Bill Neufeld
Obituary
Bill Neufeld, age 87, of Steinbach, formerly of Kleefeld, passed away Sunday, July 16, 2017 at the De Salaberry District Health Centre in St. Pierre, MB.
He is survived by his wife Mary, son Ron (friend Susan), daughter-in-law Kathy, son Len (wife Tilly) daughter Marlene (husband Ray) Loeppky and daughter Carolyn (husband Rick) Peters and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
He was predeceased by two sons Dave and Dan and grandson Ryan.
He is also survived by one brother Ben (Kathy) Neufeld and sisters Anne Funk, Elizabeth (John) Kasdorf, and Susan (Cornie) Funk.
The funeral service for Bill Neufeld will be held Friday, July 21, 2017 at 2:00p.m. at the Emmanuel Evangelical Free Church in Steinbach, with a viewing prior to the service.
Viewing will be on Thursday July 20, 2017 from 7:00 – 7:30 p.m. at Birchwood Funeral Chapel, Steinbach, with a devotional to follow at 7:30 p.m.
It is with mixed emotions that we celebrate our Dad’s life. It was difficult to write this tribute, not because our family didn’t agree, but because of the sheer volume of things that we would have liked to tell you about our dad; what made him a hero to each of us. So, let’s begin.
Loyal. Committed. Perseverance.
When our mother became ill, our dad found himself not only dealing with illness, but also having to care for 5 children aged 3 months to 7 years. It is only in adulthood that we truly came to appreciate the loyalty, commitment and perseverance that our dad demonstrated over the years. One of his great gifts to us, was loving and caring for our mother all through the years.
Heart for People.
Our dad loved people and loved to interact with others. He loved a good laugh and a great practical joke. He loved his grandchildren and many years ago he produced cassette tapes for all the grandchildren with stories of his childhood. He loved interacting with his customers as well as all the buyers in the various auction marts he frequented. He loved to tell stories…long stories!
Contentment & Generosity
I read recently that you can buy happiness – by giving things away. I don’t think my dad knew that statistic, but he lived it. He was content with what he had and mom mentioned that in one of their conversations dad said, “I never asked God for riches, but just so that we had enough.” God answered that for him. Dad was a generous person and never let a 10% tithe restrict the amount that he was prepared to give to God’s kingdom. But it wasn’t only money; our dad lived a life of generosity. He demonstrated that by the numerous hitchhikers he picked up and often brought home on a Saturday night for a good meal, a good rest and church on Sunday. He opened our home to missionaries and travelers alike. I (Len) once brought a friend home who needed a place to stay and he stayed for three years! He became a family friend!
Integrity
Our dad taught us what it was to live with integrity. He worked in an industry that wasn’t always known for honesty. One of his competitors once said, “If I had your outfit, I’d be rich; but with you running it, you are way to honest to get rich.” Well, that was our dad. This does not mean that my dad was a pushover; not at all. I remember when one of his customers bought some pigs from him and the cheque bounced. No matter what he did, the customer refused to pay him. After a few weeks of this, dad got us boys together and we drove to the customers farm, backed up to the barn and loaded up the pigs. We repossessed them! But here is another thing that dad did. While we were loading the pigs, dad was talking to the farmer and had a cheque ready for him for the cost of feeding the pigs for the time they had been on his farm. That he would not have had to do, but he did it anyway because it was who he had become.
Love for family
Our dad loved us. He showed that in many ways. Dad knew we were all different and he tried to understand each of us so he could effectively communicate with us. Sometimes that meant applying the board of education to the seat of learning! But one thing each of us noted, and that was that dad never spanked us when he was angry, always made sure we understood why he was doing it, and afterward told us that he loved us. Dad’s love for us was sometimes expressed more to others than to us, but that was O.K. Perhaps the greatest way in which Dad showed his love for us was in how he prayed for us. Unfortunately, this is not something we necessarily could see that often, but we knew that this was one of the spiritual disciplines in his life.
Love for God
We always knew that our dad loved God. As children, all of us remember him sitting in his big chair reading his big black bible. We remember family devotions and prayer times. We knew he was often disappointed in people in the church, but this never caused him to leave the church. He seemed to know that the church was made up of imperfect people, but that God would sort that out in eternity. No matter how he felt, he continued to be active in the church, brought his children to church and actively prayed for them. We know that when he slipped into eternity, that he was met with a “Well done my good and faithful servant.”
Our dad loved us; and we loved him.
