Yvonne M. Barkman
Obituary
It is with deep sadness that we announce the peaceful passing of Yvonne M. Barkman at the West Park Manor in Winnipeg on February 18, 2026 at the age of 88 years.
Yvonne will be sadly missed by her husband of 69 years; Burt Barkman, their four children; Terry (Cheryl), Sandra (Randy) Lindsay, Bonnie and Kim. Two grandchildren; Matthew (Kristy) Lindsay and Sarah Lindsay. She will also be lovingly remembered by numerous nieces, nephews, extended family and friends.
She was predeceased by her parents; Isaac and Justina Friesen, four sisters; Agathe, Sally, Teenie, and Toots, five brothers; Bill, Isaac, Jack, Art and Larry.
Yvonne Barkman was born in Steinbach, Manitoba to Issac and Justina Friesen on September 15, 1937.
She was the youngest of 10 children. By the time Yvonne arrived, most of her older siblings had left the nest so she spent a lot of her time with her brother Larry helping her mom and dad on the farm in Pansy; that is, when she was not attending school at the one room schoolhouse in Barkfield.
When Yvonne turned 16, her mom and dad sold the farm and the family made the move to Steinbach. At this time, her dad gave Yvonne the choice to continue in school or to start work. Yvonne made the decision to start work. Her dad got her a job at the sewing factory in St. Pierre. She enjoyed the work and the friends she made there.
While walking the streets of Steinbach she caught the eye of a gas jockey working at J.R. Friesen and Sons. This young gas jockey finally got up the nerve to ask her out on and date, and the rest is history. Burt and Yvonne were married on October 20th, 1956 in the Steinbach Mennonite Church. Yvonne’s wedding dress cost her $100.00. That was tons of money at the time; but she did get 2 uses out of it, when her daughter Sandra wore the dress for her wedding in 1984.
For their honeymoon, they came into the big city of Winnipeg, spent one night at the Fort Garry Hotel and had breakfast the next day for a grand total of $6.00.
They moved to Winnipeg, where Terry was born in 1957. They moved back to Steinbach in 1958 where Sandra, Bonnie and Kim were born. They lived in a tiny house on Elm Street. Yvonne had her hands full with all the housework and four kids all under the age of five. That might explain why sometimes Terry was in the backyard tied up to the clothesline.
in 1966 they moved to Winnipeg. They rented several houses in St Vital before purchasing their forever home, 154 St Michael Road, in 1968.
The house was on a very large lot, which enabled them to have a huge garden. This also resulted in much work for Yvonne, to store away the produce from the garden for the winter.
For fun, the family went on many camping trips to Detroit Lakes. Somehow, they were able to fit a 12 X 18 foot canvas tent, cots, sleeping bags, folding table, and a camp stove into the trunk of the car and still have room for the coolers full of food for the six of them.
Once the kids were older, Yvonne got a job at a sewing factory. Her job was to sew collars onto shirts, often doing 1200 in a day.
Yvonne went back to school in 1976 and completed her Grade 12. With this complete, she enrolled at Success Business College and got a Diploma in Administration. She became a Mary Kay consultant for several years. She loved the make-up parties, which gave her the opportunity to make all kinds of new friends or share good times with old friends. But most of all, she loved sharing her flair for make-up.
Even with her busy schedule and her dislike for the cold weather, she never missed an opportunity to attend her daughter Kim’s hockey games, to cheer her on.
In 1984 she landed a job with the Provincial Government. She held several different positions in several departments of the government over the next 12 years. She retired March of 1996.
While working, she always made time to go on annual summer vacation with her sister, Toots, and her daughter Bonnie. They would spend the days sun tanning on the beach and playing BINGO at night.
In 1990, Yvonne became a Grandma to Sarah and Matthew (the twins). She was so excited to be a grandma and spent lots of time with her grandchildren. Nothing made here happier than when her grandkids came to visit.
In her retirement, she enjoyed her yard and times at home. She loved to shop, and this could be anywhere, grocery shopping, clothes shopping, craft sales, online shopping channels, but especially trips to Grand Forks.
She also loved to cook and she spent countless hours in the kitchen making many… many pots of soup, mostly chicken noodle and Summer Borsch.
She loved her home on St Michael Road and spent countless hours sitting in the kitchen. This was her happy place, sitting at the kitchen table, and reading the newspaper, watching TV, or just watching the birds and wildlife out the kitchen window.
She did visit Arizona, Cuba and Mexico on vacation but was always happy to get home.
Wherever Yvonne went, she built a strong network of friends. Many of these friendships have lasted over 70 years.
The last few years Yvonne spent at West Park Manor, and just like everywhere else she lived, she made friends with everyone, staff, residents and families.
That was Yvonne, making friends and looking out for them till the very end. She was a loving and caring wife, mother, grandmother and friend.
She has left a huge hole in our hearts… she will be missed but never forgotten.
The family would like to extend a special thank you to all the staff at the West Park Manor for the exceptional care they extended to Yvonne during her stay.
A funeral service will be held at 1:00 pm on Thursday, February 26, 2026 at the Winnipeg Evangelical Free Church, 500 Lagimodiere Blvd, Winnipeg, Manitoba, with viewing one hour prior to the service. Interment will take place at the Green Acres Cemetery.
