James Loewen

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JAMES LOEWEN

James Loewen passed away peacefully, at the age of 83, on Thursday morning, May 8, 2014 at Rest Haven in Steinbach, and went straight into the arms of Jesus, whom he loved and served with all his heart.

Jim was born in Landmark, Manitoba, on October 27, 1930 to Peter and Katherine Loewen. He was the middle child in a large family made up of 11 children; eight girls and three boys. When Jim was only 14 years old, his father (age 50) passed away from a stroke. Upon the passing of his father, Jim helped his mother in running the family farm. At age 15, he made the choice to follow Jesus after attending a church meeting in Landmark. Never looking back from his choice, Jim followed his Saviour wholeheartedly all of his life.

At age 20, Jim first saw Martha (aged 17), while he was hoeing in a beet field. Little did he know that she already had her eyes on him! They married three years later in 1954. Deeply in love they would’ve celebrated their 60th anniversary on May 16th of this year. They were blessed with five children: Fran (Ray) Duerksen, Sharon (Walt) Hamm, David (Rachel) Loewen, Lauri (John) Toews, and Ken Loewen. He was also blessed with 11 grandchildren, and 20 great-grandchildren. A family man to the core, he would take his family camping every year, and they would often go on outings to Pan Am Pool or to the Zoo. Even after his children grew up, he was always there for them when they needed help with electrical work, plumbing, landscaping, other renovations, and car repairs, etc.

In 1959, he started working at C.T. Loewen’s, where he worked for 28 years. He became a long-distance driver after that, where he drove with both his son David, and his son-in-law Doug at different points in his career. Ever the hard worker, he even found time in his evenings and weekends to build the three different homes that he and Martha lived in over the course of their lives. He even helped to build the Evangelical Fellowship Church in the early 1980’s. After he retired, he drove the Kindale Handivan for seven years until he had a stroke in October of 2010. He loved driving the Handivan, and was well-loved by his passengers.

He was known for his physical strength, gentle spirit, character, faith in God, always being eager to forgive, and for his quirky sense of humor. Jim was always ready with a joke even in the middle of tough times. Even in his final days, while struggling for breath, he told us that he didn’t need to see the Grand Canyon anymore to take his breath away. He will be incredibly missed by all of us who loved him so much.

Funeral service was held Monday, May 12, 2014 at 11:00 a.m. at Southland Church, Steinbach, MB, with burial at Heritage Cemetery, Steinbach.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Jim's memory may be made to Four Winds Project, Southland Church, Box 219, Steinbach, Manitoba R5G 1M2.

As published in The Carillon on May 12, 2014