Obituary of Cornelius Isaac

Cornelius Isaac, devoted husband, father and grandfather passed away on Friday, December 4th, 2020 at Bethania Mennonite Personal Care Home at the age of 91 with his family nearby.

Cornelius Isaac (Corny) was born to Franz and Maria Isaak on October 21, 1929 in Nikolaifeld, Sagradowka Colony, Russia (present day Ukraine).  He was the 7th of 9 children (only 3 survived war time).  He lost his father at the age of 4 and saw his mother for the last time at the age of 14.  His mother instilled a strong faith in God which he carried with him throughout his lifetime.  Life was hard, food was scarce as was everything else and the political situation was precarious.  When the Germans retreated during World War II they assisted by taking German speaking Mennonite families to Germany and out of the war zones. Their transport by train or horse and carriage was during the heart of a very cold winter.

As a young teenager Corny was required to be part of the Hitler Youth Camp, where discipline and hard work influenced his character to be a person of solid work ethic.  From 1945-47 Corny worked for various farmers in Germany some of who supported him and helped shape his character. With the assistance of the Red Cross he was reunited with his brother John.  Mennonite Central Committee assisted with immigration to Canada and through sponsorship support from his uncle Wilhelm Voth he arrived in Canada in 1948.  He found employment with farmers in La Salle and Sanford, Manitoba.  before moving to Winnipeg in 1949 where he made his home in North Kildonan.  His sister Katherina remained in Russia until 1979 when she immigrated to Germany with her family.  John and Corny, together with their wives, traveled to Europe to be reunited with their sister.  

Corny’s faith in God and his church life was very important to him.  He actively participated in his youth group and on the confession of his faith was baptized on May 28, 1950.  He was involved in the Boys Club Program and Youth Sunday School where he mentored and influenced young men’s character.  He was also a member of Church Council.  Our family has memories of spending time Saturday evenings manually running a Gestetner machine, printing and folding the church bulletin.

Corny met Anna Janzen through the North Kildonan Mennonite church youth group in 1951.  Their first date was a street car ride to see a circus in downtown Winnipeg.  They were married on May 30, 1953 and raised a family of 4 children.  Corny worked hard to support his family.  He built 2 of our family homes as well as a cottage at Lester Beach.  Vacation times were spent camping, holidays in Banff and road trips to visit family in Saskatoon and Niagara Falls.   When their children were older mom and dad travelled with friends on Fehr-Way Tours across Canada and into the United States.   Lessons we learned from Dad were the value of spending time together as a family, keeping connections with friends and following a strong work ethic.  Many weekends were spent having dinner parties followed by an evening of games, Dad’s favourite being dominos.  Our family often spent Sunday afternoons with other family friends, enjoying company and Faspa.

A heart surgery in 1985 and later a stroke lead to an early retirement. Corny took this as an opportunity to pursue his passion for woodworking and this became his hobby.  A home shop was set up in his garage where he spent many hours designing and building furniture and home accessories for his own home and for his children and grandchildren.  Another interest was photography.  There was always a camera in hand on family trips whereby he created memories through his photography.  Both of these interests and talents have carried on to his children and grandchildren.

To lighten their lifestyle work load and due to declining health mom and dad moved into their first apartment in 2002 and in 2016 Dad moved into Bethania Mennonite Personal Care Home.  During his time there he lived his life with a positive attitude, sharing smiles and good humour with staff.  Time and time again staff conveyed how they appreciated his smile and that they considered him family. 

On the morning of December 4th, he passed into Glory. He is survived by his devoted wife Anna Isaac, his children Harold (Monica), Irene (John), Dolores (Rob), Robert (Suzanne) and his grandchildren Lydia, Lisa, Nicholas, Jessica (David), Joshua, Kayla (Steven), Jami (Shawn), Dallas, Jacob, Danica.

He was predeceased by brother John Isaak from Winnipeg and sister Katherina Schmidke from Germany.

We express our heartfelt appreciation to the Bethania Mennonite PCH and their entire staff for their years of wonderful, attentive and loving care. 

In memory of Cornelius Isaac donations may be made to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Manitoba.

A private livestreamed Celebration of Life service for Cornelius Isaac will be held on Thursday, December 10, 2020 at 11:30 a.m. at Birchwood Funeral Chapel.

Private Interment held prior to the service.