ALFRED FRIESEN

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ALFRED FRIESEN REIMER June 28, 1913 - September 15, 2007 ‘In the presence of his Maker and reunited with his sweetheart.’ At 1:31 in the afternoon, Saturday, September 15, 2007, at Bethesda Hospital, Steinbach, MB, Dad breathed his last to enter Glory. Dad was born in Steinbach, the son of a miller and engineer. During his early childhood years, the First World War was raging overseas. He began his working life during the Great Depression. At the onset of the Second World War he moved east, got married, and started a family. Following the war, he returned to Steinbach and entered into the first of his business enterprises, Brookside Hatchery, together with his father. The business was sold in 1952 in the midst of the financial hardship related to The Flood of 1950. While Dad was pursuing other business opportunities, cousin Frank Reimer approached him regarding the needed expansion of a fledgling trucking business, eastward. Since dad knew the east, and had contacts, he was named Eastern Division Manager of the newly formed Reimer Express Lines Ltd. He loaded up his pregnant wife and growing family of six children, and began a new life in Windsor, ON. Oldest son, Billy was in need of special help for his vision, and this move brought them closer to the school for the blind in Brantford. A few years later, the company moved them to Oakville. Two years later, when a move to Winnipeg, was requested by head office, Dad decided against it, to keep from uprooting his wife and family. These crossroads were an opportunity to start a business that was geared to the interests of his sons. Throughout the years, Dad always involved his children in his work, as soon as they were able. 1960 was the beginning of Reimer Motive Services, a multi faceted business charter. This began with the garage business, expanding to three garages and a full service automated car wash. There were also ventures into designing, engineering, and building machinery and equipment, mostly related to the car wash industry. As Dad’s sons and daughters left to begin their own careers and families, he scaled back his business to retain its manageability. Eventually all that he retained was the carwash, which was full of machinery that he had built or redesigned. Always being a grassroots engineer, he continued to design and engineer. His first venture back in the mid 1960’s was an automotive conveyor system which he designed for his carwash renovations. As a result Ford Motor Company of Oakville called on him to partner with them in designing and building and installing several production line conveyors over a period of a few years. This was followed by negotiations with oil companies and car wash equipment manufacturers on more of the same. Upon the closure of the car wash at age 75 he began working on drawings, patents and construction of the signature project, that occupied him until his entry to the hospital this spring. Because of the pioneering nature of his projects, and limited personal resources, Dad exercised the skills of resourcefulness ingrained in him during the “dirty 30s” to survive, and keep his dreams alive. Dad was a story teller, and he loved to relive the adventures of his life with any audience of two or three. A book would need to be written to do justice to his stories. Dad told many stories of his love and knowledge of horses. In the 1920's Dad placed first in the 4-H horse judging contest at The Brandon Fair. This spring some of his Steinbach grandchildren took him to the 100th anniversary of the Brandon Fair where he got to try his hand at judging some of the finest horses in Canada from the bleachers. Airplanes and flying fascinated Dad. Business called on him to fly with regional and national airlines frequently. Finally he took up gliding or soaring as it is more correctly known in his 60's. One of his favourite Canadians is the airline pilot who, in an emergency, landed a 636 dead stick at Gimli, MB. This was only possible because he was also a trained glider pilot. Spectator sports were an important recreation for dad in his busy life. Baseball was one of those that he loved to listen to on the radio because of its strategic nature. The one sport that covered more years in the life of our family than any other was auto racing. Dad himself loved to drive, and possessed the skill to safely get places very quickly. Unfortunately some of this rubbed off on his sons with negative consequences. The resolve was that if this penchant for building high performance cars and addiction to speed, could not be curbed by tickets and suspensions then it was time to enter the racing business. Dad supported these endeavours initially with garage space, etc, but always with his attendance and encouragement. As Dad grew older, and life responsibilities began to ease up, he was able to spend substantial amounts of time reading. He frequented libraries and book stores. Often, family members would receive a book from him that met us where we were, in our life’s’ journey. Dads’ faith was always being stretched as life would keep throwing challenges in his path. When facing disappointments he would always turn to God and ask “What are you trying to teach this stubborn old man?” He recognized the sovereignty of God, and yet he would not just sit back and let circumstances play themselves out. He felt strongly about taking the bull by the horns and face things head on. Dad served on many church boards and was a member of The Gideons responsible for placing Bibles in schools, hotels and hospitals. Dad lived out the nature of Jesus as he understood, and was able to emulate. He, during the years in the carwash, hired many difficult to employ adults and gave them responsibilities beyond what anyone would consider reasonable for them. They learned the dignity of work and responsibility. Some became so loyal to him that after Mom’s passing they invited him to join in Christmas celebrations with them for years to come. The 21 years following Mom’s passing left him with the responsibility of remembering birthdays and anniversaries. He found a way to do this that reflected his style. As sending cards and gifts became too enormous a task, he invented new ways of celebrating. His most recent practice was to arrive at Tim Horton’s wearing his white cap, and proceed to splurge by ordering a donut with his coffee. When his friends would ask him who he was celebrating today, the bragging would begin. Dad was not an easy person to know on an intimate level. For immediate family that can create difficulties. As a son or daughter there was always the challenge of meeting his high standards, yet when he had a chance to brag about his children he would hold us in highest esteem. Perhaps he saw in us the things he felt he had failed at himself. Dad, we loved you! Alfred was predeceased by his wife Margaret, son-in-law Ed, three sisters and four brothers. Left to cherish his memory are his children and their families, Bill and Loreen Reimer of Beamsville, ON, Dave Reimer, of Hamilton, ON, Dale and Lynda Reimer of Charlotte, NC, Elizabeth and Ron Morgan of Edmonton, AB, Ken and Cathy Reimer of Lusaka, Zambia, Susan Connor of Bancroft, ON, Jim and Marlene Reimer of Steinbach, MB. He is also survived by sisters, Betty and Dorothy of Calgary and brother Abe of Winnipeg. Viewing will be held at Birchwood Funeral Chapel, 150 Penfeld Dr., Steinbach on Tuesday, September 18 at 7:00 p.m. with a devotional at 7:30 p.m. The funeral service will be held Wednesday, September 19 at 2:00 p.m. at the Evangelical Mennonite Church, 422 Main St., Steinbach with interment at Memorial Cemetery. Arrangements by Birchwood Funeral Chapel 1-888-454-1030 or 1-204-346-1030

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Sep 18, 2007