FRANK F. REIMER

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FRANK F. REIMER Frank Friesen Reimer was born in Steinbach, MB on June 23, 1908 and died peacefully at Calvary Place in Winnipeg on June 24, 2006, the day after his 98th birthday. He was predeceased by our mother, Margaret (nee Penner) on May 20th, 1971, and by his second wife, Evelyn (nee Tibstra) on November 25th, 1995. He leaves behind three sons and one daughter, 11 grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren, Delbert (Noreen) Reimer Marcia (Tim) Fretheim (David, Sara and Erin), Debby (Doug) Harink (Elizabeth and Allison), Judi Reimer (Jillian and Taya), Ross (Wendy) Reimer (Alex and Riley); Donald (Anne) Reimer Doug (Dawn) Reimer (Jordan, Tyler and Keegan), Jim (Sandy) Reimer, Kelly (Sydney) Reimer (Alessandra, Arianne); Gerald (June) Reimer Darcy (Tara) Reimer (Hannah and Joshua), Sheri (Merlin) Braun (Kristen and Matthew); Grace (Ken) Betzold - Patricia (Grant) Wainikka (Abigail, Victoria and William), Stephanie Betzold. He was predeceased by two infant great-granddaughters, Leah Reimer and Rachel Reimer. Our father was also predeceased by his parents, Peter B. and Helena Reimer and his step-mother Katherine, as well as siblings Otto, Anne, Katherine, Werner, Paul and Charlotte. He is survived by siblings, Amanda, Carl (Annie), Eric Menno, Peter (Gwen), Henriette (Victor Reimer), Arlie (Wally Roberts), and brother-in-law Christopher Kennedy. For the first years of his life, Dad lived in the hamlet of Giroux, near Steinbach, where he attended school and also spent his first years of employment after which he moved to Steinbach where he worked with his father Peter B. Reimer for the Reimer Trading Company. Our father was an energetic entrepreneur and a merchant. In Steinbach he managed P.B. Reimer Sons and the Steinbach Feed Service Mill. He was generally known about town as Carload Frank' because of his penchant for purchasing merchandise by the carload which he then both retailed and wholesaled from his hometown. In 1952 he assisted his son, Donald, in founding Reimer Express Lines Ltd. Our father was a man of great faith, having put his trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as a young man. He had an amazing ability to encourage everyone he met and because of his friendly, gregarious nature he met many more people than most do. He served on the boards of various Christian Ministry organizations throughout his life, including his church, Prairie Bible Institute, Evangelical Free Church of America, Greater Europe Mission (25 years, several as chairman), as well as Bibletown in Boca Raton, FL. As his age made it more difficult for Dad to move about, his prayer ministry expanded. He prayed on a daily basis for all his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren as well as for many other people, ministries and needs. The day our father passed away many members of our family gathered to reminisce about his life and the impact he had upon ourselves and others. There were some amusing incidents that we recalled including the one about his driver's licence. The day Dad died he still had a valid driver's licence with 5 merits of which he was justly proud. During his recent stay at St. Boniface Hospital he realized that it was licence renewal time. He was hoping to get it renewed once more because at the end of this month his current licence will expire. His family had a difficult time convincing him that it would no longer be possible for him to answer the necessary questions on the licence application form honestly. Life became very difficult for our dad during the past few weeks, but thankfully he was still able to communicate understandably on his birthday with some of his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Although we will all miss him deeply, we are thankful that God has chosen to relieve him of his pain and take him to his heavenly home where he has now met his Saviour face to face. He frequently quoted the Scripture verse, Eye hath not seen, not hath ear heard not hath entered into the heart of man the things that God hath prepared for those who love Him. Now Dad is experiencing those wonderful things which the rest of us cannot even begin to imagine. Funeral services will be held Thursday, June 29 at 2:00 p.m. at Winnipeg Evangelical Free Church, 500 Lagimodiere, with viewing at the church Wednesday, 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. with a devotional at 7:00. A private graveside service will be held on Thursday at 10:30 a.m. at Green Acres Memorial Gardens. Honorary pallbearers: Dr. John Foerster, Mr. Arnold Heron, Mr, Howard Moore, Mr. Neil Rempel and Mr. Joe Freed. We want to express our most heartfelt thanks and appreciation to the various medical and other personnel who took such good care of our beloved father during the past few months, including the following: his dear friend and personal physician, Dr. John Foerster, his special aide and friend. Mr.Willy Zienkiewicz, Mr. Kevin Friesen, Dr. Duane Hartley and the compassionate, caring staff at Calvary Place, as well as the doctors and staff at the St. Boniface Hospital. Thank you too, to his sister, Amanda Reimer for her faithful support and concern. Arrangements entrusted to Friends Funeral Service, 339-5555.

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Jun 27, 2006