Tribute

Ernst Wiebe was born on June 13, 1932, to Jakob and Maria Wiebe (née Braun), in Einlage, Ukraine, at a very difficult time. The famine of 1932 was beginning, and there was a great deal of uncertainty about what lay ahead.

Because of the seriousness of the times, his parents chose the name Ernst, a German name meaning “serious” or “earnest.” His grandfather was initially upset by the choice, believing that family tradition should have been followed and that the baby should have been named Jakob. In time, however, he gave his blessing to the name Ernst.

When Ernst was about five years old, his father was taken from the family farm and was never seen or heard from again. He missed his father deeply, and that loss stayed with him throughout his life.  In 1943, Ernst and his family were forced to flee their home in Ukraine and begin the long journey westward toward Germany. He often recalled just how intense that journey was. At one point, he travelled in a military caravan, seated beside an anti-aircraft gun. He remembered crowded train journeys alongside other displaced people, and suffering such severe frostbite on his foot that he was bedridden for some time.  Eventually, the family reached Germany, where they remained for several years.

After the war ended, they were finally able to leave Europe and begin a new life in Canada.  Their first stop was Winnipeg, where they were welcomed with open arms by many relatives who had already settled there. After spending a winter in Winnipeg, the family boarded the train once again, this time travelling west to British Columbia’s Lower Mainland.

Ernst found work at British Ropes in Vancouver before eventually purchasing a strawberry farm in the Otter area with his brother Jake. The Wiebe family attended Bethel Mennonite Church, where Ernst was baptized upon his profession of faith in Jesus Christ. His faith and his church community were an important part of his life. Over the years, he served as both a deacon and a Sunday school teacher.

It was also at Bethel that he met Grete, another young immigrant from Germany who would become his wife. Ernst and Grete were married in October 1960.  Together, they built a life and a family, eventually welcoming six children. Around this time, they transformed the strawberry farm into a chicken farm, starting with just 500 chicks in a brooder barn.  In 1980, the family moved from their farm on 248th Street to 264th Street, where Dad and Mom lived for the next 15 years. Later, they built a home next door, while their son Arthur took over the farm. Even as the next generation stepped in, Dad never really stopped being part of farm life. He continued helping for many years, even gathering eggs well into his eighties. For his grandchildren, those ordinary moments on the farm became some of the memories they would hold onto most.

Life was not all work, though. Dad enjoyed camping with friends and family, and he and mom loved to travel. Together, they went on cruises to Alaska, the Caribbean, and through the Panama Canal.  Above all, family was incredibly important to dad. His children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren brought him great joy, and he took a genuine interest in their lives. They were a very special part of his life, and the time he spent with them created memories that will continue to be treasured.

Dad’s life began in extraordinarily difficult circumstances. He experienced loss, war, displacement, and the upheaval of leaving one country and beginning again in another. And yet, from those difficult beginnings, he built a life rooted in faith, hard work, family, and community.

He was predeceased by his parents, his sister Irma and his grandson Louis.  He leaves behind his brother Jake, his beloved wife, Grete; his children Ruth, Ernie and Fran, Arthur and Heidi, Rita and Jeff, Allen and Julie, Annette and Stephen; ten grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. Together, they are part of the lasting legacy of the life he built — a life marked by faith, perseverance, love for his family.