December 6, 1919 - June 21, 2020
In God's arms you can gently rest ~ Helen Knelsen Hiebert was born Dec. 6, 1919 at home in Wymark, Saskatchewan. She married Pete Hiebert on March 23, 1941 and moved to the Burns Lake soon after. The farm near Danskin was purchased in the late 1940's where Helen and Pete lived until 1990 when they moved to Fifth Avenue in Burns Lake.
No matter who or how many showed up she always wanted to provide a meal. One of her meals everyone enjoyed was her noodle soup. Helen loved to bake and there were always cookies, cakes, pies and buns. Her grandchildren will always remember her heart cookies. When Helen came for a visit, she always came bearing gifts, she would always bring a bag of buns.
The house had such a great smell the days she was baking buns and it was so great being there when they came out of the oven. Once you had one of her buns, especially with Rogers golden syrup it created an everlasting craving for them. Not only were they wonderful to sample she shared her gift of baking with many grandkids, and great grandkids over the years trying to learn her skills.
Helen taught herself to sew and make clothes for her family even making her own patterns. She would see something in a catalogue and then start drawing out a pattern on newsprint. There would be a pile of paper on the floor by the time she had the pattern the way she felt it should be. Another of her skills included her ability to operate her own chainsaw for cutting firewood. She needed to be sure she had fuel for her beloved wood stove.
Even when her children were grown up, she kept her large deep freeze full in anticipation of visitors. Through the years, the farmhouse has been filled with family, love and laughter to celebrate special occasions. Helen was the epicentre of the love and the memorable moments. She enjoyed the easter egg hunts in the barn, the sledding, the skidooing surrounded by family. Besides family and baking, Helen loved her garden. On the farm she always had a large garden and when she and Pete moved to 5th Avenue in Burns Lake the gardening continued.
Her love of gardening extended to untamed varieties of plants. She would be found in the fields and forests picking wild strawberries, huckleberries and sasktoons. She also loved to travel. She loved her trip to the Maritimes. She especially enjoyed Prince Edward Island because the restaurants and other aspects were like stepping back 30 years.
When she moved to Tweedsmuir House the baking and soups continued there were abundant flowers on her patio. Her stroke took away two of her pleasures - baking and gardening but she always had a positive attitude despite this major setback. She had daily visits from her family and visit from her friends that gave her something to look forward to and helped maintain her positive attitude. She enjoyed the many enjoyable hours visiting with her sister Agnes and the Tweedsmuir House.
When Helen had to move to the Pines after her stroke, she often expressed how grateful she was to have her two granddaughters, Jackie and Stephanie working there. Mom left us quietly and peacefully as she lived her life. She has escaped the restriction of her stroke and can bake, garden and sew forever in her eternal home. She accepted and dealt with the many changes in her life with dignity and grace. The examples she set in words and deeds will impact us forever and we have been so blessed to have had her in our lives.
Helen leaves behind eight children: Jake (Brenda), Ann (Jack), Shirley (Murray), Agnes (Rick), Pete (Kim), Eydie (Darrell), Gertie (Bud), Andy (Lori) and their families including 25 grandchildren - 42 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild, five sisters and one brother.
The families of Helen Hiebert would like to thank everyone for the food, the flowers, the phone calls and all the support at this very sad time. They would like to extend a huge thank you to the Pines for their wonderful care of Mom. Thank you to Dr. Norman and Dr. Graetz.
She will be so greatly missed, but we know she is in heaven with her family and friends.
~ Rest Mom ~