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Our Father was born in Marienthal, Molotschna Colony, Ukraine in the Soviet Union on June 5, 1930, an almost mythical place, I would say, for his children. The stories he told of growing up there spoke of a world that had passed away, a time and place destroyed first by Stalin’s Holodomor and then by the ravages of World War II. But before that all happened, we heard stories about how he threw rocks at a bull, his cousin John Dahl promising him rubles he didn’t have for driving the bull back into the pen, snatching a few watermelons from the shared village fields, and playing marbles with frozen rabbit pellets, since they did not have money for toys. But for all the difficulties of that time, surrounded by family and friends, it seemed sort of magical.

Dad was the oldest child of Jacob Martens and Anna (Kornelsen) Martens. He had two brothers, Jake born in 1931 and Nick born in 1937. They have all lived long lives, which in itself was a miracle, an act of God’s providence, since according to Timothy Snyder in his book Bloodlands on the horrors of Stalinist Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, a child born in 1930 in Ukraine had a life expectancy of 7 years (p. 48). God cared for our Dad and his brothers, though they would lose their father in 1941. Dad wrote, “I lost my father to the communists. He died on his way to a concentration camp. Then I had to flee across the Ukraine, White Russia, Poland, and Germany with my mother, brothers and sister, always hoping to someday come to a free country.”

The family wound up in a refugee camp in Germany. Grandma had remarried and Dad had a new baby sister Anne and baby brother Bill and a good stepfather, Naftali Bachman. They all arrived in Canada in 1948 and Dad was forever grateful for this country of freedom. Dad described the journey to Canada, writing, “Left Hanover, Germany on the 12th of March 1948. Travelled by train through Germany and Holland. Took a boat from Holland across the English Channel. Arrived in Harvick Port. Took a train to London, then took bus to Southampton and left on the 17th of March. We boarded the ship, Aquitania, for Canada. Arrived at Pier 21, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada on March 22, 1948. (This day is special for me for two reasons: Freedom Day in Canada and, my first grandchild’s birthday).”

He said that “coming out of war-ravaged Europe, Canada was like an oasis in the desert. People were well dressed and had plenty of food. We had so little food in Europe. There was never enough to satisfy our hunger. But my mother said, when we get to Canada (pronounced Kahn-aud-ah) we will be able to eat all we want.

I owned a pair of pants which I found on the British Army base where I was employed. It was so stained with oil and needed five washings before they could be put on. That was all I had when I arrived at Pier 21 as an 17-year-old.

We were given $25.00 per person for food on the train which was to last us five days. But sandwiches were 35¢ and would not be enough for 5 days so when the train stopped at a station, I ran to a nearby store and bought 10 loaves of bread, a large bologna, and about 15 pounds of Sunkist oranges. That lasted for the entire trip for our family of seven… On March 27th we arrived at the Chilliwack, BC station. Our sponsor, Mr. Nicholas N. Reimer, picked us up. He had a tree nursery and also supplied us with employment.”

Dad was baptized on September 4, 1949 at Yarrow MB Church. His life in the Church was the key priority for him, followed by his dear wife.

He married a “Canadian girl” Gertrude Esau on April 16, 1950 when he was only 19 years old, a marriage which lasted over 68 years until Mum’s death on August 27, 2018. If ever there was an example of faithfulness and love, it was our father. If you knew Dad, you knew he adored, loved, and respected her. He was so grateful that God brought them together. In their later years, they worked together at MCC’s The Cedars. Dad said it was his favourite job. He enjoyed working with the men there, and he especially enjoyed working with Mom who was the manager. He said one of the fringe benefits was being able to kiss the boss!

They were blessed with five children, Marian, Jim, Tilly, John, and Trudy. They also were blessed with many, many beloved grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Dad loved telling stories about all of us. One story he shared was how he used to take the bus to Stanley Park to meet Mom and the three oldest kids after work. It was the simple things that gave him such joy like piling leaves on the kids at the park. He also used to drop dimes on the ground or shoot them over our heads and tell us to look for the coins. He always made sure that we each found one. As much as he enjoyed us children, the grandchildren and great-grandchildren topped us. They were more precious than gold.

