Helena (Helen) Klassen
(nee Friesen)June 25, 1930 - April 14, 2025
It is with saddened hearts and eyes filled with tears but also hearts overflowing with rejoicing and praises to God our Father, that we announce the passing of our mother.
On Monday, April 14, 2025, at the dawn of the morning, our mother passed away peacefully in her sleep.
Having almost reached the age of 95, mom was blessed with a healthy body. Besides some Tylenol for her arthritis and some antidepressants to help her deal with her memory loss, she used no medication. This last Friday, April 11, mom had a very difficult day with severe chest pain and headaches. By the end of the day she seemed to do be doing better but there still was some pain in the next few days, giving us as family the thoughts that she would probably not be with us much longer.
She leaves to mourn her children:
Betty Nickel & her husband Henry
David Klassen & his wife Anne
Trudy Wiebe & her husband Henry
Mary Penner and her husband David
... 22 grandchildren, 55 great grandchildren, many nieces & nephews, cousins and friends.
She was predeceased by her husband, David M. Klassen 8 years ago, a granddaughter in infancy, all her siblings and all of her siblings in-laws.
Mom was born June 25, 1930 to her parents Peter & Sarah (Neufeld) Friesen.
She grew up in the Mason school district south of Morden. Here she spent all her childhood years; a place where her memory has gone many a time these last years when her mind lived in the past.
She was richly blessed with loving, god-fearing parents that nurtured her into the beautiful mom that we had. Through this and the nudging of the Holy Spirit she chose to be baptized at a young age in the Sommerfelder Church in Osterwick.
Of all the memories that mom has shared, we envision a beautiful care-free girl with ponytails skipping off to school along the country road or sometimes taking the shortcut through the pasture, but always keeping an eye on the bull.
We see a happy girl that loved to learn; the one that mastered grade 1 and 2 in one year; a curious girl that had to check all the watermelons in her mom’s garden to see if they were ripe.
Her beauty and charm caught the eye of our dad and in 1956, on July 8, they were united in marriage in which she remained faithful until the passing of her husband of 60.5 years. There dating was done with dad’s gravel truck which also took them to Saskatchewan on their honeymoon.
During their marriage they lived in Saskatchewan where dad hauled gravel; In Hochfeld for a short time and then in the spring of 1959 they moved to the 1-6 farm south of Morden. Retirement was in Winkler and lastly now, Salem Home for 7.5 years.
They were blessed with 4 children: 1 son & 3 daughters, whom they cherished and taught the values of life & salvation.
Mom was a patient, loving mom who loved to cook and garden. So many a time the house was filled with baking aroma when we came home from school... especially the baking of bread. Even in later years she would bless us with fresh baked loaf of bread before we’d go home. I wonder how many loaves of bread she baked in her lifetime?
She was a mom that allowed us adventure...digging open the culvert that the beavers had closed, minnow fishing in the creek, catching frogs in the pond amongst the mud, making roads in the bush with dirt & water, “helping” dad’s worker in the shop amongst the grease & dirt.
As her role as a farmer’s wife, mom faithfully recorded the grain market prices each day for dad. The radio also brought her many hours of relaxation as she listened to Christian programs such as Back to the Bible, Hour of Hymns, and many others.
Saskatoon picking, in the bush around or land or out by La Riviere, was a unique family experience. We still envision the picnic lunch of a loaf of bread, a pack of wieners, a tin can of pork & beans and a jar of canned raspberries. The sound of dad shouting to his family to immediately exit the bush and our family dog, Prince, barking because he had discovered a mother coyote with her young, still echo in our minds. That was family vacation for us and it was good.
Mom showed us the example of hospitality when she served our guests or us as an extended family with a table full of faspa, sharing her garden produce with others and taking in her parents to live with us as they aged.
We remember how upset she got at us siblings, this didn’t include Mary, she was too young, when we bickered over “little things”. She would respond with saying,” Daut scheent mie shwierich wan ye junt noch mol woaren befrieen. (I can’t see how you will ever get along with your marriage partners). Sure glad we did grow up!
Throughout her mothering was a foundation of expectation & spiritual truth; rules weren’t written – there was expectation – she taught us to “use our head – we knew what was right”. She never sought to fill her house or life with “pretty” things. Mom served us as long as her health & mind allowed. Even in Salem she would sometimes refuse to eat her snack without insisting on sharing it with us.
