Cornelia Elisabeth Wichers
Obituary
Peacefully with family by her side, Cornelia Elisabeth Wichers “Nell” passed away on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Rest Haven Care Home in Steinbach, Manitoba.
Cornelia Elisabeth Wichers was born the first child of Gerardus and Guurtje Smit (Trudy) on October 30, 1941. We knew her as Nellie, Nell, Mom, Ma and-to her great grandchildren-Meemaw.
Nell was born in Zaandam in the German-occupied Netherlands during the Second World War. The family sailed to Canada in 1953 on the Groote Beer.
“I did not want to go but being 11 years old I had nothing to say about the whole thing,” Nell wrote in her memoirs. She was seasick on the voyage, and recalled her father carrying her up on deck for fresh air before carrying her down again.
The family landed at Pier 21 in Halifax. Nell liked to tell the story of little brother Jerry, who vanished before they could disembark from the ship. Lo and behold, their mother was wearing a green coat. Little Jerry had grabbed on to the wrong green coat and followed that woman off the ship.
“So Jerry had the first spanking in Canada,” she wrote.
The family took the train to Winnipeg and lived in the immigration hall there for the first three or four weeks before moving into a house at 447 Pacific Ave. with another Dutch family.
Nell recalled the difficulty of starting school without speaking English. When the family later moved to Vermette, Man., the kids teased her by calling her a “DP” or displaced person. Her father reassured her by reframing “DP” as “Dutch person” or “delayed pioneer.”
Oddly enough, Nell and sister Liz would very briefly become displaced persons. They visited the Netherlands in September of 2001, and after the attacks on the World Trade Centres in New York, their return flight was turned around and had to return to Holland.
Liz and Nell lived in a makeshift shelter for displaced travellers until they were able to return home. Nell noted in her memoir that, ironically, they’d become refugees in the land they were born in.
Youngest brother Adrian recalled Nell as his protector in school. “Nobody could pick on me at school because Nellie would beat them up,” he said.
Nell began what would be her career job when she started hairdressing school at age 16. She married the father of her children, John Wichers, in 1961. Together, they had Linda, Rob and Colleen.
In 1975, the family moved to Monominto in rural Manitoba. Liz and Claude lived across the road. In her memoir, Nell recalled being thankful that they were close and their kids could play together. A year later, Nell’s parents moved in next door.
During this time, Nell supplemented their income by cutting hair in the basement of their house. She also made and sold crafts.
In 1979 Nell’s father passed away after a protracted illness. Nell took the death very hard.
After her marriage ended, Nell moved to Winnipeg looking for a fresh start. She recalled borrowing money from her mother to buy a set of clippers and she started a job at the Magicuts salon in St. Vital.
Nell thrived at Magicuts. First she became manager of the Grant Park location, then assistant to the manager of all Manitoba locations. This job allowed her to travel across Manitoba to work in places like Brandon and Portage la Prairie.
“I loved being boss,” Nell wrote.
When Magicuts opened a location in Kenora, Nell moved there to manage it. Daughter Colleen joined her there and also worked at the salon for a while.
In Kenora, Nell met the next love of her life – a little Papillon dog named Flinder. The two did everything together. In the winter, Flinder would go out riding inside Nell’s red winter coat.
Nell would make the little dog dance on the table while she sang “Shortnin’ Bread.”
Flinder’s death was devastating to Nell, but Magicuts customers gave her money to get a new dog. Nell had many more ‘babies’ in the form of pups like ‘Diva’ and ‘Stinky.’
Nell also became “Ma” to seven grandchildren. She enjoyed their visits to Kenora – for example, when eldest grandson Mike would visit for the summer and work with her at Magicuts. Granddaughter Maygen also spent many weeks at Ma’s house.
She also visited her kids in Manitoba, spending nights at Linda and Shane’s or Rob and Joanell’s. On one of these visits, grandson Jonathan remembers the two of them sitting on the deck and leaning back to watch flock after flock of geese flying overhead.