Dad grew up poor and having been without, he wanted to be generous to those who were suffering. Both Dad and Mom considered it a privilege to give to those who were in need. They would make sacrifices in their personal life so others would not have to go without. One example of their generosity involved sending sewing machines to India so a number of women would have a livelihood. Mom and Dad had agreed to send a certain sum of money but when Dad heard that it would not be enough for all the women to receive sewing machines, he talked to Mom and said that they needed to send more so all the women could have a sewing machine. His big heart would not allow some of the women to go without.

I should mention my Dad’s sense of humour. He truly was a man of integrity but that didn’t mean he didn’t like to have fun and laugh. He loved joking even if he was the butt of a joke. Some of the heartiest laughter I have ever heard was when he was with his cousins The Dahl Boys. They loved to tease each other. They teased him about having to wear women’s shoes with the heels cut off when they were refugees because that’s all he could find to wear while they were fleeing.

He also loved to have fun at theme parks, whether Castle Fun Park, Knott’s Berry Farm, or the greatest of all, Disneyland! We all have so many memories of his joy when we travelled. He took our whole family to Disneyland, seven people crammed in one car in 1968 when not a lot of Mennonites took that kind of trip, and then Mum and Dad did it again when they took Trudy and me to Disneyland again in 1974. Dad loved to travel with his family and with his dear Gertie elsewhere too, traveling to Ukraine, Scotland, England, Germany, Israel, Holland, Hawaii, Quebec, Virginia, Jamaica, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic, and to wherever his children lived.

He was so proud of our education. He wrote that “I was unable to get formal education during my years but all of our five children have obtained university degrees (9 in total, for my 5 children) and I am so proud of them!” But Dad was really smart and a constant reader, which is a key predictor of how well children do in school, particularly boys, and he gave himself an education and allowed us to succeed in school. He was always reading the newspaper, in fact, he had Jim get him a paper to read just days before he died, and he was always reading the Bible. In the 1980s I heard the great Canadian novelist Robertson Davies give a lecture, later published as Fiction of the Future, in which he recounted the story of the great Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, who read only the Bible and the daily newspaper, and it was through this reading Davies writes that Ibsen gained his profound and wide-ranging insight into human life (p. 4-5). Davies said that to be an educated person all you needed was the Bible and the newspaper. Honestly, I think we can all agree that our Father was a well-educated man, even if not formally acknowledged. I’m sorry he was not able to get the formal schooling he desired, but he had something better: a true knowledge of God and now he has even more than any education can offer. As the Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13: 12, “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” We should all seek this perfect education as our life’s goal.

Dad took his faith in Jesus Christ seriously. To him it was not religion just practiced on Sundays but a faith that guided all his decisions. Dad would remark that he often failed but God never failed us. Dad and Mom served as deacons at Clearbrook MB and it gave them such joy. They faithfully visited people in the hospital and nursing homes. He did this because he felt the overwhelming love of God and the mercy that God has offered us.

We should be grateful to have had a role model like Dad. Trudy wrote that sometimes Mom would say to her that “You’re just like your Dad” and that “I’m pretty sure she would say it when she was exasperated with me. But if someone said that to me today I think I would be very proud to be compared to him.” And I think we can all agree with Trudy: Dad was faithful to his wife, he loved and provided for his family, and he guided us in the pathways of the Lord. He lost his father at the age of 11, but God blessed us with him so that we could experience a complete life with our father. He saw his children grow up, and his grandchildren, and his great-grandchildren. Psalm 128 tells us that the man is blessed who sees his “children’s children,” and doubly blessed is the one who sees his children’s children’s children. Our Dad was blessed by God and we will all miss him dearly until we meet him again.

Eulogy delivered by John W. Martens on June 5, 2023 (what would have been our father’s 93rd birthday)

Gertrude Martens’ Eulogy
January 27, 1926-August 27, 2018

Gertrude Esau was born on January 27, 1926 in Langham Saskatchewan. With a blanket it was said that she weighed less than four pounds. She was a fighter from the beginning because according to the weather report from Saskatoon that day, 30 kilometers from Langham, it was between -21 to -26 Celsius. That’s cold. Even if you’re not an undersized baby.

