Eileen Mae Penner
(nee Friesen)
May 7, 1945 - October 17, 2025
Eileen Mae was born in May of 1945, the second child of Edward and Trudy Friesen and the first of three daughters. Two brothers took the spots of youngest and oldest in their family of seven. She was blue-eyed with ginger coloured hair and spent most of her childhood in the house on the corner in Plum Coulee. As a child, she enjoyed family trips and summers at the cottage at Nutimik. Family, faith, and friends were the values that were most important to her, and this started in these early years. She had a steady presence and strength that carried her throughout her life.
As a family, they attended the Church of God. She accepted Jesus into her life at a young age. Eileen, Lynette and Lorna sang for different events, coached by their dad on how to stand and hold their hands. She had many friends at church and in the community. They were drawn to her easy going nature and sense of fun.
In 1963, she married Don Penner and they had three boys: Lyndon, Sheldon and Trevor. These were busy years, keeping up with challenges of being a young mom. They moved many times and in each house, Eileen worked to make it a home. In 1976 they settled on a farmyard just outside of Miami. When the boys were all teenagers with bottomless appetites, she would hide food and sometimes forget where she had hidden it. When she looked back at those years now, she would shake her head and laugh and say ‘Hol em du gru’.
She had different odd jobs when the boys were young to help support the family, but started working regularly when they moved to Morden. She worked at the Morden Florist and then spent many years at Paperworks/Solutions. While here, often customers ended up becoming friends. We wouldn’t say that she was nosy, but sometimes she said that she had to know what was going on with people, so she would know what to pray for.
Her family growing, with the addition of grandchildren were extra happy days. When Melissa was born, it was hard to believe that anyone had ever had a grandchild before her. The grandchildren all talked about the love they felt from her. That she was protective and proud of them and that being around her was like a warm hug. Treats like brown sugar toast, chicken noodle soup from Kopper Kettle and flat ginger ale when they were sick made them feel extra cared for. They loved their matching jammies and slippers at Christmas, even when the slippers were five times too big. They always got happy birthday phone calls and lots of hugs and kisses. Nothing made her happier than being together as a family.
As she moved into retirement, she was a caregiver for many. She drove people in her building to appointments and was a paid caregiver for a few families. She had a servant's heart.
She loved her apartment at Legion House. Being surrounded with her books, her many pictures of family and watching her Blue Jays, curling, golf or tennis made her content.
Even though she couldn’t travel far, she loved a little road trip. For many years, Lorna, Leanne and Eileen escaped Morden during the Corn and Apple Festival for a weekend at the Holiday Inn in Winnipeg. They also spent many summers at Clear Lake with Lynette joining them. Here the highlights were nachos at 1929 and lasagna at TR McCoys. Any appointment in Winnipeg was planned around a Starbuck’s visit and lunch out.
The last years were filled with many appointments to manage her pain and limited mobility. She gave up driving her little red truck and some of her independence. She continued to be positive and her faith deepened. She has many notebooks filled with scripture passages and readings that were meaningful to her. She lived a quiet faith but prayed daily for her family, her sons, her grandchildren, great grandchildren, siblings and extended family and friends. Through her faith she demonstrated great strength. She was stronger than any of us realized and proved that in her last days.
She was loved and will be missed dearly by her boys, Lyndon and Trevor. Grandchildren: Melissa, Hayley, Duncan, Jordan and Jessica, Julie, Owen and Trisha, Belle and Dawson and Duncan. Special great grandchildren: Mason, Liam, Adelyn, Aleyah, Oakley and Oliver. Siblings: Lynette and Lloyd Penner, Lorna Friesen, Blair Friesen. Sisters-in-Law: Sue Friesen and Peg and Dave Epp. She was predeceased by her parents, Edward and Trudy Friesen, brother Ken Friesen, sister-in-law Bridget Friesen and sweet son, Sheldon.
The family would like to thank the staff and community at Legion H
ouse, her homecare workers, especially Grant and Karen, Lynn Penner, Doctor Kevin Convery, the staff at Boundary Trails and especially the people who cared for her during her last two weeks in Palliative Care.
Well done, good and faithful servant. It is well with your soul.
