Wittenberg, Tina Wiens (1891-1979)

Mennonite Brethren Herald obituary: 1979 Aug 10 p. 34

Birth date: 1891

text of obituary:

MRS. TINA WITTENBERG

(Mrs.) Tina Wittenberg of Abbotsford, B.C. passed away on July 14. She was born in 1891 in Sparrau, Russia, the fourth child of Abraham and Aganetha Wiens. By the age of 14 her responsibility in the home was to look after her semi-invalid grandmother. At age 15 she was baptized and became a member of the Sparrau Mennonite Brethren Church. She graduated from the Morija Institute nursing school of Halbstadt and worked in hospitals in the Crimea and Ukraine. During W.W.1. she served in the Russian Red Cross on the Russian-German front. In 1922 she married Jakob N. Wittenberg of Altenau. A son, John, was born to them in 1924, and the family left for Canada in 1926. After a few months in New Hamburg, Ont., and a few years on her brother's farm in Steinbach, Man., the family settled in Griswold, Man. Her husband made their living keeping bees. When they moved back to Steinbach in 1934, she became a nurse at the Steinbach General Hospital, and won respect and popularity for her service. In 1956 the couple moved to Abbotsford, and when her husband died she lived with the family of her son John. She subsequently lived in the Parkview Villa, the Sherwood Guest Home, and finally was admitted to the Abbotsford Hospital.

She is survived by her son John and wife Helen, and their children Ruth, Dave and Judy of Abbotsford; her sister Sara Wiebe of Steinbach; sister-in-law Anna Wiens of Abbotsford; nieces, nephews and other relatives and friends.