She was the 14th child of Johann Esau and the first child to be born and to survive of his second wife, our maternal Grandmother, Maria Reimer Esau. Mom talked about never wanting to be spoiled or thought of as the spoiled child because she was the youngest when she was little. She was not spoiled; at the most she spoiled her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren at times.

The Esau family moved to BC in 1928 when Mom was a young girl and settled in Yarrow, BC; indeed the Esaus had a role as pioneers in Yarrow, something of which Mom was rightly proud. In 1988, Mom was given a key to the City of Yarrow on the occasion of the town’s 60th anniversary to the people who were there in 1928 and still lived there. When asked what the key got her, she replied, “Nothing. But I’m one of only six to get one!”

Mom grew up in Yarrow surrounded by her loving and large extended family and many friends. Much of the family’s social life surrounded the Yarrow MB church. So many of the pictures of Mom as a girl and young woman show her holding other people’s babies. She loved babies! Mom also taught Vacation Bible School in Yarrow and Sunday school. She loved it, both because Mom loved the Bible and because she loved children. Many of us can tell you from firsthand reports from the girls who attended her Sunday school class how much she meant to her Sunday school girls.

She also went to elementary school in Yarrow and high school in Chilliwack, but her high school career was cut short. Mom was lucky to have such a large family to care for her because as a young woman she lost both her Mother (in 1946) and her Father (in 1947) to cancer. Mom stopped her high schooling to care for her ailing parents, but also took the opportunity to go to Elim Bible School in Yarrow while she was caring for her them.

After her parents died, Mom’s tenacity also came into play. For a lot of people to be orphaned at that age could defeat you or create great bitterness in the face of suffering. Mom’s faith in Jesus sustained her and gave her the will to continue. As a young woman, she went to Vancouver and worked as a housekeeper to support herself, while completing Grades 11 and 12 in one year at Magee Secondary School in 1948. Some will tell you Magee is such a fine school because of its notable alumni, and they are correct: our Mom went there! Mom loved her high school reunions and Dad handed to us the notice of her upcoming 70th high school reunion a couple of days ago, which she would have loved to attend.

But there was something else beyond education in the picture after high school; a young man was now in the picture. Mom apparently had not been that sweet on any of the Yarrow boys, but her mother had told her long before Dad arrived in town that if God wanted her to be married he would bring her someone, even from Russia! There was only one problem lurking down the road, Mom had said that she had a Father named John, her eldest brother was named John, she was not going to marry another John! True love conquers these minor details.

And these were minor details in a relationship that spanned almost 70 years. Mom married John Martens, our father, in 1950 and they were married for over 68 years. This does not mean Mom did not make Dad take his time in their courtship. The first time Dad wanted to kiss Mom after they started dating, Mom said to him, “if you want to kiss someone, go home and kiss your mother.” Good advice. Dad said to Trudy recently that Mom helped him through some difficult times from his early life and that he did not know where he would be without her sustaining love. They truly had a love affair that spanned not just decades but generations. Dad thinks of his relationship with Mom in light of “the wife of noble character” from Proverbs 31, worth more than rubies. Dad describes her character as based on her steadfast faith and that she was a real friend, who never gossiped and always kept confidences. She always, guided by her faith in Jesus Christ, strove to do the right thing.

And a marriage of love like this inevitably leads to children. Mom had five children, though she wanted ten. Marian and Jim were already little tykes when Tilly was born. Mom had become ill and was told that she could not have any more children. Five years later, she was given the go ahead and John and Trudy came along. Mom did achieve her goal of ten children, though, when each of her five children married. She loved her sons- and –daughters –in-law with a passion. And, naturally, when your children marry, that leads to even more children with the coming of 17 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.

But I would think there are even more people out there who might consider Gertrude their Mom. Mom was a nurturer who loved her own children unceasingly and still had room to give love to all of our friends and anyone in need of care and comfort– how many people out there consider her their other Mom? This is the lesson of her love: the more love you give, the more love you create.