(nee Friesen)
May 7, 1945 - October 17, 2025
Eileen Mae was born in May of 1945, the second child of Edward and Trudy Friesen and the first of three daughters. Two brothers took the spots of youngest and oldest in their family of seven. She was blue-eyed with ginger coloured hair and spent most of her childhood in the house on the corner in Plum Coulee. As a child, she enjoyed family trips and summers at the cottage at Nutimik. Family, faith, and friends were the values that were most important to her, and this started in these early years. She had a steady presence and strength that carried her throughout her life.
As a family, they attended the Church of God. She accepted Jesus into her life at a young age. Eileen, Lynette and Lorna sang for different events, coached by their dad on how to stand and hold their hands. She had many friends at church and in the community. They were drawn to her easy going nature and sense of fun.
In 1963, she married Don Penner and they had three boys: Lyndon, Sheldon and Trevor. These were busy years, keeping up with challenges of being a young mom. They moved many times and in each house, Eileen worked to make it a home. In 1976 they settled on a farmyard just outside of Miami. When the boys were all teenagers with bottomless appetites, she would hide food and sometimes forget where she had hidden it. When she looked back at those years now, she would shake her head and laugh and say ‘Hol em du gru’.
She had different odd jobs when the boys were young to help support the family, but started working regularly when they moved to Morden. She worked at the Morden Florist and then spent many years at Paperworks/Solutions. While here, often customers ended up becoming friends. We wouldn’t say that she was nosy, but sometimes she said that she had to know what was going on with people, so she would know what to pray for.
Her family growing, with the addition of grandchildren were extra happy days. When Melissa was born, it was hard to believe that anyone had ever had a grandchild before her. The grandchildren all talked about the love they felt from her. That she was protective and proud of them and that being around her was like a warm hug. Treats like brown sugar toast, chicken noodle soup from Kopper Kettle and flat ginger ale when they were sick made them feel extra cared for. They loved their matching jammies and slippers at Christmas, even when the slippers were five times too big. They always got happy birthday phone calls and lots of hugs and kisses. Nothing made her happier than being together as a family.
As she moved into retirement, she was a caregiver for many. She drove people in her building to appointments and was a paid caregiver for a few families. She had a servant's heart.
She loved her apartment at Legion House. Being surrounded with her books, her many pictures of family and watching her Blue Jays, curling, golf or tennis made her content.
Even though she couldn’t travel far, she loved a little road trip. For many years, Lorna, Leanne and Eileen escaped Morden during the Corn and Apple Festival for a weekend at the Holiday Inn in Winnipeg. They also spent many summers at Clear Lake with Lynette joining them. Here the highlights were nachos at 1929 and lasagna at TR McCoys. Any appointment in Winnipeg was planned around a Starbuck’s visit and lunch out.
The last years were filled with many appointments to manage her pain and limited mobility. She gave up driving her little red truck and some of her independence. She continued to be positive and her faith deepened. She has many notebooks filled with scripture passages and readings that were meaningful to her. She lived a quiet faith but prayed daily for her family, her sons, her grandchildren, great grandchildren, siblings and extended family and friends. Through her faith she demonstrated great strength. She was stronger than any of us realized and proved that in her last days.
She was loved and will be missed dearly by her boys, Lyndon and Trevor. Grandchildren: Melissa, Hayley, Duncan, Jordan and Jessica, Julie, Owen and Trisha, Belle and Dawson and Duncan. Special great grandchildren: Mason, Liam, Adelyn, Aleyah, Oakley and Oliver. Siblings: Lynette and Lloyd Penner, Lorna Friesen, Blair Friesen. Sisters-in-Law: Sue Friesen and Peg and Dave Epp. She was predeceased by her parents, Edward and Trudy Friesen, brother Ken Friesen, sister-in-law Bridget Friesen and sweet son, Sheldon.
The family would like to thank the staff and community at Legion H
ouse, her homecare workers, especially Grant and Karen, Lynn Penner, Doctor Kevin Convery, the staff at Boundary Trails and especially the people who cared for her during her last two weeks in Palliative Care.
Well done, good and faithful servant. It is well with your soul.