Johanna Hiebert

Johanna Hiebert (née Friesen) passed into the presence of her Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ on June 27, 2023 in her residence at Primrose Gardens, Menno Place, in Abbotsford, BC. She was born in Winnipeg on July 6, 1930, the fourth child of Jacob and Agatha Friesen. Jo’s first home was in Landmark, Manitoba where she began her education in the school in which her father taught. At the same time, her mother was busy raising a family, sewing beautiful clothes for others (which brought in much-needed additional income), tending a vegetable and flower garden, and frequently entertaining and preparing meals for visitors, not to mention providing first aid to students and serving as a school song leader. Describing those childhood years, Jo recalled that they were so poor she and her siblings did not have toys. So they would cut out pictures from an old catalogue and play with them. In summer, the boys would make cars out of mud and dry them in the sunshine for a few days before they could play with them. They all lived in a house with two rooms. The parents and the girls slept in the bedroom, which contained two double beds that filled the room. The boys slept in the other room, which had a couch, a stove, a table, chairs, and a basin on a stand. That room thus served as the boys’ bedroom as well as the family kitchen and dining room.

In 1937, the family moved to Schoenwiese, Manitoba on the west side of the Red River not far from the US border. Jo continued her education there in the school to which her father had moved, and later in another nearby village named Blumenfeld where he taught from 1941 to 1943.

Jo’s parents were considering a move to Ontario following the summer of 1942 during which they had worked there and spent time with some of her mother’s relatives. But in 1943, their eldest son Oskar made his way to BC’s Fraser Valley where some of Jacob’s siblings had settled, and the family decided to move west instead. They bought ten acres of land in Arnold where, for several months, they lived first in a chicken coop and then in a newly-built hen house. Having purchased several hundred chicks, they soon realized that it was necessary to give the birds their space and so it was off to a two-room cabin across the road. In September, when Jo was 13, she began attending Upper Sumas School.

Work started on the Friesens’ own house in November 1943. By February 1944, the outer shell of it had been completed to the point that they felt they could move in. Conditions, however, were very primitive. Water pipes were not installed until 1945 and electricity was only hooked up in the fall of that year — eight months after her twin sisters, Margaret and Mary Anne, were born. Indoor plumbing was not completed until the early 1950s.

After finishing grade 9 at Upper Sumas, Jo transferred to the Mennonite Educational Institute (MEI) for grade 10. When she was 18, she moved to Vancouver where she worked first at BC Sugar, then at Nabob Foods, and subsequently at Woodwards. She met the love of her life, Robert Jacob (Bob) Hiebert, in spring of 1949 at a roller-skating rink in Sumas, Washington, and they began to date. Bob had been helping his parents on their farm in the Fraser Valley. In fall, however, he found work in Vancouver and their relationship continued to flourish. At first, they planned to get married in early 1950, but then thought they should act on the advice of an advertising slogan, “Why wait for spring, do it now.” Because they could not afford to take time off work to go away on a honeymoon, they decided to have the wedding on Christmas Day. It took place in the Arnold Mennonite Brethren Church. One of Jo’s former high school teachers performed the marriage ceremony and her father, Jacob, delivered a brief homily.

In the spring of 1950, Bob and Jo left Vancouver to do seasonal work 225 miles up the coast in Namu at a fish cannery. That fall, Jo’s parents asked if she and Bob would move onto their farm in Arnold while they and Jo’s younger siblings went to the BC interior where her father had accepted a teaching position. The young couple were happy to help out Jo’s family in this fashion during that school year.

In the summer of 1951, Bob went back to work in the cannery in Namu while Jo, who was pregnant, remained in the Fraser Valley. When Bob returned in the fall, Jo and he moved back to Vancouver for a year where she gave birth to their first child, Robert, on November 1. Subsequently they relocated to the Abbotsford area, eventually settling in a two-room cabin on Bob’s parents’ farm, which would be their home for the next five years.

Their second child, Susan, was born on December 2, 1953. Nearly two years later, Jo and Bob made public their commitment to Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour when, on September 19, 1955, they were baptized and became members of the East Aldergrove Mennonite Brethren Church, embarking on a journey of faith and Christian service that characterized their lives from that point onward. They made many friends, enjoyed wonderful fellowship, and served in various capacities over the years.

Jo gave birth to their third child, Daniel, on April 2, 1957. The following year, she and Bob purchased a 14-acre property on Townline Road where they raised their family and engaged in mixed farming with dairy cattle, raspberries, and nursery stock, while Bob also worked as a barber in partnership with Henry Hooge. In early 1974, Bob and Jo teamed up with their friends Larry and Leona Woelk to buy a 1440 acre grain and beef cattle operation near the hamlet of New Norway, Alberta. Jo and Bob’s years there were ones that included great joy in forging life-long friendships and in fellowshipping and serving at Highland Park Evangelical Free Church. They also experienced heartache when, in 1975, their son Daniel lost his right leg below the knee in a farm accident. After several years of fruitful collaboration with the Woelks, Larry and Leona decided to move on to other ventures, while Bob and Jo continued to farm on the 480 acres that remained after the partnership was dissolved. In 1986, they sold that place and moved to a 15 acre hobby farm in the North Okanagan region of BC not far from Armstrong. Here they became part of a community of friendship, fellowship, and service associated with Armstrong Bible Chapel.

In the fall of 2007, they sold the Armstrong property and moved to Abbotsford, first to a home on a city lot on Southern Drive, and then to a townhouse in Panorama Ridge Estates. In due course, they became members of Bakerview Mennonite Brethren Church. Advancing years and associated health conditions meant that more support was needed for them, and so in the spring of 2019, they moved into an apartment in Primrose Gardens at Menno Place.

Bob suffered a stroke on March 12, 2022 and passed away five weeks later on April 19, almost four months after he and Jo had celebrated their 72nd anniversary. Jo continued to cherish times spent with her family and to foster friendships, but she also longed to be released from the infirmities of old age and regularly told Jesus that He could come for her any time. He did so in the afternoon of June 27, 2023.

Jo’s life was characterized by love for her family, enduring friendships, generous hospitality, community involvement, and service in the church. She also delighted in the beauty of God’s creation and enjoyed gardening, painting landscapes, camping, fishing, and travelling with Bob throughout Canada and beyond to places such as Alaska, Hawaii, Israel, Greece, and, on their last trip together, the Grand Canyon.

Jo was predeceased by her parents Jacob and Agatha Friesen, her brothers Oskar, Ernest, and Gustav, and her sister Ellie Friesen. She is lovingly remembered by her sisters Margaret Friesen and Mary Anne Epp; her children and their spouses Robert and Karen Hiebert, Susan and Rick Krause, and Daniel and Dorothea Hiebert; six grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; and many other relatives and friends. We will miss her expressions of love and her daily prayers for us all. May she rest in peace as she awaits the resurrection.

A visitation for Johanna will be held Wednesday, July 26, 2023 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM at Woodlawn Funeral Home, 2310 Clearbrook Road, Abbotsford, BC V2T2X5. A graveside service will occur Thursday, July 27, 2023 from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM at Maclure Road Mennonite Cemetery, 33965 Maclure Road, Abbotsford, BC V2S 7W3. A memorial service will occur Thursday, July 27, 2023 from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM, 2310 Clearbrook Road, Abbotsford, BC V2T2X5.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that those who wish to honour the memory of Johanna Hiebert consider making a donation to the Mennonite Central Committee’s “Global Hunger Crisis” initiative: https://mcccanada.ca/global-hunger-crisis

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.woodlawnfh-abbotsford.com for the Hiebert family.