Helen Hildebrandt

Helen Hildebrandt

1921-2011

On September 5, 2011 Helen (Rempel) Hildebrandt passed peacefully into the presence of her Lord at the Portage General Hospital at the age of 90 years.

She was born in Morris MB in 1921, the third child to Bernhard and Helen (Peters) Rempel and lived in the Lowe Farm area until the late 1920's. The family then moved to the Fortier district where she met Barney Hildebrandt in 1936 when he came from northern Saskatchewan to work on farms in the area. They were married in 1939. Barney predeceased her in 1992. She was the surviving member of five siblings. She was predeceased by Bill (2009), Ed (1981), Sarah (2001), and John (1992). She is survived by her four sons, Norm (Doreen), Wayne (Shirley), Brian (Ruth), Glen (Irene) and one daughter, Karen (Harv), fifteen grandchildren and twenty-nine great-grandchildren. Also survived by many nieces, nephews and cousins.

They farmed in the Edwin district (1953-1960) and Bagot district (1960-1980) until the sale of the farm in 1980 when they retired from active farming. The next years they spent from spring through fall helping at Salem Acres, a farm for troubled youth located at Elnora, AB. Helen moved into an apartment in Portage following the death of her husband, Barney, where she lived until her recent hospitalization.

Helen was "born again" in 1933 when she trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ to be her Saviour and Lord. She was a part of the Fortier Gospel Chapel for a number of her earlier years, Austin (Pine Creek) Gospel Hall and the Portage Gospel Hall for the remaining years. Until hospitalized in the spring of 2011, she was active in supporting gospel and mission work, using her sewing skills for the benefit of the less privileged in foreign lands, especially Haiti and Zambia.

Visitation will be held Friday, September 9, 2011 at McKenzie Portage Funeral Chapel from 7-8 pm. The funeral will be held on Saturday, September 10, 2011 at 2:00 p.m. at the Portage Evangelical Church with Pete Smith officiating. Interment will be in the family plot in Hillside Cemetery.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made in her memory to DNS Fellowship (Haiti), Postal Bible Studies or an evangelical mission of your choice.

A tree will be planted in memory and cared for by McKenzies Portage Funeral Chapel www.mckenziesportagefuneralchapel.com