Cornelius Wieler

Obituary

Cornelius Wieler (Cornie), aged 87 years, of Vita, Manitoba, passed away on Saturday, August 30, 2025, at 10:30 a.m., with his wife Diane of 63 years by his side.

Cornie was born on March 16, 1938. When he was 15, his parents moved to Manitoba and as a young man he was baptized in the Old Colony Mennonite Church.

Although lacking a formal education he had many skills, one of which was building our house in Steinbach. He built his own rafters, working until 2:00 a.m. He also worked at Kleysen Cartage as a shop mechanic, Loewen Millwork on the planer machine, then later started his own painting company, Rainbow Painting and for some time he was a hog farmer. He was a great mechanic and always kept our cars in good running order.

Besides working at many different jobs, he also loved to go camping, fishing and boating. He was very fond of little children especially his nieces and nephews and of course his own five babies.

Cornie had many health problems in his lifetime. In 1975, while working on the planer at Loewen Millwork he cut off his thumb. A shortened version of a thumb was put in place but he could never use it normally. He was good at improvising. Later, he was prone to getting blood clots and almost died when one went through his lungs. He almost died when his intestine ruptured, the doctor said it was a miracle that he lived. In later years he developed COPD and had trouble breathing. This was the cause of his death.

Cornie is survived by his wife Diane of 63 years; children: Verna, Laurie, Diane (Rob), Martin and Dorothy; his grandchildren: Nathan, Jordan, Holly, Keith, Jonathon, April, Serena, Kayllena, Heidie, Justin and Megan; sixteen great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild; also two sisters: Mary and Anne; four brothers: John, Frank, Pete and Dave.

Cornie was pre-deceased by four sisters: Susie, Katharine, Helen, and Sarah; as well as one brother Henry.

The funeral service for Cornelius will take place on Friday, September 5, at 2:00 p.m. at Birchwood Funeral Chapel, Steinbach, MB., with viewing prior to the service.