Tribute

Esther went to be with her Lord and Saviour May 9, 2021 after a long and fulfilling life.  Mom was born in Giroux, Manitoba June 26, 1918 to parents Peter Isaac Loewen and Margaret Loewen.   In the early Depression years her family moved to the Peace River area to homestead and Mom went to Grand Prairie to work as a cook in the Grand Prairie Hotel.  It was there that she met Dale.  They were married February 24, 1938.  In 1944 they left the north and moved to the Okanagan where she worked in the packing houses and in 1953 to Abbotsford where she first operated a restaurant.  Mom and Dad were foster parents and soon the by request of BC Social Services converted their home to an Assisted Care Home for Seniors and operated this home for a number of years until Dad’s health deteriorated.  Mom loved gardening, was an incredible cook and baker and did her best to teach all of us kids to cook and bake.  There were always goodies on the table.  She loved to travel and did so extensively, her favorite and most meaningful trip was to Israel.  She loved to entertain and have family gatherings.  Her greatest joys were spending time with her grandchildren.  Mom was a prayer warrior and interceded for her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren regularly.  The most important legacy she (and Dad)  left us is to love God first, love and serve others, and the importance of prayer.  We are grateful and give thanks to Menno Hospital and all the Staff in West II who cared for Mom with integrity and compassionate loving care for the past 8½ years.  Mom is survived by her four children; Lyle (Doreen), Jeanette, Doreen (Gerald) and Bonnie (John);  8 grandchildren;  17 great grandchildren and 11 great, great grandchildren.  She was predeceased by her loving husband Dale in 1987 and by her three younger brothers, Willard, Herbert and Stanley Loewen.