Alice Janzen
Obituary
Peacefully on Saturday, May 16, 2026 at Bethania Mennonite Personal Care Home, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Alice Janzen, aged 95 was ushered into the loving arms of Jesus.
She will be lovingly remembered and deeply missed by her daughter, Pamela Fast and son-in-law James, and her grandchildren, Jenna and Nolan. She was predeceased by her husband, Clifford, in 2013. She is also mourned by her sister Gertrude Wolfe of Winnipeg, her brother Herb (Elaine) Penner of Winnipeg and her brother Norm (June) Penner of Carman, many nieces, nephews and friends.
Alice Janzen (nee Penner) was born in the RM of Rhineland, and grew up on the family farm near Plum Coulee, MB as the 2nd of 4 children. After finishing grade 11, Alice started in the work force and left home to begin her career as a telephone operator for Manitoba Telephone System, working in various small towns in southern Manitoba. In 1959 she married Clifford and during the 1960’s they moved to Winnipeg from the Plum Coulee area. On Feb 23, 1970 they adopted a little girl they named Pamela, just shy of six months of age. Alice kept her career but started working part-time after Pam joined their family. They lived in St. Vital and eventually built a house on Greendell Ave, and set down roots at Morrow Gospel Church. The family was very involved there and made numerous life-long friends. Alice and Cliff were involved in Bible Study groups and served in various capacities at church. It was here that Alice’s love for Jesus grew stronger. She read the Bible faithfully and listened to many different Christian radio programs. She took copious notes from all of these sermons which resulted in bits of paper strewn everywhere – in drawers, on the kitchen counter by the radio, in the living room on the sofa table, tucked inside her Bible… everywhere!
The family also enjoyed many years of camping in their tent trailer. They travelled all across Manitoba, to the West Coast of Canada, to California, to North and South Dakota and then a road trip to Canada’s east coast by car. Cliff and Alice also spent a number of years camping with close friends from church. One of their favourite campgrounds was at Falcon Lake, but one year they even trekked all the way to Alaska with their trucks and trailers. These years of travelling with friends were very special to Alice.
Alice retired from her job as a telephone operator in 1995, after 48 years of service. The following year Pam and James were married. Four years later, in August 2000, she welcomed the new role of grandma with open arms. Both her grandchildren brought a lot of joy into her life. She loved hosting her family for a meal and she loved babysitting them when they were little.
They sold their house on Greendell in 2004, down-sizing and moving to an apartment on Nova Vista Drive, where they lived until 2012 when they moved to the Donwood Elderly Persons Housing apartments. Alice continued to live in the Donwood apartments after Cliff passed away in 2013 and enjoyed the community of friends she had there. In 2022, her dementia became more prominent and it was obvious that she needed more assistance with daily living. With the assistance of Pam and James, she moved to The Rosewood – this was a beautiful place with lovely staff that attended to all her needs. When she needed more full-time care, she was transferred to Extendicare Oakview Place on Ness Avenue in October 2025 and then at the end of March 2026, a room at Bethania Mennonite Personal Care Home became available. The family wishes to thank the staff at Bethania for their kindness and their attentive and compassionate care for the last six weeks of her life.
The memorial service will be held on Wednesday, May 27, 2026 at 11:00 am at Eastview Community Church, 315 Maxwell King Drive, East St. Paul, MB.
