Agatha (Dueck) Loewen nee Penner was born on March 30, 1928 to Bernhard and Helena Penner at their home in Grimsby. She had 4 sisters and nine brothers -all who have predeceased her, she is survived by one step sister in law. She was predeceased by one grandson and one great grandson.
She had a happy childhood with many fond memories of her parents and siblings that she loved to share. She was always a bit of a tomboy and loved playing baseball and riding bike, even though such activities were hardly appropriate for a girl. When Mom was only 14, and her sister Trudy 12, her mother passed away, there were also 3 older brothers still living at home.
She was baptized into the Sommerfeld Mennonite Church on June 11, 1946.
On July 24, 1947, Mom married Henry Dueck in an outdoor, double wedding ceremony with her brother Henry and his wife Dora on Dora’s parent’s farm. They lived with Dad’s parents for the first year of their married life, then they moved to the Steinfeld District near Lowe Farm where they farmed together. They were blessed with 4 children, Bill, Helen, Linda and Bernie. Mom was a homemaker and enjoyed baking, canning and gardening. She had many flowers in her garden at Lowe Farm, especially marigolds. One year she tried growing forget-me-nots and said she “would always remember to forget about her forget-me-nots”. Together, Mom and Dad loved having nieces and nephews over for summer holidays.
On February 9, 1958, Dad was ordained as deacon in the Sommerfeld Church. They served 20 years together until Dad’s sudden passing on February 4, 1978. He was 55 years old and they had been married for just over 30 years.
Mom did a lot of volunteer work with Ladies’ Groups in Kronsweide and in Winkler. She also volunteered at MCC stores in Winkler and Morris. She loved this work!
When it came time to move off the farm, Mom moved to Winkler on 6th Street South. She worked in Home Care, a job she loved, for about 11 years.
In 1998, she married Andrew Loewen. After a few years together, it was necessary for her to leave. He passed away in 2015.
Meanwhile, Mom moved into 55+ apartments, where she organized meal schedules and menus for the residents and played organ for the weekly Bible Study.
Mom had a strong faith and often sang as she worked. She had a wonderful sense of humor. She did not want pity and was loving, caring, giving and patient. Sometimes, even in her 90s she would say, “I always try my best.”
Mom had several hobbies that she really enjoyed. She did a lot of crocheting, and each grandchild received a crocheted afghan when they graduated, except for 3 of the grandsons who received a purchased blanket because her hands were too weak to crochet. She also enjoyed her knitting machines.
Another hobby was pressing flowers. Mom pressed flowers and leaves to make many, many bookmarks. She also printed Bible verses and meaningful poems and surrounded them with her beautiful, pressed florals and leaves and framed them.
One Christmas, Mom gave each of her children a beautiful binder of collected poems, stories and Bible verses. Each page had a message that had been lovingly chosen and had been decorated with her pressed flowers, then laminated. Her granddaughter Pam helped her with several parts of this project as Mom really wanted it to be a surprise for her children.
Mom loved making and giving gifts. She has made and gifted afghans, men’s robes, aprons, bookmarks and books to name a few.
She also made her Penner family tree book. Her granddaughter Melanie helped with the typing as well as Jake Elias.
Along with her gifts of giving and serving, Mom was also gifted in recognizing people that came to visit her, even if they had not come for some time.
In June 2018, Mom moved to Eastview Place where she lived for nearly 7 years. On Friday of last week, Bernie went to visit Mom and she asked him if they could pray. She prayed first, praying for all of her children. On Sunday, she passed from this life to meet Jesus just as she always wanted to- peacefully in her sleep.
Mom was blessed with 4 children- Bill and (Gail) Dueck, Helen and (Ken) Reimer, Linda and (Gordon) Reimer, Bernie and (Shirley) Dueck; 17 grandchildren; 39 great grandchildren and 10 great, great grandchildren, all whom she loved very much.
We are blessed for the gift and the legacy of our Godly Mother, Grandmother, Great Grandmother and Great, Great Grandmother.
We as a family would like to thank everyone for coming, for their prayers, and for visiting Mom at Eastview. Thank you to the staff at Eastview who provided excellent care for Mom and for their support and compassion for us. Thank you to Kiley and Abe from Wiebe’s Funeral Home and to Rev. Art Wiebe and Kathy. Thank you to the ladies group for looking after the faspa and serving us in this way.
