetery.  

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

An audio livestream of the service will be made available at the following link: winkler.listentochurch.com