Agnes Nikkel (nee Unrau)

Obituary

Agnes Unrau was born in Gretna Manitoba on October 17, 1925 to Helena Martens and John Unrau, the fifth of seven children. In the spring of 1931, her mother died of TB. In fall of the same year, her dad married Karoline Bansen. The family had expanded from seven to nine children when they moved to the Lister West district south of Grunthal in 1936. There three more children arrived on the scene. After all, things were cheaper by the dozen.

Her formal education was limited to elementary school, but she did manage to go to Elim Bible School as a mature student. She supplemented the family income by working for various farm families.

In 1947, the family moved back to Gretna to be close to MCI, Agnes and two of her sisters were employed as cooks in the girls’ residences. In 1950, the money they earned paid for the family home on Schellenberg Avenue.

Shortly after the move to Schellenberg Avenue, Agnes and her sister Helen enrolled in MCI. Margaret bailed out. She decided to take a cue from her step-mother and married a widower.

After completing her grade 11, Agnes entered nurse’s training at the Grace Hospital. She felt that she had made a better choice than her sister who became a teacher. After graduation Agnes worked in Cross Lake for several years.

In 1961, Agnes was accepted at The Northern Alberta Institute of Technology in the midwifery program. She worked in Altona until she was hired at the Women’s Pavilion in Winnipeg.

In 1973, Agnes married John Nikkel, a widower with a grown family of one daughter and three sons. She quickly got to love her grandchildren. They lived on Warsaw Avenue until 1985, when they pulled up stakes and moved to Steinbach, eventually ending up on Reimer Avenue, across from the hospital.

In 1987, while she was planning the family Christmas celebration she contracted Giuliana Barret Syndrome, a disease from which most patients recover. She was the exception and lived for almost 30 years with severe disabilities. Her husband John, visited her in the hospital almost daily during her long stay there and made their home handicap accessible when she could come home. In 1991, John died of a stroke and the house became too much for her to handle, prompting a move to Woodhaven.

She was often seen tearing up the Steinbach streets in her motorized wheelchair. Homecare aides came into her suite several times a day to assist her. She was queen of her castle. When the care she needed exceeded what home care could supply, she reluctantly accepted a move to a personal care home, first in Niverville but eventually in Bethesda Place. It was difficult for her to accept the loss of her driving privileges due to dangerous driving.

Her health began to fail in mid-November. She had been on the verge of death on other occasions and had always bounced back but this was different. She lost her will to live. In the morning on December 4, 2017, she breathed her last and joined the cloud of witnesses the Bible speaks of. Agnes will be missed by many.

The memorial service for Agnes will be held on Thursday, December 7, 2017 at 2:30 p.m. at Birchwood Funeral Chapel, Steinbach, MB.

If friends desire, donations in memory of Agnes may be made to the Canadian Bible Society, 952 St Mary’s Rd, Winnipeg MB, R2M 3R8.