Obituaries

MENNO HENRY ENNS

Menno Enns passed away on Thursday, January 16, 2020 at the age of 87.

He is survived by the love of his life, his wife of 61 years, Leona (Zacharias), daughters Gwen, Karen, and son Bryon (Meredith). Menno is also survived by his sister Helen, brother John and brother Ernie. He was predeceased by his two brothers Ben, Harry, and sister Ruth. At the age of 31 Menno lost his parents and sister Frieda in a tragic head on collision near Saint Jean-Baptiste. He felt it took him about 20 years to come to terms with this sudden loss.

Menno was born in southern Manitoba near Winkler (R.M. of Rhineland). He pursued his education at the University of Manitoba and the Canadian Mennonite Bible College. From 1954 to 1956 he taught at Matheson Island and thoroughly enjoyed these two years and spoke about them often. In 1957 Menno met Leona at CMBC, and they were engaged in May of 1958 at Lockport, Manitoba. They were married on December 22, 1958 in Saskatoon, SK by Leona’s brother Reverend Werner Zacharias. He was teaching at this time in Snow Lake, MB and in the fall of 1962, he began teaching in Thompson, MB. Menno’s three brothers Ben, Harry, and John were also in Thompson at this time. In August of 1964 Gwen was adopted, Bryon arrived 7 and 1/2 months later in March of 1965 and in April of 1966 came Karen.

In 1970 the family moved to Portage la Prairie, MB where Menno worked at the Government Indian Affairs office and then he taught at Arthur Meighen High School for one year. He also sold World Book encyclopedias and worked on the Peters’ and Froese’s farms during this time. In 1980 Menno taught for one year in Gretna, MB at Mennonite Collegiate Institute and then in 1981 the family moved to St. Francois Xavier, MB where they lived for 30 years. While living in St. Francois Xavier he worked as a courier driver, did maintenance at Camp Assiniboia, volunteered at the MCC thrift store, and was a shuttle driver for Birchwood Auto Group. He and Leona enjoyed almost daily walks on the paths down to the nearby Assiniboia river. He enjoyed travelling and did many family road trips to Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, and the East Coast. In 2007 Menno went on a trip to France with Bryon and Meredith to watch Bryon’s mountain bike races.

If something needed to be repaired Menno always fixed it himself and spent countless hours in the garage in St. Francois repairing vehicles and household items or doing home and auto repairs for friends and family.

Menno had a tremendous amount of patience. He could spend hours trying to loosen a single bolt. He coached Karen and Gwen’s ball teams, attended Bryon’s hockey games and practices, took Karen to ringette and Gwen to skating. He was always there for his children and was a tremendous support to them. His interests included computers, UFOs, science, MCC, math, cars, politics, and social injustice. Menno also spent numerous years visiting inmates at Stony Mountain penitentiary. In June of 2015, at the age of 84, he decided he wanted to walk the Kwasitchewan Falls Trail, an overnight trip for most hikers, in Northern Manitoba. Karen and Menno attempted the trail in one day and it was a memorable experience for both of them. Karen refers to this as “the hiking trip from hell”.

In 2007 Leona started experiencing symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease and this was the start of a 13-year journey for Menno. He cared for her at home until 2013 when she was admitted to Lions Prairie Manor in Portage. For three years he made daily trips from St. Francois to visit before he moved to Portage in the fall of 2016. He would go to Lions Prairie Manor twice a day to see Leona during the lunch and supper hours. His devotion and love for Leona was unwavering.

In the fall of 2019 Menno began experiencing shortness of breath. Up to this time he was still enjoying bicycling the Crescent Lake Trail with Karen and driving to Winnipeg to pick Gwen up on weekends. He bought a new car for his 87th birthday, April 29^th, and did a road trip with Gwen to see Bryon in BC in the summer of 2019. Sadly, in December of 2019 he was admitted to St. Boniface Hospital with complications from a heart valve replacement completed just weeks before. He remained in hospital for a month before passing away on January 16, 2020.

Cremation has taken place. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, February 22, 2020 at 2:00 p.m. at the Charleswood Mennonite Church, 699 Haney Street.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to MCC or Habitat for Humanity.

Condolences may be sent to www.wojciksfuneralchapel.com