Obituary of Susana Fehr

Susana Margaret FEHR nee Wiebe (AKA Oma), passed away on Sunday, January 12, 2020 - much too soon - at the tender age of 75 in St. Pierre-Jolys, Manitoba.

Her struggle was a long one, starting at age 12 with a bout of rheumatic fever that left her heart permanently damaged. She lived with the resulting severe heart murmur until the age of 36 when she underwent heart surgery to replace the faulty valve with a metal valve. At the time she had the choice of a valve from a pig or a metal valve. She, ever the practical soul that she was, asked the doctors how long each would last. The pig valve would last approximately 40 years and then require replacement. The metal valve would last 120 years, but would require daily medication to prevent potential blood clots. She decided that she didn’t want another surgery in her mid-70s, so she opted for the longer-lasting metal valve. After all, she had full intentions of living into her hundreds.

Unfortunately, the blood clot preventing anticoagulants caused side effects from being used for 40 years and she had to start having regular blood transfusions about 10 years ago. This severely weakened her to the point where she developed congestive heart failure. After struggling with CHF for about 6 years, her kidneys began to fail because the medication used to help combat CHF is very hard on the kidneys.

In the end her kidneys failed her completely, which caused the rest of her organs to shut down as well. She voiced her regret, in the last few weeks of her life, that due to her illness her organs would end up being of no use to anyone else. To honour her life, we request that you consider making a blood donation and signing up to be an organ donor.

LIFE and FAMILY

Susana was born in Morris, Manitoba on June 16, 1944, the fifth of the eight children born to Bernhard and Susannah Wiebe that survived past infancy. Family anecdotal evidence suggests that there were additional births, but the facts are unclear. Bernhard was tragically killed in an automobile accident circa 1973 and Susannah passed away from kidney failure due to a prolonged illness in 1990.

Susana was also the fifth of the eight to pass away. She was predeceased by her brothers, Cornelius “Jake”, Peter “Pete”, and Abram “Slim”, and her sister Cynthia “Sally”. She is survived by her brother Benjamin “Ben”, and her sisters Helen “Maggie” and Eva “Evelyn”.

Susana was very proud of being a flower girl at her Uncle Cornie and Aunt Agatha’s wedding in 1950. She was also very proud of some hijinxs she got into as a teenager on Halloween nights.

She married John Friesen in 1961 and had three daughters, Marianne (1963), Helen Susan (May 11, 1964 – August 8, 1964 of SIDS) and Christine (1966). Susana and John divorced in 1967 and she married the love of her life, Abram Herbert Fehr, in Abbotsford, B.C. on July 10, 1971. Abram legally adopted Marianne and Chris in 1980, just to confirm what they all knew – they were a family.  Susana and Abe separated for approximately 10 years, however they remained close friends during this decade and at the end of it, they remarried on July 16, 1994 and she spent the rest of her life with him right by her side. At the 1994 wedding, Susana was given away by her daughters and looked happier than she had in over 10 years. Susana has two grandchildren through Chris, a 20 year-old grandson, Deven Wilson, and an 18 year old granddaughter, Cailyn Wilson. She was very proud of her grandchildren as she would tell anyone who cared to listen.

In her late 20s Susana went to school to become a nurse’s aide and worked at the personal care home in Morris. She found that although the work was rewarding, she became too emotionally invested in the residents and broke down if one passed. For the rest of her working life, she focused on the service industry where she could interact with people in a happier atmosphere. In the 1980s Susana worked in a restaurant in Morris where many of the teenagers knew her simply as “Mom”.

Abe and Susana moved many times in their years together. Marianne and Chris joke that they had the “Wanderlust”, but the truth is that they were searching for something better for their family in a time when jobs were not plentiful. In later years they were searching for the perfect place to spend their golden years together. Her search is now over as she has found her perfect place with Jesus.

MEMORIES

Susana loved to sing and play guitar, particularly in her younger years. She was very outgoing and friendly and made friends easily. She was genuinely thankful for any small kindnesses done for her and often referred to her home care workers and nurses as her angels.

One time, while Abe, Susana, and Chris were sitting in a quiet, stress-filled waiting room awaiting eye surgery for Abe, Susana had almost the entire room of approximately a dozen people joining in with laughter and jokes. By the time she was done, that quiet tense room seemed more like a party room.

Susana prepared family tree books for Marianne and Chris and listed her interests as "writing, sewing, gardening, crafts, reading, loving you, and driving you round the bend".

Please share your memories of her with her family and friends. Susana would have wanted us to take a few minutes to reflect and feel the sadness, then pull ourselves up and get on with the best, most joyful life possible.

DONATIONS

If you are unable to make a donation of blood to Canadian Blood Services, please consider a monetary donation to the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation, whose research and assistance helped us to have Susana with us almost 40 years longer than she might have been.

SERVICE

The funeral service will be held on Monday, January 20, 2020 at 1:00 p.m. at Birchwood Funeral Chapel, Steinbach, MB. Please join us for a light snack following the service.

Burial will take pace at Heritage Cemetery, Steinbach, MB. All are welcome to join.