Nell enjoyed spoiling her family by taking them out for supper to Chinese restaurant ‘Ho Ho’s’ or family restaurant ‘Porky’s.’ She also enjoyed cooking ‘gehaktbal’ (meatballs) for youngest grandson Tyler, who lived nearby, and got him to sample different vegetables.
Derek remembers that sometimes, while they were eating, she’d ask him, “Is it lekker (tasty), my boy?”
Granddaughter Jessica remembered making short trips as a young adult to stay with Ma for a couple of nights during the summer and taking drives together to see the sights around Kenora.
Geralyn also remembers her fascination with Ma’s porcelain dolls and many pretty things around her Kenora apartment.
Nell loved pretty things – especially treasures that reminded her of her Dutch heritage, like Delft Blue pottery. Nell would say “if it’s blue, buy me two.” She also loved jewelry and was known to wear striking rings at all times. She also collected stuffed monkeys and beanie babies. Some of these monkeys became treasured friends to some of her grandchildren – such as ‘Bigfoot’ which Nell anointed with her perfume and sent home with Maygen so her ‘Ma’ would always be near.
Even after her retirement in 2003, Nell kept busy. She treasured traveling with others, like road-tripping with Jerry and Jan through the U.S. and seeing sites like Graceland. She was also pleased to visit Pier 21 in Halifax and remember details of the family’s arrival to Canada.
Nell also kept busy with arts and handcrafts like painting and knitting. As her mobility and health waned in later years, she found purpose in supporting causes by knitting or crafting items to sell, and then giving proceeds to charity.
One cause was Nell’s ‘rainbow blankets.’ Nell told the story of sitting in her Kenora dining room when the light caught a cut glass window decoration and shot little rainbows around the room. She described it as an audible voice inspiring her to knit rainbow blankets. She would give these multicoloured blankets to comfort people with cancer or other illnesses.
Anyone visiting Nell at home in Steinbach might have been told “I have X number of mittens left to knit.” Nell was knitting pairs of mittens to donate to local schools to give to children in need.
Nell and Colleen moved to Steinbach together in 2019. The move was a bit difficult for her to adapt to, but in time she grew to enjoy her new home and found friends in neighbours Edna and Albert Martens. She enjoyed frequent visits from brother Jerry that summer, and the family enjoyed her being closer to their homes.
Nell moved to Rest Haven in May 2024 after an illness that left her hospitalized for several months. No longer able to walk, she found new mobility in a wheelchair and rolled around visiting staff and fellow residents.
Nell took small leadership roles, like being the one to do readings at Christmas services in the Rest Haven chapel, and leading her housemates in singing “Praise God from whom all blessings flow” at mealtimes. She would decorate her doorway for holidays like Halloween (one of her favourites), and make valentines for her housemates.
Nell passed away peacefully, with family at her side, on April 18, 2026. She will be missed by many.
Nell was predeceased by her parents, Gerardus (1979) and Guurtje Smit (2019), brother Keesje (1951), sister Elizabeth (2017), brother Jerry (2019) and brother-in-law Claude Bruce (2019)
She is remembered by her children, Linda (Shane), Rob (Joanell) and Colleen; her seven grandchildren Mike (Suzette), Maygen, Tyler, Jessica (Justin), Geralyn, Derek (Samantha) and Jonathan (Terra); seven great grandchildren; her brother Adrian (Mavine); sister-in-law Jan and sister-in-law Judy; and many nieces and nephews.
The family wishes to thank the staff at Rest Haven for the wonderful care they gave Nell. It was obvious to us that she had made many friends while being cared for at Rest Haven, at Bethesda Hospital, and by home care staff before that. A big thank you to each one for all for your caring ways and kindness to Nell.
A come and go Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, May 9, 2026 from 2:00 to 4:00 P.M. at Crossings Funeral Care in Steinbach, MB.
