David G. Plett

Obituary

David G. Plett, age 96, of Kleefeld, Manitoba, passed away on Saturday, October 25, 2025, at Bethesda Regional Health Centre, Steinbach, MB.

He is survived by one son Wayne & Darlene, two daughters Sylvia & Dan Reimer and Bev & Terry Penner and daughter-in-law Rose and her husband Bill Dyck, 11 grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren and their spouses and one great-great granddaughter. He is also survived by his siblings Minna Friesen, Esther Plett, Emmeline & John Poettker, Ellie & Henry Epp and Diane Reimer.

He was predeceased by his wife Betty, son Donald, five brothers and three sisters.

Dad was born on October 16, 1929, to Jakob D.K & Justina Plett in the Blumenort area. His mom passed away when he was three years old and his dad remarried a year later.

Dad and Mom were married on July 19, 1952, in the Blumenort EMC church. For two years they moved around in Manitoba as Dad worked for Fast Brothers doing land clearing and construction. During this time Wayne was born.

Dad had always wanted to be a farmer and in fall of 1954 they bought a dairy farm in Kleefeld, MB. This is where they made their home and raised their family. Don was born three and a half years after Wayne and two years later Sylvia was born. In August 1970 Bev joined the family through adoption.

Dad really enjoyed his position as a school trustee with the Hanover School Division for 15 years. He also served as secretary on the Hanover Breeders board. He and mom got involved with the Mitchell Seniors Centre where they made many friends and he held the position of President for a number of years. They also volunteered at the Mennonite Heritage Village.

We would never have said dad had hobbies because he was too busy farming. However, one “hobby” he had was picking fruit. Whether it was Saskatoons, plums, apples, or chokecherries, he enjoyed it. It was always more fun if he could do this with other people. Mom was often his partner, however many of his siblings and their spouses also spent time in the bush with dad picking fruit. The year mom passed away he picked 120 pails of chokecherries. We truly believe that being in the bush was his therapy. The picture shows him beside the full bushes of chokecherries on August 27 this year. He said he had never seen such a bountiful crop. He would spend hours picking up corn cobs on the field that the harvester had left behind. This is how he fed the deer that came on his yard, all winter long.

Another hobby dad had was photography. He loved to take pictures of everyday life. He had a camera with him on his truck when he was still running the farm. Later he had the camera in the car and in his Kubota. He always made doubles so that if anyone wanted a copy of a picture, he had one ready to give.

In his retirement years he enjoyed watching the great-grandsons play hockey and baseball. He also enjoyed watching the Winnipeg Jets, watching rodeo on TV and watching the Vet shows.

Dad lived a full and relatively healthy life. The last three and a half years were very hard after mom died. They had been married almost 70 years, and he was devastated when she passed so suddenly. However, he persevered and learned how to cook for himself, make a garden, take care of the home as best he could. We are all very proud of what he all learned. However, he was still extremely lonely. He joined the Kleefeld Seniors group and made some new friends and that was so good for him. On September 15, 2023, dad had a large spot removed from his back and was told it was Melanoma. At that time, they got it all but on September 12, 2025, we found out it had come back and was extensively throughout his body internally and externally. We wanted to keep dad at home, so we started getting private home care set up so he had more help with meals and also company. On October 7, 2025, we took him to the E.R. as he was having severe pain in his foot. That evening he was taken to St. Boniface Hospital where he had emergency surgery and they put two stints in to open the blockage in his leg, which was not successful. On October 17, 2025, the day after his birthday he was moved to Bethesda Regional Health Centre. He passed away peacefully eight days later with family at his side.

The memorial service will be held on Sunday, November 2, 2025, at 2:00 p.m. at Birchwood Funeral Chapel, Steinbach, MB. Burial will take place prior to the service.

Thank you to everyone who visited and spent time with Dad after mom passed away. We want to thank the staff on the vascular surgical ward at St. Boniface Hospital. The staff on the main floor and rehab ward at Bethesda Hospital. Thank you to Birchwood Funeral Chapel and Kris for your caring and compassionate way of helping us plan the funeral.