HELEN DRIEDGER

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HELEN DRIEDGER It is with great sadness that we announce our mothers passing on May 23, 2004. Helen (Lenchen) Braun, was born on October 21, 1914, in Grigorievka, Ukraine, to Johann and Helene (Martens) Braun. The family immigrated to Canada in 1925 when mother was 10 years old. She was young enough to feel the excitement of the journey and old enough to sense the worry and anxiousness of her parents. She was baptized into the Schoenfelder Gemeinde in Pigeon Lake in 1934 by Altester Johann Klassen. Her greatest joy at that time was teaching Sunday school. Our mothers dream was to become a nurse but she was needed at home to help with the farm work. She helped her parents on the farm until she married Abraham Driedger in 1941. Our father was an entrepreneur and our mother was a confident participant in his ventures. Their most successful business was the Rainbow Inn which later became Lous Restaurant combined with a service station and bulk oil dealership in the town of Grunthal. After dad passed away in 1980 mom moved to Winnipeg to be near her children. Here she joined the First Mennonite Church and the Edelweiss Verein. She loved being a grandmother and was known as "Oma" to all. She was very proud that she could drive her car until she was 85 and that she never had an accident. She enjoyed making regular visits to her relatives and acquaintances in hospitals and nursing homes. She was always an avid sports fan and maintained her enthusiasm even in her later years although very few people her age shared her interest. She leaves to mourn her son Herold and his wife Lorraine; daughter Melita and husband Dave Ennis; grandchildren, Laurie Driedger and Rick Bohna, Michelle Driedger and husband Jason Morrison, Janine Ennis and husband Trevor Ray, and John Ennis and Al-Lisa McKay; great-grandchildren, Sydney, Aidan, Matthew and Noah; sister Melita Klassen; sisters-in-law, Annie Braun, Erica Heinrichs, Helen Driedger, Agnes Warkentin, Helen Unger, Agatha Guenther, Anne Hildebrandt, Nettie Krahn, Elsie Martens; brother-in-law Peter Driedger and wife Alice; many nieces and nephews, relatives and friends. Funeral services will be held on Friday, May 28 at 2:00 p.m. at the First Mennonite Church, 922 Notre Dame Ave. Viewing will be held at Klassen Funeral Chapel on Thursday, May 27 from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, those who wish, can make donations to the Mennonite Central Committee, 134 Plaza Dr., Winnipeg, R3T 5K9. KLASSEN Funeral Chapel 1897 Henderson - North of McIvor -338-0331

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on May 27, 2004