After a long and slow relinquishing of life, Myrtle Mary (Rempel) Reimer, aged 85, passed away peacefully on December 3, 2007, at the Bethesda Hospital in Steinbach, Manitoba. Myrtle was predeceased by her husband of 50 years, P.J. Reimer, in 1997. She is survived by her daughter Sandra and husband Tony Lucki of Winnipeg, by her son Garth and wife Mavis of Winnipeg, by her five grandchildren--Maria Reimer and her husband John Kennett of Winnipeg; Andrew Reimer and his partner Desirae Mercer of Kyoto, Japan; Melissa Lucki of Winnipeg; Carlton Reimer and his partner Tara Cruse of Bangkok, Thailand; and Vanessa Lucki and her partner Matt Powers of Winnipeg; and by her nephew David Rempel and her niece Billi-Jo Rempel. She also leaves to mourn four brothers--Clarence and wife Marge, Ralph and wife Wilma, Jake and wife Lorraine, and George; sisters-in-law Helen Rempel, Joan Rempel, Evangeline Rempel, and brother-in-law Roland Barkman. She was predeceased by sisters Rose and husband George Kliewer, Annie and husband Pete Peters, and Evelyn Barkman; and by brothers Peter, Orlando and wife Elma, Arnold, Marvin, Raymond, and Melvin. Myrtle, the sixth child of fourteen in the family of Peter S. and Elizabeth (Friesen) Rempel, was born on September 27, 1922, in Steinbach, and lived her entire life in this community. She remembered growing up as a child in a large family with great fondness, delighting, for example, in the fact that she had had so many brothers they formed their own baseball team. She worked as a switchboard operator for the Manitoba Telephone System in Steinbach in the 1940s, but found her vocation as a homemaker after marrying P.J. in 1946. With the births of Sandra in 1950 and Garth in 1954, and the arrival of her brother George as a member of the family in 1950, Myrtle found her life full and rewarding. She took up her role as wife and mother with pride and with style. Such special events as Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter were occasions for meticulous planning and careful preparation, and the perfect turkeys, hams, mashed potatoes, red cabbage, and pies that appeared on her table on these holidays are remembered with pleasure by family members. They continue to insist that her chicken soup was unrivalled. Myrtle greeted the birth of each of her grandchildren with great excitement. To the last day of her life, she visibly brightened during their visits and phone calls. Myrtle was blessed with an impeccable memory. She could access detailed recollections of events and complicated mental maps of kinship relations whenever she was asked to place a fact or a person. Even as her world grew smaller, she continued to seek out new information about people’s comings and goings. The family wishes to thank Dr. Curtis Krahn and all of the dedicated professionals at Bethesda Hospital, as well as Ralph and Wilma Rempel, Marina Friesen, Liz Holme, Carrie Delorme, and Julie Lepine, for their steady kindness, compassion, and care. A funeral service for Myrtle Reimer will take place on Friday, December 7, 2007, at 10:30 a.m., at Grace Mennonite Church, 430 Third Street, Steinbach. Memorial donations in her name can be made to the Bethesda Foundation, P.O. Box 939, Steinbach, Manitoba R5G 1A3. Arrangements are entrusted to Birchwood Funeral Chapel, 204-346-1030. Darkness more clear than noon-day holdeth her, Silence more musical than any song; Even her very heart has ceased to stir: Until the morning of Eternity Her rest shall not begin nor end, but be; And when she wakes she will not think it long.