Bernard Neufeld

They say you can take the boy from the farm, but never the farm from the boy. Ben Neufeld, was born Bernard E., on September 27, 1923 on the family homestead in Lost River, Saskatchewan. He and his twin, Dave, were the last of eight sons born to Mary (Ens) and Henry H. Neufeld. The twins had a bond that never weakened, even after Dave’s death four years ago. In the months before Ben died, he often looked for Dave. The impact of Ben’s rural roots remained strong for his entire life, as did his memories of events from his childhood and youth spent on the family farm.

Ben moved to BC in 1950, after graduating from Bible school in Herbert, Saskatchewan. On the day he met Agnes Fleming, she hid behind the door of her parents’ home, too shy to come out. However, a spark began, and they married at the Abbotsford Nazarene Church on July 17, 1952. With his “I do,” Ben became not only a husband, but a father to Agnes’s adopted daughter, six-year-old Sandra. Daughter Beverly was born in 1953, Kathleen in 1956 and son Dave in 1962. Over the next several decades, and into their eighties, the Neufelds opened their home to dozens of other children, many with special needs.

Ben embraced the sweat of hard physical labour and counted no task beneath him, no job beyond learning. Before retiring he had worked as farm hand, heavy duty machine operator, carpenter, millwright, caretaker, boiler engineer, self-employed electrician and bus driver. His abilities served him well at home, where his children felt he could make anything and fix everything (and usually he could), and at church, where, whenever anything needed maintenance, “Let’s call Ben,” became the first step to a fix.

Ben loved few activities more than a day on his boat, fishing with son and/or brother Dave or other family and friends or simply enjoying BC’s majestic coastal scenery with Agnes. He frequently took his prairie relatives for boat rides, always cautioning them to upchuck over the side should they feel seasick. After one such outing, Dad commented with a toothless grin, “Some lucky fish got brand new dentures today!” His relatives never let him forget that trip.

The smell of a campfire still evokes for the Neufeld children the memory of regular family camping trips in BC’s interior. Tent trailers served well until one of the children, still a baby, slipped off the outside edge of the bed during the night and landed on the ground. The tent model was soon replaced with by a full-fledged camping trailer, a rounded plywood beauty painted cream, with a brilliant red arrow down the side—built by Ben.

He soon graduated to vans and motor homes. He and Agnes travelled far in their retirement years, visiting family and friends and making frequent trips back to the Lost River homestead, because, as he said often, “I may never see the old place again.”

Ben and Agnes were active members of the Church of the Nazarene, serving with dedication of time, effort and resources. When the children were young, the family car often made two trips to church on Sunday mornings—once to bring family and once to bring neighbours.

Ever gregarious, Ben had a passion for God, a burden for people’s eternal souls and a bold missionary spirit. As his twin brother had led him to Christ years earlier, Ben led many to saving faith. His heartfelt prayers for family and friends continued until he could utter them no longer. Those prayers and our parents’ love, manifested in ways too many to count, remain a priceless and cherished legacy.

The Neufelds began their life together in Port Moody, moving to Coquitlam in 1982, and eventually to Chilliwack in the early 1990’s. In the fall of 2014, shortly after they celebrated sixty-two years of marriage, declining health necessitated a move to a care facility in Abbotsford, the town where their relationship had begun over sixty years earlier.

Mere weeks later, on November 27, 2014, at the age of 95, Agnes died peacefully in her sleep in the room she shared with Ben. Ben’s faith gave him certainty and great hope of a heavenly reunion. That took place on August 18, 2020, when at the age of 96, Ben breathed his last at the Mayfair Senior Living and Care Home, the last remaining Neufeld brother. Freed to meet his Lord and reunite with departed loved ones, especially Agnes, daughter Sandra (2000), twin brother Dave (2016), and their beloved mother, Mary.

Precious memories of Dad linger in the hearts of daughters Beverly (Bruce) Bauman [Nathan (Chaeyoung) Bauman, Jeremy (Sylvia) Bauman, Rachel (Rob) Graham]; Kathleen (Rick) Gibson [Anthony Gibson, Amanda (Kendall) Buhler]; son Dave (Barb) Neufeld, [Bernie (Ashley) Neufeld, Roxy Neufeld]; son-in-law Rudy Rempel [Darlene Rempel, Daryle (Amy) Rempel, Trevor Rempel, Lorilynn (Kevin) Midkiff, Twyla (Carman) Dutz]; cherished foster daughter, Virginia, and numerous great grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren.

Dad’s sense of humour, his love of God and His Word, and his consistent prayer life remain our cherished legacy. With confidence that we’ll meet again, we entrust our good father into God’s care. Thank you, Dad. We’ll meet you in the morning, and what a day that will be!

We, his children and grandchildren, miss him so.

~ Written by Kathleen Gibson – Daughter