Margaret Janzen

Psalm 73:23-26 Yet I am always with you;

you hold me by my right hand.

24 You guide me with your counsel,

and afterward you will take me into glory.

25 Whom have I in heaven but you?

And earth has nothing I desire besides you.

26 My flesh and my heart may fail,

but God is the strength of my heart

and my portion forever.

I, Margaret Janzen, was born to Jacob and Anna (nee Boldt) Hooge on December 27, 1923 in Friedensruh, Ukraine as the youngest of 8 children.

My early childhood was a happy and worry free time. My Dad didn't want to become part of the collective farm and wanted rather to farm on his own land which he had inherited from his Dad. This did not sit well with the authorities who arrested him in 1929. We were later told that he died in prison in 1932. We celebrated his funeral without him. By then we had to leave our farm and were to be sent to Siberia. As we were sitting and waiting for a ride to the train station we received word that we didn't have to go to Siberia after all but we had to leave our house and barns. An old uncle of my Mother took us in and we had the Sommerstube (summer room) for us to use. We were 8 people by then. We were not allowed to earn money or vote. We had lost all our rights. My older siblings worked for a friend of the family and got paid in wheat which was often taken away from us.

In 1938 my brother Kolja was taken away and we never heard from him again. He had to leave his pregnant wife and son behind. In 1941 the war started and my brother and I were tasked with driving the cattle deeper into Russia so the Germans couldn't get the cattle. Eventually the German army caught up with us and started shooting. We fled at night and in the early morning hours we met up with Germans who let us go home. However by then my family had been taken somewhere else and my brother and I struggled to live for the next two years. In 1943 I married Victor Janzen.

After we were married we left Russia with a horse and wagon and eventually got to the Polish/Ukrainian border. There we took a train to Warthegau which was under German occupation. Here Vic had to go into the German service where he was a fireman. It is also here that our oldest daughter, Edith, was born on September 8, 1944.

In February 1945 we went further west because the front moved closer but now I had Edith to look after and it was a very cold Winter. The trains were packed and we were able to get on the last train to leave but after only two weeks we had to leave again and eventually we got to Northern Germany Schleswig-Holstein together with my friend Eva Wedel who helped me a lot along the way.

After the war ended I started looking for my husband and brother. I found out that my brother had been sent back to Russia but I could not find Victor. In 1946 I began looking for relatives in Canada using the Mennonite Rundschau (a German paper) and eventually found my father's sister and her husband, Jacob and Tina Klassen and my Mother's brother, Abraham and Anna Boldt. I also found Vic through the help of the Red Cross and MCC and on December 6, 1947 our daughter, Ettie, was born in Germany.

It was near the refugee camp in Bremenhafen that I accepted the Lord as my personal Saviour. We had grown up without a church as churches were forbidden under Communist rule. I had not learned the way of salvation or heard the Gospel preached.

On March 9, 1948 we landed in Halifax. Our relatives the Jacob Klassens and the Boldts helped to arrange our voyage and immigration to Canada. The day after we landed, Edith broke out in measles. We were part of an escorted group but had to leave the group and get off in St. John, NB where we stayed for 10 days. We did not know any English and the nurses knew no German. It was an interesting time.

Our journey finally ended in Mission, BC where we were met by a large group of relatives. What a blessing they were to us. Our first years were spent in Arnold, BC where both Vic and I were baptized and accepted into the Arnold MB Church. On August 27th, 1950 our son, Harry, was born in Chilliwack. Our family was now complete.

In 1956 we moved to Burnaby to be closer to Vic's work. In 1959 we moved to Vancouver where we became members of the Vancouver MB Church and later the Culloden MB Church.

In 1980 we retired and moved to Clearbrook where we joined the King Rd. MB Church. I had worked at the MCC store in Vancouver and enjoyed working at the Clearbrook MCC store as long as I was able. I also took part in the ladies club at the church. When driving became a challenge, we transferred to the Clearbrook MB Church and were so blessed by the outreach of the church especially via television.

We were also fortunate to travel a lot; 10 cruises, 3 escorted tours, vacations in Germany and other parts of Europe, as well as Canada and Hawaii and other parts of the USA. We travelled with cousins, friends and even our children on a Panama cruise.

We were blessed to have three children, 6 grandchildren and 8 great grandsons. We loved them all.

The Lord blessed Mom and she was thankful for the blessings He bestowed upon her and her family.

In January 2010 Mom moved into Tabor Court where she enjoyed the community living, great meals, lots of game playing and activities. In February 2016, Mom fell and broke her kneecap and after a few months of hospitalization, was fortunate to move to a room in Tabor Home where she spent her final year.

In the early morning hours of June 2, 2017, Mom breathed her last breath and went to be with her Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. We, as a family, are thankful for all the care she received while in Tabor Village.

Mom was predeceased by her parents, Jacob and Anna Hooge, all her siblings and her husband of 64 years, Victor, on September 29, 2007. She leaves to mourn her children, Edith Klippenstein, Edith's children, Lynda (Kevan) Reeve, Janine (Hugh) Mitenko, Douglas (Stephanie) Klippenstein, Jodine (Kelly) Kim, Ettie Janzen, Harry (Josley) Janzen and children Roxane (Derek) Rogalsky, Brad (Nicole) Janzen as well as great grandsons, Max Mitenko, Ben Mitenko, Sam Mitenko (all in Australia), Gabe Rogalsky, Owen Rogalsky, Tristan Kim, Aric Reeve and Ryder Janzen.

Arrangements under the direction of Woodlawn Funeral Home, Abbotsford, BC.