Walter Martens
Obituary
It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Walter Jacob Martens, who passed away peacefully and unexpectedly on September 19, 2026 at the age of 75 at the Bethesda Regional Health Centre in Steinbach.
Walter is survived by his wife of 53 years, Sandra, and son Jason (Carey) and their children Hunter (Abigail) and Gemma, and son Joel (Heather). He is also survived by his siblings Ed (Tina), Irene, Harold (Kathy), Art (Carol), Val, along with their families; his mother-in-law Sadie Friesen; and Sandra’s siblings Phyllis (John), Tim (Heidi) along with their families.
Walter and his twin brother, Harold, were born on April 20, 1951 at the Concordia Hospital in Winnipeg, Manitoba to John and Kay Martens.
His early life was spent on a farm near Woodlands for two years before moving to a farm near Île-des-Chênes for 11 years. The family then moved to a farm west of Kleefeld and south of the 52 Highway before moving to Niverville in 1966.
Walter quit school at a young age and entered the working world starting with Apex Farms. His passion for driving trucks started when he drove for F-R Trucking. He then started working for the local lumber yard, Wm Dycks. Here he ventured on many trips north of Thompson, Manitoba that led him to drive on ice roads to remote communities. During this time, Walter had purchased his own truck and hired a local driver to drive for International Transport. He then worked at the local feed mill (Puratone) for many years, before retiring in April 2012. After retirement, his career came full-circle as he returned to work at Artel Farms during seeding and harvest.
Walter loved trucks and cars and had many over the years. He always said he should have kept them all to sell to add to his retirement fund. He loved sports, whether it was playing, coaching or watching. Walter played for Niverville’s junior hockey team and later helped coach his own boys’ minor hockey teams for many years. He also drove the boys to many baseball and soccer games throughout the summers.
He loved to watch hockey on tv, but he also loved listening to music. Many times he could be found watching the game (sound off), while playing Southern Gospel music on ‘the YouTube’ in the background.
Walter was involved in several community organizations. He volunteered with the church boys club and sat on the local Youth Justice Committee for many years. He took the most pride in serving as a volunteer firefighter for more than 20 years where he loved to run the pumper truck.
Since his retirement he enjoyed going for coffee at the local coffee shop and solving the world’s problems with his friends.
The celebration of life will be held on Saturday, September 26, 2026, at 11:00 a.m. at Niverville Community Fellowship, 85 2 St S, Niverville, MB.
