HELENE DYCK -

Adjust Text Size: A+ A-

HELENE DYCK 1917 - 2003 Peacefully in the early morning of Sunday, March 9, 2003, with her family at her side at Bethesda Hospital in Steinbach, Helene Dyck of Steinbach, aged 86, went on to eternal rest after being in frail health for some time. Besides her loving husband Jacob A. Dyck of 58 years, our mother is survived by four children, six grandchildren and one great-grandchild: Peter and his wife Aida of Steinbach, their twin daughters Lisa (Dan) Stiver, Leilani (Jamie) Kagan and son Joshua Kagan, all of Winnipeg; daughter Helene of Steinbach; son Jake and wife Dianne and their children Tyler and Kassandra of Steinbach, and daughter Anne and husband Edwin Janz and their children Leighton and Natasha, also of Steinbach. Mom is also survived by a sister Tina (Janzen), and her husband Peter Loewen of the Steinbach area, and sister-in-law Justina Quiring of Germany. She was predeceased by her brother Johan Quiring of Tajikistan in 1987. Our mother was born on February 11, 1917 in Gruenfeld, Ukraine to Peter and Anna Quiring. She lost her parents early, her father to the violence of post-revolutionary Russia and her mother to illness. She was baptized in her home community in 1945. Raised in several foster homes, she grew up learning a variety of skills, including photography and film processing, animal care and farm mechanics. She was also fluent in several languages. Mother was a determined woman who was able to survive many early hardships, among them the great famines forced on the rural population by Josef Stalin which claimed millions. In her mid-20s, she became engaged to our father who grew up in a nearby village. Although separated by circumstance of war, the young couple, having earlier fled Ukraine, were reunited and married in Germany on February 22, 1945. The wedding meal was briefly interrupted by a bombing attack which sent everyone to the basement for safety. The newlyweds managed to escape to the Allied-controlled German zone, thereby being spared a brutal forced return to Russia as were so many other Mennonite people. The couples first child, a son, was born the following year. More than two years later, the small family managed to immigrate to Canada where they spent the first year in Pincher Creek, AB on the Isaac Penner farm to work off the $400 travel debt. The move to Steinbach was their last. Here Mother devoted herself to her family, all the while supplementing family income with part-time work in the beet fields and helping out with Dads sideline custodial work for many years. She took great pride in the large family garden, which each year yielded an abundance of produce and fruit while thousands of flowers brightened the neighbourhood. Mom and Dad had been active members of Steinbach Mennonite Church since the early 1950s where Mother participated in the sewing circle (Naehverein), and also worked in custodial services. Although forced by failing health to ease off on some of these activities in more recent years, Mother was still busy baking the day before she entered hospital for her final few days. Funeral services will be held Wednesday, March 12, at 2:00 p.m. at Steinbach Mennonite Church, 345 Loewen Blvd., with Rev. Peter Harms and Rev. Abe Neufeld officiating. Interment will follow at the Heritage Cemetery. Pallbearers are the six grandchildren. Donations in her memory to the Heart and Stroke Foundation or the Canadian Foodgrains Bank will be gratefully accepted. The family expresses its gratitude and appreciation to Dr. Myron Thiessen and nursing staff at Bethesda Hospital for making every effort to ensure Mothers last days were comfortable. Bis hierher hat uns der Herr geholfen. The family Arrangements entrusted to: Birchwood Funeral Chapel 150 Penfeld Dr.; Steinbach, MB 1-888-454-1030 or 1-204-346-1030

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Mar 11, 2003