Obituary of Susan Funk

Surrounded by her four children, Susan Funk passed away peacefully the morning of Wednesday, August 18^th, 2021 at Bethesda Regional Health Centre in Steinbach.

Mom was born on August 14^th, 1940 to Abram N. and Agatha Esau in Steinbach, Manitoba, the oldest of eight children, but was an only child for the first four years of her life. She was preceded in death by her husband and best friend of 55 years, Frank S. Funk; her parents, Abe & Agatha Esau; her parents-in-law, Peter R. and Sara Funk; two brothers Bernie and Peter; four sisters-in-law, and five brothers-in-law.

She is survived by two daughters: Audrey Goertzen (Kevin), and Val Froese (Wes) and their children Darren (Juliana; Asher, Sophia, Nathaniel), Craig (Liette; Lucy, Arthur, Beatrice), Megan (Ryan Funk; Torrin, Alistair), Kurtis, and Eric (Romanda); two sons: Raymond (Sloane) and their sons Rayce and Tour; Kelvin (Tracy) and Kelvin’s children Tyrel (son Mason), and Tehya.  Also surviving are two brothers: Abe Esau (Trudy), Alvin Esau (Valeda); three sisters, Mary Toews (Stan), Irene Toews (Walter), Rose Klippenstein (Dan); two sisters-in-law, Helen Buhler, Ann Funk; numerous nieces and nephews whom she loved and appreciated.

Mom was a very loving, caring, devoted mother. Her family was her pride and joy. She was very talented and artistic. Mom often talked about how she dreamed of being a nurse, or a rancher, a truck driver, or a business woman but family was more important to her and she was willing to pass up those career paths. Val asked her if she had ever considered that she had had all of those careers. She nursed her sick kids (God knew that she would be the best nurse for these precious ones); she learned to work alongside Dad on the farm; she drove her kids to and from many extracurricular and church/youth activities; after her kids were grown and married, she partnered with Audrey and worked in the post office and stationery/gift store they owned together.

Mom was extremely talented. She learned how to design and sew clothing (she made us the most incredible, up-to-the-minute outfits that we were actually sometimes embarrassed to wear because they were so ahead of what we saw trending among our friends and we just wanted to wear plain ol’ blue jeans like they were). She sewed Val’s and Audrey’s wedding gowns, with the utmost attention to detail, made the headpieces and veils to go along with the gowns, along with many other gowns for other brides. She learned how to decorate cakes and made many a beautiful creation, including our wedding cakes. She took photography courses and was an incredible photographer – she had a natural eye to capture the special moments. She learned how to touch up and restore old, damaged photos.  She learned many other art forms, including paper toll, oil painting, and acrylic painting.  She designed their house and drew it to scale for the contractors (precisely and accurately). There were so many other skills and talents that she possessed; she didn’t even realize how talented she was.

Most of all, though, Mom loved us all unconditionally. We were each so important to her. She prayed unceasingly for us and our families. She longed for us all to commit our lives to whole-heartedly loving and serving God, experiencing the peace that she had also received through the forgiveness of her sins when she believed and was baptized in her later teen years. Her expressed desire, in her last conversation with Audrey was that her hope was when she reached heaven, her eyesight would be restored and she would clearly be able to see us when we reached heaven’s door.  Mom and Dad both desired that we would ultimately all gather at that river in heaven.

We loved her so dearly and she will be missed so greatly. Especially missed will be her love and kindness and her daily intercession for her family.  We were so blessed to call her Mom and could not have hand-picked a better role-model for our lives.  She wasn’t perfect but she was redeemed and perfect for us.   God knew.           

The come and go viewing will be held on Sunday, August 22, 2021, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Birchwood Funeral Chapel, Steinbach, MB.

The funeral service will be held on Monday, August 23, 2021, at 2:00 p.m. at the Steinbach CMC, followed by the interment at Heritage Cemetery, Steinbach, MB., with viewing one hour prior to the service.

If friends so desire, donations in memory of Susan may be made to the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Manitoba or to the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB).