Henry Fehler
Obituary
Peacefully, with his daughter Sandi by his side, Henry Philip John Fehler, passed away on Tuesday, July 5, 2017 at Bethesda Personal Care Home in Steinbach, at the age of 100 years.
Dad will be deeply missed by his daughters Frances (Bruce) Wright, Marlene (Karl) Plezia, Sandi (Don) Janzen, daughter-in-law Heather Fehler, sister Mary Hughes, long-time companion and special friend Erma Loeppky, eight grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren and seven step-great-grandchildren.
He was predeceased by his parents Karl and Wilhelmina Fehler, wife Mary, sisters Emma and Elsie, brother Ernie, son-in-law Jack Ladobruk, and dear son and best friend, Murray who passed away Oct 4, 2016.
Dad was born May 13, 1917 in Wolseley, Sask. His father, Karl Fehler, passed away in 1932 during the depression, leaving the family in a very difficult situation. Dad was 20 years old when he and his mother, sisters Mary, Elsie and Emma and brother Ernest moved to Niverville in 1937 where they purchased a farm. They started the first milk delivery as well as custom threshing for a number of other farms. In 1938 Dad joined the Niverville United Church. Dad married our mother Mary Doerksen in 1943. They sold the farm in 1946 and built the first Cold Storage, Meat Market and grocery store in Niverville.
Dad was on the Town Board, Curling Club and Community Club Board.
One of his proudest achievements was that he was one of the Founding Members of the Niverville Credit Union. The idea originated in Dad’s grocery store and on March 17,1949, a general meeting was held at which time 23 persons subscribed. March 21, 1949, the organization meeting and first annual meeting of the Niverville Credit Union Society Limited was held at the Community Hall.
In 1955 our family moved to Steinbach where Mom and Dad purchased the Steinbach Bible School on First Street and converted it into Steinbach’s first apartment block. Dad was a “jack of all trades”. He worked on construction for many years, operated a back hoe, bought many houses, renovated them, sometimes much to our mother’s dismay, and sold them.
He was president of the first senior centre in Steinbach and he and mom spent many enjoyable years being involved in the activities there. Dad had a love of music and played the violin and enjoyed entertaining his great grandchildren with it. He also repaired many violins for others over the years. Dad always had a project on the go, whether it was some new and sometimes crazy invention, or working in the garden. He was never idle.
Dad was hospitalized in September 2016 and moved into Bethesda Place April 13th, 2017. He struggled with the loss of his dear son Murray and was very sad and unhappy. He had lost his independence, which he fought with a vengeance, almost until the very end of his life. He would say, “I have a plan”, which usually meant he had another wild idea of how he could move out of personal care. He sometimes made our lives challenging and very interesting. Our dad was not ill, he was tired of living, and wanted to join our brother. He got his wish, he is at peace. “I’ll meet you in the garden”.
A special thank you to Erma Loeppy for loving our dad these past 17 years. She was a faithful companion and our dad cared for her deeply.
Our heartfelt gratitude to the staff at Bethesda Place for the wonderful care they provided. And to the friends who visited with him, thank you. He always enjoyed your company.
To honour our dad’s request, a private family graveside service and ash interment will take place at a later date.
Dad, we love you and we will miss you. Rest in peace.
If friends desire, donations in memory of Henry may be made to the Bethesda Foundation (memo line: Palliative Care), 316 Henry St., Steinbach, MB, R5G 0P9.