One of the things that was an expression of her great love was her great cooking and baking. She loved to cook and bake and her family loved to eat and eat what she made! When you entered her home, or workplace, you entered into the history of the Mennonite kitchen. Piroshki, zwieback, vereniki, borscht, Summa borscht, halapsie, butterhorns. I think we could go on and on with our favorites, such as rollkuchen, Butta zuppe, kottletten, platz, green bean soup, wurstbubbat… but that might be enough to get our memories and taste buds working. Still, how could we not mention her canning? She canned pickles, ikra, peaches, cherries, raspberries, and even watermelon. It’s no surprise that in the Bible Jesus gives an image of the Kingdom of God as a banquet from which many will come from east and west and dine with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob on that day of the Lord (Matthew 8:11). In Mom’s cooking we got a little foretaste of heaven because as good as the food was itself, more importantly is that it was indeed prepared with love.

Mom also worked professionally as a cook and baker, at the Airport Inn in Richmond, at Columbia Bible Camp for 4 years and at the Cedars for 12 years. Cooking and baking were not the only work she did either, as she had numerous responsibilities at Columbia Bible Camp and the Cedars. Dad said that his 12 years at the Cedars were so wonderful because she was the best boss he ever had!

Mom also was one of the first people to be trained in Early Childhood Education in BC in the 1970’s, running a day care center at Richmond Bethel MB Church. Mom was a hard worker, in general, as Trudy recalls Mom getting up before anyone else and going to bed after everyone else.

In her retirement Mom continued to enjoy travelling to see the world and to see her children, who lived spread out over much of North America, and cooking for us all when she arrived in our homes. As she got older and less able to do the things she had always loved to do, she depended more and more on Dad and Marian and Eb and Jim and Nena to help her with her daily tasks and to care for her. But her love for all never ebbed, never left her. Her love seemed to grow in strength as her physical capacities weakened. It never ceased being a delight to get a hug and a kiss from Mom and look into her eyes twinkling with life and love.

But what pulled all of these gifts together, what made her the daughter, sister, cousin, friend, aunt, wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother she was, was her religious faith, that she was a disciple of Jesus Christ. She was involved from an early age with the Mennonite Brethren Church in Yarrow and was baptized in her mid-teens, joining the choir at age 17 in 1943. She continued to attend MB churches throughout the Lower Mainland and the Fraser Valley all her life, including Clearbrook MB church for the last 22 years of her life. We mentioned above that Mom was a fighter, but what she fought for was the Kingdom of God. That goal transformed her will to survive as a little baby and the toughness that took her through the early loss of her parents into Dad’s sweetheart who loved and loved and loved all those around her.

When we asked Dad for a special Bible passage for Mom, he could not choose one; he said that it was the whole Bible she loved. This was true. Her faith in Christ was an attempt to walk the path of righteousness that Jesus expressed in two simple commands: “‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:29-31).

Mom’s discipleship was made wholly manifest in simply living out the greatest commands: the love of God and the love of neighbour. She accepted people where they were and helped them. She loved God and never ceased supporting ministries near and far or supporting us all with her prayers. From the beginning of her life to the end, on August 27, 2018, she was a woman of steadfast hope and faith and love. But the Apostle Paul asks us not to “grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died.” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14). And now her life of faith and hope have come to an end and all that exists for Mom is love.

We do not grieve for our Mother as others do who have no hope, though we do grieve for our great loss, because we know that now she is in the presence of eternal love, reunited with her parents, all thirteen of her siblings who predeceased her, and her many other friends and relatives who have welcomed her home. That little baby from Langham, Saskatchewan whom no one was certain could survive that harsh, cold Saskatchewan winter leaves behind a legacy of love of neighbour and love of God, a legacy of warmth that has spread from her family throughout the world.

The Simpson and Martens’ families had the privilege of celebrating Elizabeth (Betty) Simpson’s life on July 20, 2015 at South Delta Baptist Church. Here is her obituary and the slide show that was played during the service can be viewed or downloaded at http://1drv.ms/1LAta0N:

Elizabeth Walker Simpson – December 31, 1929 – June 25, 2015

Elizabeth (Betty) Walker was born in Stonehouse, Scotland on December 31, 1929 to James Walker, a coal miner and Agnes Jardine Walker. Betty was the six child of seven children. Betty’s mother, Agnes, passed away during childbirth when she was only two years old. Her father was now caring for seven children on his own, three of which were under five years of age! Betty didn’t share much about her childhood other than to let us know schooling had its share of cruelty; she told us that if the teacher left the room and heard even one student talking on his return, everyone was punished When she was nineteen she met an award-winning Scottish baker, Joseph Simpson, who had spent some time with the British Army in occupied Germany after WWII. When Joe returned to Scotland he married Betty, now a nursing orderly, in 1950 at Avendale Manse, Strathaven. They immigrated to Canada shortly thereafter. They settled in South Vancouver where daughter Nena was born in 1951 and son Bill in 1953.

