We Remember
WIELER, Helene
—
August 27, 1926 – July 5, 2021
Helene Friesen was born August 27, 1926, and raised in the small rural community of Rabbit Lake in northern Saskatchewan. Later she attended boarding school at the Rostern Junior College where she made lasting friends. In 1950 she graduated from the St Paul’s Hospital School of Nursing. She moved to Winnipeg to live with her mother and sister Peg.
She married John Larry Wieler on December 29, 1951. They had 4 children: Marilyn (Don MacLean), Robert, Lori (Ron King) and Ron (Susan Moxam).
She worked nights at the Health Science Center in the neonatal unit moving to Grace Hospital to teach nursing in 1964. She continued training young girls to become professional nurses as she joined the team at Red River Community College in 1975.
Helene continued in her education perusals taking summer school until she graduated with her Masters of Education in 1980 and her Certificate in Adult Education in 1983.
In 1986 Helene accepted a 2-year government position to develop a College of Nursing in Brunei, Borneo. After those 2 years, she accepted a position in The Pas, Manitoba before going back to Brunei for another 8 years.
When the contract was up they decided to move to Kelowna. At one point Helene was on the First Mennonite Church board, the Gospel Mission board, volunteering at the Cancer Centre, along with Larry volunteering at the MCC thrift store and singing in the choir.
Through COVID she continued to volunteer at MCC twice a week. She loved talking to people and helping them find what they are looking for.
She loved visits from her grandkids Allan (Brett), Gordon (Krista) MacLean, Nicole (Trevor Wiens), Susan/Ellie (Jason Carpenter), as well as great-grandkids Sidney and Skye MacLean, Riley MacLean, Kylee, Alexa, Quinton Wiens, and Alexander Carpenter.
On July 5, 2021, Helene went to be with the Lord surrounded by family in her home. She was predeceased by her sister Neta, son-in-law Don and husband Larry.
She will be missed by many. If you would like to join us, we are painting our toenails red in remembrance of Helene.
A Funeral Service will be held to honour Helen on FRIDAY, JULY 16, 2021, AT 10:00 AM at Springfield Funeral Home with Randy Benson officiating, interment to follow at Kelowna Memorial Park Cemetery. Due to limited seating the number of attendees will be limited, if you wish to attend please click here to sign up.
The family would like to invite all who want to pay their respects to join by Livestream on FRIDAY, JULY 16, 2021, AT 10:00 AM. A recording will be made available to view shortly thereafter.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to MCC (Mennonite Central Committee – Canada), 134 Plaza Dr. Winnipeg, MB R3T 5K9 or BC Cancer Agency – Sindi Ahluwalia Hawkins Centre for the Southern Interior.
If you wish to send a condolence, post photos, or share a memory, please scroll down the page to the area called “Condolences”.
Helene is loved and remembered as a dear friend and colleague whose I lived and worked with in Brunei. My thoughts and prayers are with her loving family and friends.
Dear family of Larry and Helen, We got to know your parents shortly after we moved to Kelowna in 1988. Your dad showed us his Heinrichs book and was determined to find out where we fitted into the family. We recognized so many of the Heinrichs in the book but it wasn’t until recent years that we found a long-distance connection ! For many years we worked together at the MCC thrift shop and it was a delight to meet your mom there greeting people during coved time. we also shared events at seniors meetings at KGF. Your parents left you with a great heritage! May their memories give you great joy as you share them with your children and grandchildren. The Lord is good! Arthur and Annie
Dear family of Helene,
I am very sorry for your loss. Helene was a treasure who will be deeply missed at Firt Mennonite Church. She told the best stories! She will never be forgotten!
Everyone at First Mennonite Church will miss Helene. She was a treasure to all who knew her. She told the best stories at coffee time after Church, and was a strong supporter, and she was kind and loving to all who met her too.
Our friendship with your parents began shortly after our move to Kelowna in 2001. First Mennonite church warmly welcomed us and encouraged us as in our volunteer endeavors in Ukraine…Larry and Helene’s hospitality enfolded us as we enjoyed many meals at your shared home Lori, and in the various apartments and at restaurants. CHOIR PRACTICES and even committee and congregational meetings were always fun as Helene’s wit shone brightly! Larry and Helene were always a team.–. a characteristic we admired. Dear friends we love you and remember you fondly.. Peace to you. We extend our condolences and love to the family.. Peggy and Al
Dear Marilyn, Bob, Lori and Ron, and all of your families,
I am so sorry to hear of your loss. I remember my aunt Helene as always being a positive and energetic person who accomplished a lot. I admire her accomplishments so much , as well as the contributions she made to many people’s lives.
You are all in my thoughts and prayers and I wish you peace at this time.
Dear Marilyn, Bob, Lori and Ron, Ron and Susan, and all of your families,
I remember the red toenails so vividly! When we were kids, I remember thinking that Helene must be a very brave person to paint her toenails such a bright colour! What a great gesture! A very special time for me and Dad was when Aunt Helene came to look after mom, Neta, when she was terminally ill. Aunt Helene brought peace and comfort to Mom and also to me and Dad. Her care for Mom was something unforgettable and I am still grateful for her kindness and her skill. My thoughts are with you all.
