Maria
Reimer
1918 - 2004
On
Friday, June 4, 2004, our mother died as she had lived, with a fighting spirit.
Maria Reimer, (nee Zacharias) was born March 16, 1918 to Peter P. Zacharias and
Katherina Giesbrecht. She spent her early years in the Thames School District
with her parents and 9 siblings until the age of 11 when she began ‘working out’
for relatives and neighbours: cleaning, cooking and babysitting. Mom was
baptized in her teen years and joined the Bergthaler Church. She married John
D. Reimer from Steinbach, MB. in 1941. Their first home was in Rosenhof, where
John managed the local cheese factory. The flood of 1950 forced a move to
Rosenort where Dad managed the Riverside Co-op Store for one year. Their next
big move was to Altona, MB. where Dad worked in the area for many years as a
Rawleigh salesman. Mom kept busy with various ventures; she looked after the
children, operated her own greenhouse, weeded beets, worked seasonally for D.W.
Friesen and participated in the local Ladies’ Aid group. Mom and Dad served as
a deacon team in the Altona Bergthaler Church. In 1968, Mary and John followed
their spirit of adventure to a new home in Abbotsford, BC. John worked long
hours as a realtor, and Mary sought new hobbies. She grew raspberries, tended
the flower gardens, picked and preserved fruit from the Okanagan, cooked at the
Menno Home, made perogies for retail outlets, and hosted many guests from
Manitoba. Mom and Dad attended the Olivet Mennonite Church and volunteered
again as deacons, ministering to both body and soul. They loved to travel and
made frequent spontaneous trips back east to visit their children. They took
holidays in Hawaii, Florida, Mexico and Germany. Mom moved to Winkler in 1991,
after Dad’s death. In 1995, Mom travelled with Jim and Margaret’s family to
Yugoslavia, Germany and Hungary. In recent years she became increasingly frail,
and spent her last happy years living with and lovingly cared for by Gwen and
her family. She loved to share the pictures and stories of all her adventures.
Mom was an avid reader; she enjoyed popular fiction, history, theology and
biographies. She read the Bible many times and had memorized most of the
Psalms. She spent many evenings in prayer, especially for her family. Mom was
imaginative and creative; she enjoyed ballet and classical music. She taught
herself to play the piano and in her mid 60’s took oil painting lessons.
Friends and family knew her as a single-minded woman, walking to the beat of her
own drum. She was pre-deceased by her husband John (1990), daughter Ruth,
father Peter, mother Katherina, step-mother Maria, and brothers Peter, Henry,
Bill and Dick. Her bloodlines included Giesbrecht, Zacharias, Stoesz, Heinrichs,
and Thiessen. She is survived by her children Jim and Margaret Reimer
(Waterloo, ON.), Doug and Marty Reimer (Wpg. MB.), Gwen and Harold Dookhie
(Winkler, MB.), Rudi and Nancy Reimer (Campbell River, BC.) and Lois and Rob
Friesen (Wpg. MB.), 15 grandchildren and 1 great-grandchild. She is also
survived by 3 sisters, 2 brothers, 1 step-sister, 3 step-brothers, and 5
half-sisters.
“Oh, come Angel
Band, Come and around me stand,
Oh bear my away
on your snow-white wings, To my immortal home.
Oh bear my away
on your snow-white wings, To my immortal home.”
We love you Mom! We miss your faithful
presence!
Funeral service was held on Monday, June 7, 2004 at 2:00 pm
at the Winkler Bergthaler Mennonite Church with Rev. Peter Penner officiating.
Interment followed at the Winkler Cemetery.
Wiebe Funeral Homes, Winkler in care of arrangements.