Tribute

Mary was born on July 8th, 1924 to Johann Klassen and Maria Braun in the village of Tiege, Ukraine. Due to political unrest, her parents emigrated to Canada when Mary was 18 months old. Mary’s birth mother died when Mary was three.  Mary had memories of that time and the special bond she felt with her father. A year later, her father married Maria Martens and they settled in Blumenort, Saskatchewan.  Mary grew up with four younger siblings, John, Tena, Hilda, Frank and many cousins close by. Her youngest sister Lore arrived later, when Mary was a young adult.

Mary attended Rosthern Academy, a boarding school, for grades 11 and 12 and went on to Normal School to complete her studies to become a teacher. As a result of the war, she was called to finish her studies early and started teaching when she was 18. She taught ages 1 to 10 in a one room school house.   Mary taught school for three years in Saskatchewan before meeting her husband Henry Wiens while visiting family friends in Yarrow BC.  Henry had been on leave from work in Kamloops and was visiting his parents in Yarrow also. Their first meeting was in the berry patch on the Wiens farm. On her way back to Saskatchewan on the train, Henry asked her to stop in Kamloops for coffee. She wasn’t going to, but there were a lot of noisy soldiers on the train returning from the war so Mary decided to get off the train at 4 a.m. to have coffee with Henry, who then took her to some friends where she could get some sleep. The next day they spent the day together, including going for a rowboat ride. That evening Mary got back on the train and returned home to Saskatchewan. Henry and Mary started writing letters and Mary grew to love this man she had only spent a short time with in person. They were married in 1946.

Their first home was in Kamloops where Mary worked as a nurse’s aid at a TB sanitorium. After about a year they moved to Arnold and started farming.  Farming was a new career that proved to be challenging at times. She told the story of not being able to pay the raspberry pickers one year when the price of berries fell. Mary put on her best blue suit and drove to town to ask the Royal Bank for a loan to pay the pickers. Her request was successful.  The farm in Arnold was the start of their dairy business. It was also where their children were born, first Dorothy then Stan, Linda, Carolyn and Idella. The family lived here for 20 years where Mary was active in the Arnold MB church teaching Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, youth and women’s ministries.

In 1967, Mary and Henry bought a larger farm closer to Abbotsford, and shortly after joined the Central Heights church. After three years, they sold the farm and moved into town.  The children were mostly grown at this time and Mary started to take some English courses at university. She believed strongly in education and for a while was very enthusiastic about selling World Book Encyclopedias. It was at this time that Mary felt a calling to do more and a phone call asking if she and Henry would take in a teenage girl became the answer to that call. Donna Paris joined the family with the two youngest children still at home in 1975.  Eventually Mary joined Henry in her final career in real estate. Mary enjoyed travelling with Henry after they retired and then later on her own, with friends, and with her children.

Mary’s greatest joy was teaching, telling stories, sharing her faith and hospitality.  She was actively in church ministries at Central Heights church and even into her 90’s would host a small group bible study in her home.  Mary had a deep faith in God. She often shared Bible verses with her children for comfort and reassurance, and she believed strongly in prayer. For many years she sewed her own clothes and her children’s clothes, including two wedding dresses for two of her daughters. She spoke of using her sewing time as a time to pray for the person she was sewing for. Later in life, when she no longer was sewing one of her children asked if she still prayed for them now that she was no longer sewing. “Well actually, she replied, now I have more time each day to pray for you. I pray every day for each one of my children, my grandchildren and my great grandchildren.”

When Henry died in 1990, Mary was asked to start a group for widows at the church. This became a deeply meaningful group for her both as a support and as a way to continue to be active in church life.  In 2021, Mary moved to Bevan Village for the last years of her life. Mary would say of her time at the care home, “I am okay. I get good care here.” The family is grateful to the staff at Bevan Village for their love and care for Mary.  A special thank you to Liby.

Mary was a very organized person and so to help her children with funeral arrangements she wrote out her life story a few years ago. In the last paragraph of the document she wrote, “God has been so good and protected me, given me lots of friends and a very dear family of children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. When we all get to heaven what a day of rejoicing that will be!”

And so it is, now for Mary.

Mary went to her heavenly home on May 7 th , just shy two months shy of her 101 st birthday.  Mary is now with her husband Henry Wiens, her grandson Kurt Barg, her two brothers John Klassen, Frank Klassen and two sisters Tena Teichrob, and Hilda Born.  Mary was the loving mother to Dorothy Willms (Vic), Stan Wiens (Karen), Linda Barg (George), Carolyn Wiens (John Siebert), Idella Melsom (Doug) and Donna Paris.  She will be deeply missed by her children, 11 grandchildren and 16 great grandchildren and by her sister Lore Reemeyer (John).