On Sunday July 10th, 2016, Katherina “Tina” Giesbrecht, Mother, Sister, Grandmother and Great-grandmother, Aunt and Friend, passed away and went to her home in glory at the Mac-Gregor Care Home, at the age of 88, with her family close by.  
Mom was born on December 29th, 1927 in her home near Plum Coulee, Manitoba.
Mom was the oldest of 7 children born to Katherina and Franz Rempel.  She said she “tried hard to set a good example for her sister and brothers but they usually found a way to outsmart her”.
Mom met the love of her life, our Dad John, when she was 21 and they were married a short time later on November 13th, 1949.
Robert arrived in 1951, Phyllis in 1954, Beverley in 1958, Cheryl in 1961 and Walter and Wesley in 1966.  These were very busy years for Mom.  In 1967 our family made the big move from our little house in Hordean, Manitoba where we left our family and friends, for  a “big” house with 40 acres South of Bagot, Manitoba.  Mom was very happy to have “running water, flush toilets and a big fence around the house to keep the rambunctious twins in”.   Along with some other new families to the area, Mom and Dad helped start a Bible study group.  They de-cided they needed a church in the area and Bagot Community Chapel was born.  Mom and Dad were very involved at Bagot Chapel with Mom serving on various committees including the food committee, as well as Ladies Fellowship and Prayer Sisters.  Mom worked side by side with Dad farming and also worked at McCain Foods for many years, a job she loved and where she made many friends.  Although Mom wanted to keep the house in order, which was more than a full time job, she chose to spend time doing things with us and the housework would stay for another day (or much later than night after everyone had gone to bed).
When Mom and Dad had more time after we were all grown, they loved to go out for coffee with family and friends and also loved to travel.  They spent many winters in Yuma, Arizona before Dad’s health made it difficult to get away.  Mom and Dad enjoyed over 53 years of the ups and downs of marriage before Dad passed away on December 16th, 2002.  They loved each other deeply and had a special bond that death did not break.
Mom was a very generous with her time and money donating to countless worthwhile causes.  She spent many hours volunteering for the Mennonite Central Committee, making nu-merous quilts and shoe boxes and working at the MCC sales as well as at the MCC Thrift Store.  Valley View Bible Camp held a special place in Mom and Dad’s heart and they gave ge-nerously and spent many volunteer hours there together.
Mom was very artistic and had many sewing projects and crafts on the go.  She was also a gifted writer.  She wrote many poems and also kept diaries and journals and was working on her life story.  If she had one regret it was that she didn’t get to finish school but she was an avid learner her entire life.  Mom loved to read and she always had a book on the go and was happy to share the whole plot line with you.
Mom moved to her beloved house on Temple in MacGregor, Manitoba in 2003 where she had many happy times with family and friends.  Mom had two green thumbs and had a huge garden every year on the farm, usually twice as big as a city lot.  When she moved to McGregor she made sure that a large portion of her back yard was tilled and she downsized to a “small gar-den”.  After she started to use her walker she still found  a way to maneuver her rigged up hoe so she could put in her plants.  She loved nothing better than to share what she grew with us and you always left her house with much more than what you came with including a full sto-mach.  Mom was an amazing cook with her cottage cheese perogies a family favourite among many others.
Although Mom was very thrifty with her money, family was the most important thing to her and she lavished us with her love, attention and generosity.
Mom was a pen pal to many children over the years.  She treasured you all.  Mom fell in October of 2014 and sustained a brain injury.  She was in a coma for almost a month and when she was well enough moved to the MacGregor Care Home where she was cared for by many “Angels” who made sure she was as comfortable as she could be. Mom still had a big personality showing her love for family and friends when they came for their many visits.  Those times were precious for her and we really appreciate everyone making such an effort to stop by and visit with her.   Although she wasn’t mobile and speech alluded her most of the time, every once and while she would say something and you knew she was as sharp as ever.   She was happiest when her many great grandchildren were crawling all over her.  We were very blessed to have her in our lives for this extra “bonus” time.  We are very thankful that Phyllis was nearby caring for Mom and giving us her cherished text “updates” and making us feel like we were always close by.
Mom, upon the confession of her faith, became a Christian at an early age.  In her testi-mony she acknowledges struggles through the years but her faith was what sustained her. We saw her as a shining example of someone who walked the talk.  Mom was a prayer warrior pray-ing for each of the family by name every night.  Mom wanted us to remember her as a friend to the friendless and not just someone who read God’s word but her walk should show what she believed.  She said it was never too late for forgiveness.
Tina leaves the family she loved, children Robert (Eva) of Red Deer, AB Phyllis (Alvin) Hiebert of Katrime, MB, Beverley of Victoria, BC, Cheryl (Paul) Madden of Winnipeg, MB, Walter (Aud-rey) of Vancouver, BC, and Wesley (Candace) of Winnipeg, MB;
grandchildren  Melissa Welch of Red Deer and (Rick) Welch of Red Deer, Chad (Stephanie) Giesbrecht of Red Deer, Ryan Giesbrecht of Red Deer, Jennifer (Rod) Friesen of Bagot, Colin (Loretta) Hiebert of Katrime, Vincent (Susie) Hiebert of MacGregor, Caroline (Dale) Wiebe of MacGregor, Paige Madden of Winnipeg, Erin Madden of Winnipeg, Connor Giesbrecht of Win-nipeg and Baby G (to be) of Vancouver; great-grandchildren Riley and Morgan Welch of Red Deer, twins Ezri and Brooke Giesbrecht of Red Deer, Loren, Alex, Blake, Kayly and Megan Friesen of Bagot, Rachel, Melissa, Bradley and David Hiebert of Katrime, Taylor, Lindsey, Brenden, Jessica and Leah Hiebert of MacGregor and Rowan and Mackenzie Wiebe of MacGre-gor; brothers and In-Laws Aaron (Mary), David (Clara), Isaac (Susan); Sara Rempel, Mary Rempel and Frank Isaac; in-laws Susan Giesbrecht, Doris Giesbrecht, Nettie & Peter Berg, John & Mary Wieler, Sarah & Neil Wieler, Betty & George Friesen and Maryanne Krashel;
As well as many nieces and nephews and all of her treasured Bagot Chapel Family and her many priceless friends.
Mom was predeceased by her husband John, her parents Katherina and Franz Rempel, sister Elsie Isaac, brothers Daniel and Frank, her in-laws Sara and John Giesbrecht as well as many in-laws, family and friends who were waiting for Mom as she went to receive her crown in heaven.
We would like to thank all of Mom’s caregivers for all of the love and compassion they showed to Mom.  You are angels on earth and your kindness will not be forgotten.
Thank you to Pastor Michael Fehr for officiating as well as all of the love and support.  You were there so often visiting and praying with Mom which was priceless and helped her through some dark days.  She treasured her time with you.
There are too many people to name but Mom and the family appreciate all of the visits to Mom and praying for her and with her.  You gave us strength through difficult times and helped us celebrate the good days.
We miss you so much Mom but we do not mourn as those who have no hope but look forward to meeting in glory.