Norm Unger
Obituary
Norman Bruce Unger, born February 5th, 1957, died suddenly and unexpectedly at the age of 63 at the Health Science Center in Winnipeg, MB. A ‘57 model, he was born at St. Boniface hospital, and was the oldest of Abe and Frances Unger’s six children, and grandson to Abe and Katharina (Wiebe) Unger and Martin and Elizabeth (Wiebe) Toews. The family lived in Marchand and Bristol before moving to the Toews family farm in Greenland, MB in 1966.
Dad treated everyone with fairness, respect, and dignity. He always taught us that you should never judge someone by their past. We learned so much from our dad; don’t use cruise when it’s icy, how to stop and smell the roses, there can never be too many raisins, whenever possible – always take the scenic route, and never judge a book by its cover. He loved to say, “find a job you love and you will never work a day in your life.” Dad loved his work, the places it let him see, and the opportunity to meet more people.
Norm started his first job at age 15, working at Countryside Farms. He would often point out how he would deliver eggs to this corner store, or this business that had changed hands, “Hey, I used to deliver eggs there”, or comment on how hard it was to get the truck into that loading bay.
He started hauling gravel for his Uncle Jake, working with his cousins and later his brothers Rick and Gil. When the business was taken over by his brother Rick, he continued to haul gravel in the summer, and boats all over Canada in the winter.
Family was everything to our Pa. Despite the challenges of being on the road, he took each of his kids on their own date nights with dad where we had his devoted attention – with nine children these one on one memories were extra special. All of dad’s kids, and later his grandkids, also looked forward to our very own long hauls with dad. As we grew older and couldn’t join him on the road, he would look us up for a coffee when he had a load that was passing through.
Dad loved all music, food, fellowship, a good hat, and Dr Pepper. While he never played any instruments, he would inspire many Saturday night family jam sessions by bringing pizza and chicken for dinner, singing along with a rich warm voice, and call out, “Hey, does anyone know this one?” He saw himself as an old hippie and his highest compliment was “groovy”.
Norm was a professional visitor, he would make new friends in every room he entered, or new relatives – if you were even the most distantly related, he would figure out your genealogical link and welcome you to the family. Once around Christmas time the phone rang. Turns out it was a wrong number but after 5 minutes of chatting, dad found out they WERE related. He made an impression on anyone he met with his genuine nature, warmth, lingering stories, and “subtle” sense of humor.
When asked if the glass was half empty or half full, he would just sheepishly ask, “where is my glass?”, yet he would recall the specific directions to a delivery location, how you were related, or any number of historical dates and events. Wherever he went, someone would greet him by name. He would follow up on previous conversations and loved it when you would come by for a visit – he spoke fondly of how, back when his appendix burst on the road in Edmonton, his cousin Laurie came to visit him daily at the Hospital.
Dad was generous with his money and time; he would drop everything he was doing if someone needed a hand. Whether it meant coming to the rescue or just being there to talk the time away if that is what you needed. Sometimes, he would just look at the problem we got ourselves into, fix it, and then we would just agree to not tell mom.
Dad grew up in the Church of God in Christ Mennonite, and in the past was active in the Mennonite Brethren Church in Steinbach, Dayspring Fellowship in Ste. Anne, and Gospel Chapel in La Broquerie. He spent the past few years leading Sunday morning fellowship at the Bigg Smoak in Steinbach.
He was a loving husband, father, grandfather, son, brother, uncle, nephew, cousin, and friend to all people. He leaves to mourn his passing his children Matthew (Xenia), Rachel (Morgan), Rebekah (Dylan), Daniel (Melissa), Joseph (Jess), Jessica, Samuel, Hannah and Jeremiah Timothy James; his grandchildren Kyli, Bradyn, Kayli, and two more expected in Winter of 2021, his wife of 33 years, Naomi (Martens) Unger, his mother, Frances Unger, his siblings Rick (Katie) Unger, Sue (Langlois) Unger, Deb (Rick) Loewen, Brenda (Carson) Isaac, and Ray Unger, sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law, numerous nieces and nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins and his beloved girlfriend of two years, Rose Comon.
He was predeceased by his grandparents, father Abe J. Unger, parents-in-law, his brother Gil Unger, Uncle Otto, and numerous other aunts and uncles.
The family would like to express their thanks to everyone who has supported us through this time from the messages and phone calls offering condolences to those that brought food, and sharing so many wonderful memories of Norm. Thanks to all the support staff, nurses and doctors involved in his care while hospitalized, and a special thanks to Jared Redekop from the HSC Spiritual Care Department. Thanks to Birchwood for accommodating us and walking us through this difficult time. Special thanks to the anonymous donor who has offered to cover all the funeral costs, you have been an unexpected blessing.
There will a truck convoy, led by Betsy taking Norm’s brothers and grandchildren on a final ride, on Saturday, November 7, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. as a final tribute and salute to Norm. It will start in Blumenort and end at Southland Church, followed by a virtual memorial service. (Please visit the Birchwood website for details)