Our memories are filled with love and compassion. We remember her sitting on the living room bench, reading her Bible. And when going through tough times, it was very important for her to pray. She loved to bring in fresh flowers from the garden to display on the kitchen table for Sunday.
We have so many memories of our beloved mother, whose kindness warmed every heart and whose cooking brought comfort to all who tasted it. David will never forget the simple beautiful moments – like when she would wave a white cloth from the yard to call him in from the fields for supper. Her love was in every gesture, every meal, & every memory. She will be dearly missed and forever cherished.
We feel richly blessed to have her as our mother. A writer expresses it for us:
When God first created the moon & the stars and placed them in the skies,
When He spoke the Word that created Mars, & all the planets way up high,
When he separated the dark from the light & made the skies so blue
And when He ordained the day and night,
God knew we needed you, mom.
When God made us in your motherly womb
And saw us entering into this world, such a big and scary place,
God knew we needed you, mom.
When God made us to grow & bloom to a human that had choice,
To seek & find salvation free,
God knew we needed you, mom.
And when God saw us lonely, that we needed a lover,
Who would always be true,
God guided and blessed and you let go.
God knew we needed you, mom.
As we plan to put your body to rest and focus on your soul, we realize that all your loving and kind deeds on this earth will not be sufficient to find favor with our almighty God. It is only through the loving grace of God and the sacrifice of His son Jesus Christ, that her entry into heaven will be granted.
We as a family would like to thank all those who have been a blessing to our mom in any way. If you have smiled, reached out a hand, visited her and prayed for her, God bless you for your kindness.
We would also like to thank all those to who helped in this final part of her journey, the serving ladies, the song leaders, ministerial, Wiebes funeral home and a special big thank you to the staff at Salem. We appreciate all you did for our mom that we could not do. You were her “Sweethearts”!
In closing, to everyone, we echo mom’s last words to us on Friday – “Do you have enough oil in your lamp?”
We mourn, but not without hope! Our hope is in an eternal reunion in heaven.
Love, The Family
(nee Friesen)June 25, 1930 - April 14, 2025
It is with saddened hearts and eyes filled with tears but also hearts overflowing with rejoicing and praises to God our Father, that we announce the passing of our mother.
On Monday, April 14, 2025, at the dawn of the morning, our mother passed away peacefully in her sleep.
Having almost reached the age of 95, mom was blessed with a healthy body. Besides some Tylenol for her arthritis and some antidepressants to help her deal with her memory loss, she used no medication. This last Friday, April 11, mom had a very difficult day with severe chest pain and headaches. By the end of the day she seemed to do be doing better but there still was some pain in the next few days, giving us as family the thoughts that she would probably not be with us much longer.
She leaves to mourn her children:
Betty Nickel & her husband Henry
David Klassen & his wife Anne
Trudy Wiebe & her husband Henry
Mary Penner and her husband David
... 22 grandchildren, 55 great grandchildren, many nieces & nephews, cousins and friends.
She was predeceased by her husband, David M. Klassen 8 years ago, a granddaughter in infancy, all her siblings and all of her siblings in-laws.
Mom was born June 25, 1930 to her parents Peter & Sarah (Neufeld) Friesen.
She grew up in the Mason school district south of Morden. Here she spent all her childhood years; a place where her memory has gone many a time these last years when her mind lived in the past.
She was richly blessed with loving, god-fearing parents that nurtured her into the beautiful mom that we had. Through this and the nudging of the Holy Spirit she chose to be baptized at a young age in the Sommerfelder Church in Osterwick.
Of all the memories that mom has shared, we envision a beautiful care-free girl with ponytails skipping off to school along the country road or sometimes taking the shortcut through the pasture, but always keeping an eye on the bull.
We see a happy girl that loved to learn; the one that mastered grade 1 and 2 in one year; a curious girl that had to check all the watermelons in her mom’s garden to see if they were ripe.
Her beauty and charm caught the eye of our dad and in 1956, on July 8, they were united in marriage in which she remained faithful until the passing of her husband of 60.5 years. There dating was done with dad’s gravel truck which also took them to Saskatchewan on their honeymoon.