Grandma Simpson was a homemaker like many moms of the 50s but also helped out Grandpa who co-owned four Better Bakeries in Vancouver. Grandma also worked at the Marine Drive White Spot directly down Ross Street from their home at 58^th and Ross in South Vancouver. (Thanks, Grandma! White Spot is still one of our favourite places to dine.) In the summer months, Grandma worked on the May’s Strawberry Farm in Richmond with her good friend Greta Matson.

Our Grandma loved to dance and in the 60s, she and Grandpa and many other transplanted Scottish friends would laugh and dance a Saturday night away at a local hall they had rented. She was also actively involved in my mom, Nena, and Uncle Bill’s school events, attending every John Oliver choir performance she could. Grandma even served as a chaperone on the award-winning John Oliver Choir Tour to Great Britain in the summer of 1970. I’ve also been told that Grandma enjoyed bowling, curling and even learnt to swim when she was 50 years old.

In 1972, Grandma and Grandpa moved to 50B Street in Tsawwassen. Grandpa was now working for the local Super-Valu and didn’t have the added pressure of owning the bakery business. So once Grandma convinced Grandpa to take more than two weeks of holidays, they settled on cruising and going to Hawaii every year. They spent 35 wonderful years of extended holidays on Waikiki Beach. Every family member, including every spouse and grandchild, spent time in Hawaii with Grandma and Grandpa. They continued to live in the house Grandpa built on 50B until Grandpa’s passing on February 14, 2007.

Grandma loved dressing up especially on the many cruises she took with Grandpa. She also loved going to any concerts, performances or sports events featuring her grand children or great-grandchildren. And they, in turn, loved having her there to cheer them on. Grandpa and Grandma Simpson were known to their great grand kids as Grandpa and Grandma Gate because of the large rod iron gate leading to their house. Their great-grand daughter April gave Grandma that name and it stuck!

After Grandpa died, Grandma moved across the street to live with Uncle Bill, Aunt Gina, Jordan and Alanna. She lived with them for three years before a stroke dictated, first, a hospital stay and, eventually, extended care at Westshore Laylum in Ladner. While Grandma was reluctant to go initially, Westshore became her happy home for her final five years. Grandma was a long term resident, loved by the staff who cared for as their own special “mom.” The entire family is grateful for such wonderful caring staff and committed caregivers at Westshore Laylum. We are also very thankful for all of Grandma’s friends— both from her days in Vancouver to those she met through South Delta Baptist Church—who visited her and prayed for her throughout her time at Westshore. God bless you and may His face shine upon you. We’d also like to thank the Irene Thomas Hospice volunteers who spent evenings with Grandma during the last week of her life. We are grateful for your selfless acts of love.

Grandma was predeceased by her parents, Grandpa Joe, and her great grandson, Marcus. Grandma is survived by her children, Nena & Jim Martens and Bill & Gina Simpson, her grandchildren, Tracy & Paul McCabe, Stephanie & Tre Wright, Scott & Chelsea Martens, Jordan Simpson and Alanna & Kyle Belding and six great-grandchildren: April, Hannah, Sydney, and Luke McCabe, Piper Wright, and Tripp Martens.

We are forever grateful that Grandma Simpson gave her life to Jesus at a Christian Women’s meeting in Richmond and attended South Delta Baptist Church with Nena and Bill and her grandchildren for the past 20 years.

Grandma Simpson was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and friend who on June 25, 2015, at West Shore Laylum Care Home, went to be with Jesus. We believe she is now dancing with Grandpa and her great grandson Marcus and we look forward to one day joining her in her eternal home. We are blessed to have known her and to have been loved by her. Until we meet again, Grandma, may God continue to hold you in the palm of His hand.