Rev. John I. Peters
February 12, 1927 - October 27, 2025
John I Peters, loving husband, father, grandfather, and great grandfather passed away on October 27, 2025 at Salem Home in Winkler, Manitoba.
Dad was born on February 12, 1927 west of Haskett in a log cabin with a thatched roof. His parents were Isaac D. Peters and Anna (Siemens) Peters who were farmers. Dad had nine brothers and sisters. Dad took a trip on a ship to Paraguay with his parents and a couple of his siblings shortly after he was born, 2 years later they returned by ship and he has lived in Manitoba since then. He grew up in Osterwick and accepted Jesus as his personal Savior in 1946. Shortly after, he started praying about who he should marry. Dad was hauling gravel one day, when he stopped at the Blumenfeld store to buy something and Tena Neufeld was the clerk. Dad thought this beautiful dark-haired lady was the one. But as is often the case, there was competition from anther John, who played the violin very well. Dad was persistent, and with his romantic flair, Katharina Neufeld and John Peters were married on November 6, 1949. Mom had accepted Jesus Christ as her personal Savior, and was baptized in the Sommerfeld Church. Dad prayed about which church he should join and was baptized and joined the Sommerfeld Church shortly before they were married.
Dad had some help and built a small house in Osterwick where they lived for a number of years and then moved next door to a bigger house. It was during this time they had six children, 5 boys and 1 girl.
Mom and Dad took us to Sunday School and for many years he was a Sunday School teacher. As children in Sunday School where your dad is a teacher, and there are only curtains to separate classrooms, we siblings did not create trouble. I remember dad telling us that he was teaching the older class and there were 2 boys who were constantly poking each other and disrupting the class while he was teaching. Finally, thinking he could stop it, he went and sat between them. It didn’t take long and they were doing it behind his back. He grabbed both boys by an arm and asking the one on his right, “What did I just say in the lesson?” The boy repeated word for word. Then dad asked the boy on his left, “What did I say before that?” The boy repeated what dad had said. This has been a reminder to me that young people may not always appear to be paying attention, but they probably are!
Dad had the small general store in Osterwick, across from the school, and next to our house. If mom needed something, we would run next door and get it. We would receive a 10 cent allowance every month when family allowance came. Drinks and chocolate bars were 10 cents each. So, if you wanted to have a pop and a bar you had to save from one month to the next, and then you could eat both at the same time. The odd time dad was clearing out certain drinks or bars for 5 cents and then you could enjoy both without waiting. It was a good way for Mom and Dad to teach us the value of money.
People didn’t use credit or debit cards, so payment was by cash or cheque. Dad would let most people have a charge account at the store. This was very convenient as parents could send their children to the store and pick up something and they would pay at the end of the month. A few people didn’t pay. One evening we took some grain sacks along in our car and visited a farmer south west of Osterwick. We left his yard with a couple of bags of flax and his bill was marked paid even though the full amount had not been paid. When the store was sold there were very few outstanding accounts.
The store was a way of making some money, so they could buy a farm. In 1965 we moved from Osterwick to Wakeham on the side of the Pembina Hills. There was farmland, bush and pasture for cattle and a building for hogs. Dad was finally a farmer.
We were taught the value of work and enjoyed working with Mom and Dad. We planted and hoed in the garden, picked apples, saskatoons, chokecherries, raspberries, strawberries etc. We hauled bales by hand, lots of bales, and shoveled manure, lots of manure for the pigs and cattle. Probably didn’t always enjoy that! We milked cows by hand and later with a machine.
Dad was still teaching SS but felt that God was calling him to be a minister in the Sommerfeld Church. He prayed that he would not be asked until son Jake, the oldest, had a driver’s license so he could take the family to SS and church, while dad would preach in other Sommerfeld Churches. Dad asked mom and us children if we supported him as it would mean certain amount of time away from family and the farm. We said we did. Dad was ordained on February 4, 1968. Dad’s handwriting was not the neatest, so he would write out his sermon and Mom would copy it in neat handwriting. Being in ministry was a joint effort. As many of you know, Dad led youth groups, Bible studies, officiated at many weddings and funerals, as well as hospital visitations.
They retired to Morden in 1993 and lived there 24 years.
In 2017 Mom and Dad moved to Buhler Estates in Winkler. Mom was admitted to Salem in 2018 and passed away 2019. Dad continued to live at Buhler Estates and moved to Salem in November 2022. He appreciated the care he received. Thank you to the Doctors and Salem staff. Thank you as well to Wiebe’s Funeral Home.
He was predeceased by his wife Katharina (2019), his son Ernest (2025), his grandson Mark (1995).
Dad is survived by his children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.
Jake (and Sylvia) son Jason (and Loresa) with Teigan and Raegan; daughter Cynthia Hamilton with Quinn, Keira and Carys; daughter Stephanie (and Allan O’Ray) with Nolan and Grady; daughter Jacqueline (and John Schmidt) with Calysta (and Pete Fehr), Reed (and Abigail) and Tiana.
John (and Marjorie) daughter Heidi (and Reyburn Franz) with sons Ryan and Lucas; brother to Heidi (Mark – deceased 1995).
Anne
Ernest (deceased 2025) (Irene) daughter Tanya Derksen (partner Manju); son Derek (and Sherriann Dexter) with Raine and Cadence; son Clint; daughter Tracy (and Tyler Friesen) with Ava, Charlotte and Isabelle.
Harry (and Gertrude) daughter Angela (and Arron Goertzen) with Eli; daughter Theressa (and Tom Suderman) with Addison and Isla.
David (and Brenda) son Dustin (and Breanne), son Braedan (and Nayeli), son Dylan (and Hailey) with daughter Olive, son Tyler (and Aliviah), son Colton (and Kaitlyn).
Also survived by: Sister Helen, brother Dave and wife Linda, sister-in-law Adeline, brother Pete and wife Louise, sister-in-law Anne Rempel.