Susie Funk

We regret to announce the passing of Susie Funk, beloved sister, auntie, teacher, volunteer, and faithful follower of Jesus Christ. Susie passed away peacefully at Abbotsford Regional Hospital on June 2, 2026, after suffering a stroke in her sleep. She is predeceased by siblings Betty, Corny, Henry, and Annie, and survived by Dorothy and Art.

Susie was born on March 25, 1930, in Gnadenthal, Manitoba, shortly after her family's arrival in Canada following their immigration from Southern Russia. She was raised in Yarrow, British Columbia, in a home shaped by faith, hard work, gratitude, and a deep commitment to family.

At the age of nine, during evangelistic meetings in Yarrow, Susie accepted Jesus Christ as her personal Saviour. She later described that evening as one of complete happiness. At age fifteen, she publicly professed her faith through baptism into Yarrow Mennonite Brethren Church, beginning a lifelong walk with God that would sustain and guide her for more than eighty years. Her faith remained the foundation of her life and was reflected in her service, relationships, and daily devotion to God.

Education and service became defining themes throughout her life. Following studies at Yarrow Bible School, Mennonite Brethren Bible College, and the University of British Columbia, Susie devoted many years to teaching in schools throughout the Fraser Valley. She later served as a learning assistance teacher, helping students overcome educational challenges with patience and encouragement. During her teaching career, she also completed training as a Medical Record Librarian and worked briefly at St. Paul's Hospital before returning to the classroom. Throughout her life, she remained committed to learning, service, and helping others reach their potential.

Beyond her professional career, Susie volunteered extensively through churches, nursing homes, and community programs. She tutored immigrant mothers, served faithfully in church ministries, visited seniors, and quietly looked for practical ways to help those around her. Family and friends knew her as organized, thoughtful, dependable, practical, and dryly humorous.

Susie enjoyed reading, music, knitting, travel, and lifelong learning. She explored much of the world, visiting destinations throughout Europe, Japan, and Ukraine. Yet wherever she travelled, her greatest joys remained her faith, her family, and the relationships she cultivated over a lifetime.

Together with her sisters Betty and Annie, Susie became part of the beloved "Three Aunties," whose friendship, adventures, and devotion to one another became legendary within the family. In her later years at Primrose Gardens in Abbotsford, she frequently asked family members, "Tell me about Annie." She never stopped missing her beloved sister and found it difficult to be the last surviving member of the Three Aunties. Even as memory faded, her love for family endured.

Susie's personal journals reveal the spiritual life that sustained her throughout the years. Filled with prayers, reflections, gratitude, and self-examination, they portray a woman in continual conversation with God, seeking to follow Him faithfully in matters both large and small. Looking back over her life, she wrote:

"I am sure that God has protected me many times that I'm not even aware of. I am thankful for His protection in the past and I want to trust Him for the future."

Susie will be lovingly remembered by her many nieces, nephews, relatives, friends, former students, and fellow believers whose lives were enriched by her example.

Susie leaves behind a legacy of faith, service, wisdom, kindness, gratitude, and perseverance. Though deeply missed by all who knew her, her family rejoices in the assurance that the God who faithfully guided her throughout her life has now welcomed her safely home. Her earthly journey has concluded, and she rests in the presence of the Lord she loved and faithfully served.