During their marriage they lived in Saskatchewan where dad hauled gravel; In Hochfeld for a short time and then in the spring of 1959 they moved to the 1-6 farm south of Morden. Retirement was in Winkler and lastly now, Salem Home for 7.5 years.
They were blessed with 4 children: 1 son & 3 daughters, whom they cherished and taught the values of life & salvation.
Mom was a patient, loving mom who loved to cook and garden. So many a time the house was filled with baking aroma when we came home from school... especially the baking of bread. Even in later years she would bless us with fresh baked loaf of bread before we’d go home. I wonder how many loaves of bread she baked in her lifetime?
She was a mom that allowed us adventure...digging open the culvert that the beavers had closed, minnow fishing in the creek, catching frogs in the pond amongst the mud, making roads in the bush with dirt & water, “helping” dad’s worker in the shop amongst the grease & dirt.
As her role as a farmer’s wife, mom faithfully recorded the grain market prices each day for dad. The radio also brought her many hours of relaxation as she listened to Christian programs such as Back to the Bible, Hour of Hymns, and many others.
Saskatoon picking, in the bush around or land or out by La Riviere, was a unique family experience. We still envision the picnic lunch of a loaf of bread, a pack of wieners, a tin can of pork & beans and a jar of canned raspberries. The sound of dad shouting to his family to immediately exit the bush and our family dog, Prince, barking because he had discovered a mother coyote with her young, still echo in our minds. That was family vacation for us and it was good.
Mom showed us the example of hospitality when she served our guests or us as an extended family with a table full of faspa, sharing her garden produce with others and taking in her parents to live with us as they aged.
We remember how upset she got at us siblings, this didn’t include Mary, she was too young, when we bickered over “little things”. She would respond with saying,” Daut scheent mie shwierich wan ye junt noch mol woaren befrieen. (I can’t see how you will ever get along with your marriage partners). Sure glad we did grow up!
Throughout her mothering was a foundation of expectation & spiritual truth; rules weren’t written – there was expectation – she taught us to “use our head – we knew what was right”. She never sought to fill her house or life with “pretty” things. Mom served us as long as her health & mind allowed. Even in Salem she would sometimes refuse to eat her snack without insisting on sharing it with us.
Our memories are filled with love and compassion. We remember her sitting on the living room bench, reading her Bible. And when going through tough times, it was very important for her to pray. She loved to bring in fresh flowers from the garden to display on the kitchen table for Sunday.
We have so many memories of our beloved mother, whose kindness warmed every heart and whose cooking brought comfort to all who tasted it. David will never forget the simple beautiful moments – like when she would wave a white cloth from the yard to call him in from the fields for supper. Her love was in every gesture, every meal, & every memory. She will be dearly missed and forever cherished.
We feel richly blessed to have her as our mother. A writer expresses it for us:
When God first created the moon & the stars and placed them in the skies,
When He spoke the Word that created Mars, & all the planets way up high,
When he separated the dark from the light & made the skies so blue
And when He ordained the day and night,
God knew we needed you, mom.
When God made us in your motherly womb
And saw us entering into this world, such a big and scary place,
God knew we needed you, mom.
When God made us to grow & bloom to a human that had choice,
To seek & find salvation free,
God knew we needed you, mom.
And when God saw us lonely, that we needed a lover,
Who would always be true,
God guided and blessed and you let go.
God knew we needed you, mom.
As we plan to put your body to rest and focus on your soul, we realize that all your loving and kind deeds on this earth will not be sufficient to find favor with our almighty God. It is only through the loving grace of God and the sacrifice of His son Jesus Christ, that her entry into heaven will be granted.
We as a family would like to thank all those who have been a blessing to our mom in any way. If you have smiled, reached out a hand, visited her and prayed for her, God bless you for your kindness.
We would also like to thank all those to who helped in this final part of her journey, the serving ladies, the song leaders, ministerial, Wiebes funeral home and a special big thank you to the staff at Salem. We appreciate all you did for our mom that we could not do. You were her “Sweethearts”!
In closing, to everyone, we echo mom’s last words to us on Friday – “Do you have enough oil in your lamp?”
We mourn, but not without hope! Our hope is in an eternal reunion in heaven.
Love, The Family