She had a happy childhood with many fond memories of her parents and siblings that she loved to share. She was always a bit of a tomboy and loved playing baseball and riding bike, even though such activities were hardly appropriate for a girl. When Mom was only 14, and her sister Trudy 12, her mother passed away, there were also 3 older brothers still living at home.
She was baptized into the Sommerfeld Mennonite Church on June 11, 1946.
On July 24, 1947, Mom married Henry Dueck in an outdoor, double wedding ceremony with her brother Henry and his wife Dora on Dora’s parent’s farm. They lived with Dad’s parents for the first year of their married life, then they moved to the Steinfeld District near Lowe Farm where they farmed together. They were blessed with 4 children, Bill, Helen, Linda and Bernie. Mom was a homemaker and enjoyed baking, canning and gardening. She had many flowers in her garden at Lowe Farm, especially marigolds. One year she tried growing forget-me-nots and said she “would always remember to forget about her forget-me-nots”. Together, Mom and Dad loved having nieces and nephews over for summer holidays.
On February 9, 1958, Dad was ordained as deacon in the Sommerfeld Church. They served 20 years together until Dad’s sudden passing on February 4, 1978. He was 55 years old and they had been married for just over 30 years.
Mom did a lot of volunteer work with Ladies’ Groups in Kronsweide and in Winkler. She also volunteered at MCC stores in Winkler and Morris. She loved this work!
When it came time to move off the farm, Mom moved to Winkler on 6th Street South. She worked in Home Care, a job she loved, for about 11 years.
In 1998, she married Andrew Loewen. After a few years together, it was necessary for her to leave. He passed away in 2015.
Meanwhile, Mom moved into 55+ apartments, where she organized meal schedules and menus for the residents and played organ for the weekly Bible Study.
Mom had a strong faith and often sang as she worked. She had a wonderful sense of humor. She did not want pity and was loving, caring, giving and patient. Sometimes, even in her 90s she would say, “I always try my best.”
Mom had several hobbies that she really enjoyed. She did a lot of crocheting, and each grandchild received a crocheted afghan when they graduated, except for 3 of the grandsons who received a purchased blanket because her hands were too weak to crochet. She also enjoyed her knitting machines.
Another hobby was pressing flowers. Mom pressed flowers and leaves to make many, many bookmarks. She also printed Bible verses and meaningful poems and surrounded them with her beautiful, pressed florals and leaves and framed them.
One Christmas, Mom gave each of her children a beautiful binder of collected poems, stories and Bible verses. Each page had a message that had been lovingly chosen and had been decorated with her pressed flowers, then laminated. Her granddaughter Pam helped her with several parts of this project as Mom really wanted it to be a surprise for her children.
Mom loved making and giving gifts. She has made and gifted afghans, men’s robes, aprons, bookmarks and books to name a few.
She also made her Penner family tree book. Her granddaughter Melanie helped with the typing as well as Jake Elias.
Along with her gifts of giving and serving, Mom was also gifted in recognizing people that came to visit her, even if they had not come for some time.
In June 2018, Mom moved to Eastview Place where she lived for nearly 7 years. On Friday of last week, Bernie went to visit Mom and she asked him if they could pray. She prayed first, praying for all of her children. On Sunday, she passed from this life to meet Jesus just as she always wanted to- peacefully in her sleep.
Mom was blessed with 4 children- Bill and (Gail) Dueck, Helen and (Ken) Reimer, Linda and (Gordon) Reimer, Bernie and (Shirley) Dueck; 17 grandchildren; 39 great grandchildren and 10 great, great grandchildren, all whom she loved very much.
We are blessed for the gift and the legacy of our Godly Mother, Grandmother, Great Grandmother and Great, Great Grandmother.
We as a family would like to thank everyone for coming, for their prayers, and for visiting Mom at Eastview. Thank you to the staff at Eastview who provided excellent care for Mom and for their support and compassion for us. Thank you to Kiley and Abe from Wiebe’s Funeral Home and to Rev. Art Wiebe and Kathy. Thank you to the ladies group for looking after the faspa and serving us in this way.