Mary Penner (nee Hiebert) ObituaryMary Martha Penner nee Hiebert
Mom was born to Cornelius and Katherina Hiebert on April 19th, 1941. She arrived just minutes after her twin brother Jake. She and Jake were the oldest of 6 children. They grew up in the 1-6 district. Technically it was about 1/2 a mile away from where
Boundary Trails Hospital sits now. They would walk to school. Mom always joked that the song “marching to Zion” was their going to school song as they went to Zion school. She got her drivers license by her brother taking her to Winkler, the mayor asked if she could drive and she got her license. She met dad at a hockey game in Winkler. Dad was from Morden and went to the hockey games in Winkler to cause a disturbance by sitting with the Winklerites and cheering for Morden.
Mom and Dad were married on October 21st, 1962. They spent their first part of their
married life on dad’s parents farm just outside of Morden and then moved to a small
dairy farm in the Elm Creek area. 5 children later and a lot of work they moved from Elm Creek to Roseisle in the fall of 1976. Between the dairy farm, mom’s huge garden, a busy household with 5 kids in school and different life adventures she was busy. But she made time for friends, family, faith and fishing. Later mom and dad left the dairy and moved into the hills south of Roseisle. There they spent time making their garden flourish, adding new designs for flower beds and watching their family grow. Mom really
got more into making stuffed animals/stuffies for sale by order. She also got into
quilting. Hours and hours and hours of quilting, you could say, “addicted.” Could hardly
stop to eat if there was a quilt on the frame. She carried that with her when they moved
to Morden in December 2006. Gardening, quilting, closer to family and hospitals/doctors
as Dad started chemo and cancer treatments.
With dad’s passing, mom found living all alone in that big house became too much for
her and she made the decision to move to Homestead South in February of 2018. She
loved her 2 bedroom suite. One for sleeping and the other one for quilting. Physical
limitations and memory lapses became a challenge for her. Quilting became difficult and
with her memory lapses, she started struggling. It broke our hearts to see that last and
final quilt untouched and sitting on the frame for many months. But even when you
talked with her, she was still busy quilting.
Mom deteriorated even more as the spinal stenosis caused her much pain in her back.
Walking was a challenge. Taking care of herself was a huge chore. We as a family
added home care visits to her daily routine. It helped to relieve some of the time that we
as a family could not spend with her, knowing that someone was looking in on her
several times a day.
Finally with some health issues, she moved out of Homestead South, spent a few
months at Boundary Trails Hospital, then Swan Lake Hospital and her last move to
Tabor Home in January of 2025. In this last year of her life, she was well taken care of
and people showed us their care and concern for mom. She was well liked and to them,
she was a joy to have around. Easy to talk to, didn’t demand much and really liked the
simple things. We as a family are very thankful for the care she received from all the
staff in every place she stayed for a few months over this last year.
There are several people in Mom’s life that deserve an honorable mention.
Mom was a faithful letter writer and with that she has had a pen pal that she faithfully
kept in touch with since 1956. Mom and Jean Isaac wrote many letters back and forth
up until the time that Mom’s memory started failing. A few times we set mom up to
Facetime and although for her it was awkward, they had great visits. Jean was an
important part of Mom’s life and we are thankful for that friendship.
Another friend of Mom’s was Susan Fehr. Thank you for taking the time to visit her and
support her. She considered you a very close friend. You were important to her.
There is one other person we want to thank. One young man from the church took it
upon himself to pick mom up for church faithfully. All we heard about every Sunday, was
this nice young man, picked me up for church today. William, we are forever grateful
that you chose to do that. Mom was honored and you were very instrumental in helping
her stay connected to the church. Thank you.
Mary Martha Penner, nee Hiebert leaves to mourn her children. Sons, Larry and Elenor
Penner of Coaldale, AB, Brian and Jennifer Penner of Carberry, MB, daughters Angela
and Darren Nickel of Altona, MB and Phyllis and Martin Marin of Morden, MB
Grand Children: Kyle and Crystal Penner, Chelsey and Eric Schubert, Caleb Penner,
Noah Penner, Rachel and Jordan Hepburn, Jonathon and Zachary Nickel, Owen and
Bentley Marin Great Grandchildren, Ethan, Natalie and Andrew Penner, Levi and Ainsley Schubert,
Mikayla, Tylor, Luke & Lauren Hepburn.
Mary also leaves to mourn 1 sister, 2 brothers and their spouses and 1 sister-in-law, 3
Sisters in laws and 1 brother-in-law on the Penner side. Many nieces and nephews on
both the Penner and Hiebert side of the family.
Mary was predeceased by her husband George W. Penner in 2014 and daughter Karen
Penner in 2023, Her parents, Brothers Jake and Sister-in-law Betty Hiebert and Dave
Hiebert.
We as family would like to thank the staff at Homestead South, Tabor Home, Swan
Lake Hospital and Boundary Trails Health Centre for the care they all provided to Mom.
We would like to Thank Morden GMC for being a part of Mom’s church family.
And thank you to those that have joined us today in celebrating the life of our Mom. She
loved family, friends and Jesus. We as family have lost our biggest prayer warrior, but
she fought hard to stay in the moment, but was challenged by memory loss. One of
Mom’s favorite verse came from I John 5:14 & 15. She had them underlined in her
Bible. “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything
according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us – whatever we ask-
we know that we have asked of him.” She told us everyday that she was praying for us.
