Doerksen, Maria Siemens (1904-1991)

Mennonite Brethren Herald obituary: 1991 Nov 8 p. 28

Birth date: 1986 Dec 30

text of obituary:

WHITNEY JILL WARKENTIN

Maria Doerksen of Winnipeg passed away Sept. 10. She was born Aug. 25, 1904 to J acob and Aganetha Siemens in Wer n ersdorf, Ukraine. They moved to Terek 6 months later. Shortly after, her fa ther --,......-~., con tracted typhoid fever and her 12-year-old brother as - sumed the role of provider. In February, 1918 the family fled from ba ndits to Sava rovka , returning a few months later. In 1919 she accepted J esus, was baptized and joined the Allianz Church. In June, 1924 the family immigrated to Canada. They spent a year in Vineland, Ont., then moved to Pigeon Lake, Man. She married Henry Doerksen Apr. 7, 1929. They worked hard togethe~. Their home was always open to others: famIly, foster children and friends. She had a spe cial eye for seeing the beauty around her. They woul d sing a round the table in th e evening. Sunday morning breakfasts wer e sp ecial , with goo d di sh es , fl ower s a n d zwieback . Duri ng World Wa r II she sent many paro,ls to Europe with prayer. In 1968 thev retired to Winnipeg, joining South End ( no~ Central) MB Church . They served as deacon s for several years. Hen ry died in 1980. She moved to Donwood Manor Aug. 5, 1986. She often read the Bible. Even after a stroke in J une, 1987, she prayed a lot. She is survived by her daughter Manja Giesbrecht, son Walter, 3 gr andchildren a nd 7 greatgrandchildren . The funeral was Sept. 14 .in Central MB Church, with Abe Quiring, Bill Schroeder and Gerhard Friesen ministering.