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Obituary of Betty Siemens Martens
Betty Siemens Martens, aged 87 years, passed away peacefully with family at her side, on Thursday, May 13, 2021 after an eight-month battle with breast cancer. By the grace of God, we were able to care for her to the end, without her having to go to the hospital.
Betty, registered name Lizzie (Liesbette or Lisa at home), was born on March 25, 1934 in the village of Heiboden, near Kleefeld Manitoba, to John and Anna Kornelsen. She was the seventh of 11 children, one of which died in infancy. Her first memory is of the house in Rosenhoff when she was four or five. She remembered playing in their large yard; climbing trees, playing catch or “Drop the Handkerchief.” One day, while staying at her Uncle & Aunt’s due to her Mother’s cancer treatment, she poured soap into the hand pump. She may or may not have gotten into trouble for that.
When Mom was five years old, she moved to Mariaville where she grew up. She attended a one room school (grade one to eight) in the Clover Plains school District, until grade seven when she was forced to quit to help earn money for the family. She worked as a housemaid and weeding in a beet field. At age 16, Mom went to work in a Canning factory in Aylmer, Ontario with two of her cousins, Eva & Hilda. Other jobs included working in a sewing factory, Shriners Hospital for crippled children, and Morris Hospital as a nurse’s aide.
At age 10, Mom had a pen-pal, Annie Siemens. Annie and her family came to Manitoba from Meade, Kansas to visit relatives when Mom was 14. When she was 18, during another visit from the Siemens family, something “sparked” between her and Elmer, Annie’s brother. That began a two-year courtship, mostly through letter writing, with very few in-person visits because of the distance between their homes. They were engaged on October 1, 1953 and married on May 1, 1954. They bought their first home, which was a one and a half bedroom bungalow, for $900.00 in the Rosenort area. Four months later, Dad was called to go back to the USA to do two years of Alternative Service. They lived in Denver, Colorado where Dad worked in the Mental ward in the Denver General Hospital from September, 1954 to September, 1956. Their first child, Karen, was born while they lived in Denver. While Mom and Dad were living in Denver, and before Karen was born, Mom worked in the Denver General Hospital in the utility room where they washed and sterilized OR instruments and needles.
In September 1956, they moved back to their little house in Manitoba. Eugene & Rocky were born in Morris and in 1959, Mom and Dad moved to Kola, Manitoba. They bought a farm and Dad worked as a carpenter. Dave and Connie were born while they were on the farm. In 1965, they sold the farm and built a house closer to the village of Kola. Keith was born a year later.
Mom grew up going to church and accepted Jesus Christ as her Saviour after her brother Jake invited her to a Gospel meeting. Mom’s Bible was always open, often on the table. She led many Bible Studies over the years and was part of a Bible Memory club. Memorizing Scripture has always been very important to her. Due to her influence, we all know much of the Scripture by heart as well. Her desire was to see people come to know Jesus as their personal Saviour. She has even been known to witness to Telemarketers who called frequently.
After her children were all in school, Mom took training to become a Health care aide and worked as a Home Care attendant for six to seven years. This proved to be helpful to those of us who were caring for her in the last few weeks.
In 1999, Mom and Dad moved to Kleefeld because Dad had to move into an extended care home due to a debilitating disease and the Menno Home in Grunthal seemed the best choice because family was nearby. Mom quickly made some very dear friends and found a Church who became her family. Dad passed away in July 2006.
In April 2011, Mom married Abe Martens of Kola. Together they made their home in Kleefeld until Abe passed away three years later.
In 2018, Mom moved to the Woodhaven Manor in Steinbach, MB. Here her friend/family base increased even more. She flourished while living there. It seemed she was related to or had some significant connection with half of the people who make the Woodhaven their home.
Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer in August 2020. She underwent a mastectomy from which she never fully recovered. In February, during a series of tests due to a very serious infection, they discovered the cancer had metastasised to her lungs. We knew time with Mom would be short. She continued living on her own as long as possible and on Tuesday, April 27, we moved her to her son’s home (Dave and Sharon) where we were able to provide care for her until she went to meet her sweet Saviour, Jesus Christ.
She is survived by: Karen (Norm) Koop, Eugene (Shawna) Siemens, Rocky (Emily) Siemens, Dave (Sharon) Siemens, Connie (Tom) Peachey, Keith (Geneva) Siemens; 34 grandchildren including spouses, 19 great-grandchildren, nine siblings and in-laws.
Mom was predeceased by her first husband, Elmer Siemens, her second husband Abe Martens, her siblings: Levi (Mary), Nettie (Jake), Florence (Jake), Delmer, Alvin (Edna), and Henry; and grandson-in-law, Riley Mayer.
We would like to express immeasurable gratitude to the medical staff for how they cared for our mom as well as for us as we cared for her.
Mom’s church family demonstrated so beautifully how the Church of Jesus Christ should function. From the time we brought her to Dave’s until the day she graduated to heaven her church family kept us fed, loved, and prayed for. There was a steady stream of people telling Mom how she had impacted them and encouraged them on their walk with Christ. We received numerous emails and texts telling her the same thing. Mom’s influence was widespread. We are sure she heard the Father say, “Well, done my daughter.”
We could not have done this without the support of friends and family. Thank you so much!!
In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Betty may be made to Union Gospel Mission.