I am very sorry for your loss and wish your family strength during this difficult time.
Tracy Gray, Member of Parliament, Kelowna – Lake Country
Our love and thoughts go to you all in this difficult time. I really wish I could have travelled to Kelowna with Mom to see you all, and pay our respects. We will be watching the service this evening (evening for us, anyway). Aunt Helene is one of my relations my children remember (having grown up in England & not visiting Canada very much) not least because of her expertise when my daughter had an allergic reaction to mosquito bites in North Carolina and developed large blisters!
All our love from across the continent & the Atlantic, Karen, Steve, Tash & Nick
Remembering happier days when I would be invited to Helene & Larry’s basement suite for impromptu fresh bread and soup. On one occasion, she surprised me, by re-introducing me to my Gr. 1 teacher, Peggy Friesen, her beloved sister, whom I had not seen since approx. ‘58/59.
Larry & Helene were quite generous, Helene adding energy and vitality, while Larry pondered matters, and thoroughly tested theories and concepts in his mind.
A life lived well lived to the full!
Dear Marilyn, Lori, Bob, Ron and all of your families.
Yesterday I was with you in spirit as I joined you via Livestream for my beloved sister Helene.”s funeral . What a lovely celebration for a life well lived it was. Or we say in North Carolina, it was a “fine “homegoing”. I watched the service with six friends who knew Helene from the times she came to visit us in Cary. She and Larry sang in the choir and she participated in many activities with me. But what touches my heart most is the way she provided comfort along with her nursing skills during both my daughter Kathy’s and my husband Francis” illnesses and after their passing. I will also treasure the memories of all the evenings we Skyped during the pandemic and the stories we shared. about our earlier lives.
Love and peace to all of you.
Dear Marilyn So sorry to see the announcement on the bulletin board of your Mom’s passing. She was a beautiful lady that we were privileged to meet at the aqua size classes we attended here in this building. We were new to this complex and she welcomed us warmly. I wish we could have known of
her passing sooner. Marilyn please call us at 778-940-5717 I don’t have your phone number. We are located in the Underhill building in suite 602 we would love to talk to you.
“But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint,” — Isaiah 40:31
Dear Marilyn,
I’m not driving anymore, so instead of a card I am sending my thoughts and memories of two wonderful people that Ron and I were privileged to know for many years.
Although we were on two separate “outings” while on vacation, we met Helene and Larry in Morocco and actually sat beside them on floor cushions to enjoy a delicious meal. That same day Larry took a photo of a typical door frame in the town and the couple coming through the doorway happened to be Ron and me!
A day or so later, while in Gibraltar, I took photos of a couple holding a monkey and meeting some camels near the caves of Gibraltar before they returned to their vacation spot in Spain and we returned to ours in Portugal.
We didn’t introduce ourselves during that trip, but several years later Helene came across the photos Larry had taken of us, and I found those I’d taken of Helene and Larry. In the intervening years, we’d moved to Kelowna BC, as had the Weilers, and all four of us were members of First Mennonite Church, Kelowna.
But it is about those years at FMC when we got to know Helene and Larry that I want to write about two of the kindest people I’ve known.
It was a joy to listen to Larry sing beautiful solos and be part of the same choirs (church and Festival Singers). Larry had maintained his tenor range while I had slipped from soprano to alto but I was thankful to be part of those “making a joyful sound”.
When nine of us made a trip to Colombia to help our sister church set up a house church, Helene and I shared accommodation in various homes. One night when Helene settled into her bed, it buckled and collapsed onto the floor, but she bounced right up, and we were able to put it together again. I have photos and slides from that trip and she was always there helping to paint walls, wash curtains, or sweep up a mess on a floor. She was there for “servant work”.
The more I learned of Helene, the greater my amazement. We are called to be servants to those around us, and I learned so much of what that truly meant. Helene didn’t just give up and sit back as we grew older and fell victim to various illnesses. Her many years of service with Kelowna Gospel Mission testify to this; she always gave us a verbal summary of the work and then posted it for passersby to read.
Helene set an example for us to the very end of her life, when some of us were ill from every kind of sickness I can think of as well as strokes and cancer. That is true leadership and she set a good example for all to follow.
Not only did you drive me, but Helene accompanied me each day I had radiation, and that was a time when I was able to see her put others at east — people who were there on their own and frightened.
Another time, I will never forget seeing her kneeling down on the floor washing and massaging the feet of a friend who had survived a stroke.
When I went to Three Links Care Home and to Northwood to take church services over many years, Helene always came with me and again, setting an example of caring for others in so many ways before and during the services.
Marilyn, it was also an amazing fact that you arrived to be there for your parents at a time when my illness made it impossible for me to do many things. However, there you were with you mom, taking me to appointments, shopping for me, and then accompanying me on the flights to Powell River, so that two of my daughters were able to drive my car here together on snow-covered roads, setting my mind at ease. Helene and Larry both needed you but Helene was insistent that you come with me and it was a great help. [Just so you know, the furniture and just about everything else is exactly where you thought it should go! It’s very apparent you also live a servant life.]
Please know there is a room and bed (with a new mattress) here for you whenever you would like to visit.
Take care,
Jacqueline