We will miss that.
Mom was born to Cornelius and Katherina Hiebert on April 19th, 1941. She arrived just minutes after her twin brother Jake. She and Jake were the oldest of 6 children. They grew up in the 1-6 district. Technically it was about 1/2 a mile away from where
Boundary Trails Hospital sits now. They would walk to school. Mom always joked that the song “marching to Zion” was their going to school song as they went to Zion school. She got her drivers license by her brother taking her to Winkler, the mayor asked if she could drive and she got her license. She met dad at a hockey game in Winkler. Dad was from Morden and went to the hockey games in Winkler to cause a disturbance by sitting with the Winklerites and cheering for Morden.
Mom and Dad were married on October 21st, 1962. They spent their first part of their
married life on dad’s parents farm just outside of Morden and then moved to a small
dairy farm in the Elm Creek area. 5 children later and a lot of work they moved from Elm Creek to Roseisle in the fall of 1976. Between the dairy farm, mom’s huge garden, a busy household with 5 kids in school and different life adventures she was busy. But she made time for friends, family, faith and fishing. Later mom and dad left the dairy and moved into the hills south of Roseisle. There they spent time making their garden flourish, adding new designs for flower beds and watching their family grow. Mom really
got more into making stuffed animals/stuffies for sale by order. She also got into
quilting. Hours and hours and hours of quilting, you could say, “addicted.” Could hardly
stop to eat if there was a quilt on the frame. She carried that with her when they moved
to Morden in December 2006. Gardening, quilting, closer to family and hospitals/doctors
as Dad started chemo and cancer treatments.
With dad’s passing, mom found living all alone in that big house became too much for
her and she made the decision to move to Homestead South in February of 2018. She
loved her 2 bedroom suite. One for sleeping and the other one for quilting. Physical
limitations and memory lapses became a challenge for her. Quilting became difficult and
with her memory lapses, she started struggling. It broke our hearts to see that last and
final quilt untouched and sitting on the frame for many months. But even when you
talked with her, she was still busy quilting.
Mom deteriorated even more as the spinal stenosis caused her much pain in her back.
Walking was a challenge. Taking care of herself was a huge chore. We as a family
added home care visits to her daily routine. It helped to relieve some of the time that we
as a family could not spend with her, knowing that someone was looking in on her
several times a day.
Finally with some health issues, she moved out of Homestead South, spent a few
months at Boundary Trails Hospital, then Swan Lake Hospital and her last move to
Tabor Home in January of 2025. In this last year of her life, she was well taken care of
and people showed us their care and concern for mom. She was well liked and to them,
she was a joy to have around. Easy to talk to, didn’t demand much and really liked the
simple things. We as a family are very thankful for the care she received from all the
staff in every place she stayed for a few months over this last year.
There are several people in Mom’s life that deserve an honorable mention.
Mom was a faithful letter writer and with that she has had a pen pal that she faithfully
kept in touch with since 1956. Mom and Jean Isaac wrote many letters back and forth
up until the time that Mom’s memory started failing. A few times we set mom up to
Facetime and although for her it was awkward, they had great visits. Jean was an
important part of Mom’s life and we are thankful for that friendship.
Another friend of Mom’s was Susan Fehr. Thank you for taking the time to visit her and
support her. She considered you a very close friend. You were important to her.
There is one other person we want to thank. One young man from the church took it
upon himself to pick mom up for church faithfully. All we heard about every Sunday, was
this nice young man, picked me up for church today. William, we are forever grateful
that you chose to do that. Mom was honored and you were very instrumental in helping
her stay connected to the church. Thank you.
Mary Martha Penner, nee Hiebert leaves to mourn her children. Sons, Larry and Elenor
Penner of Coaldale, AB, Brian and Jennifer Penner of Carberry, MB, daughters Angela
and Darren Nickel of Altona, MB and Phyllis and Martin Marin of Morden, MB
Grand Children: Kyle and Crystal Penner, Chelsey and Eric Schubert, Caleb Penner,
Noah Penner, Rachel and Jordan Hepburn, Jonathon and Zachary Nickel, Owen and
Bentley Marin Great Grandchildren, Ethan, Natalie and Andrew Penner, Levi and Ainsley Schubert,
Mikayla, Tylor, Luke & Lauren Hepburn.
Mary also leaves to mourn 1 sister, 2 brothers and their spouses and 1 sister-in-law, 3
Sisters in laws and 1 brother-in-law on the Penner side. Many nieces and nephews on
both the Penner and Hiebert side of the family.
Mary was predeceased by her husband George W. Penner in 2014 and daughter Karen
Penner in 2023, Her parents, Brothers Jake and Sister-in-law Betty Hiebert and Dave
Hiebert.
We as family would like to thank the staff at Homestead South, Tabor Home, Swan
Lake Hospital and Boundary Trails Health Centre for the care they all provided to Mom.
We would like to Thank Morden GMC for being a part of Mom’s church family.
And thank you to those that have joined us today in celebrating the life of our Mom. She
loved family, friends and Jesus. We as family have lost our biggest prayer warrior, but
she fought hard to stay in the moment, but was challenged by memory loss. One of
Mom’s favorite verse came from I John 5:14 & 15. She had them underlined in her
Bible. “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything
according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us – whatever we ask-
we know that we have asked of him.” She told us everyday that she was praying for us.
We will miss that.