DERKSEN-WIENS.COM - On the Wings of our Mennonite Ancestors

Section 6

MAKIN' IT THROUGH THE HARD TIMES!

Like anyone else, the farmers had bad years as well as good. The year of 1944 was just such a year! The Wiens now had a family 7 children to support plus another baby on the way. The year of 1944 would be best described as a year of catastrophe with one setback after another.

Peter with Jake Klassen,
One of his neighbors

During the drought years they had purchased a pure bred Holstein calf for $10.00, which was a lot of money at that time, only to lose her in January while she was calving. Six months later, 50% of their crops were destroyed by hail. While farmers can expect this to happen from time to time, it appeared to hit only their quarter of land. With that source of income just about wiped out - they got about an average of 15 bushels per acre while their neighbors harvested a good crop - they turned to raising chickens for their main income.

Being the pioneer that he was, he wasn't afraid to try anything once although the neighbors thought this to be a rather foolish notion. He purchased 500 little chickens from a hatchery in Saskatoon with the intention selling the eggs back to the hatchery. During the remainder of the year, they would sell the eggs to the local creamery.

The hatchery paid about three times more than the creamery. The chickens had to be purebred with a very specific procedure. In the fall a hatchery representative would come to test and cull the hens tagging every hen and in return the hatchery would pay them $.60 per dozen in the spring. Peter's job was to separate the high quality eggs from those that weren't. This process was referred to as culling.

In December even this source of income was almost wiped out as well. A few days before Christmas early in the morning, the chicken barn caught fire. No one had telephones at that time, so it was up to Peter and Maria to do what they could to save the chicken. They chased the chickens to the other end of the barn and threw them out of the window. Unfortunately chickens are pretty dumb by nature because they just jumped right back into the barn and were burned. Out of the original 500 chickens that they started out with, only 50 had been saved.

One thing that should be noted here is that in comparing the times at hand to the 1990's was that when a neighbor needed assistance, they would be there to help them in every way possible. After Christmas, the neighbors came to help rebuild the barn. All in all, despite their reversals, they had food on the table, clothes on their backs and the strength to start over - all without the assistance of welfare or government assistance.

PROGRESS COMES TO GLENBUSH

Electricity did not come to the community until the 1950's. Around the mid-fifties, Peter was selected to go from farm to farm to ask his neighbors whether or not they would like to have electricity brought into the area. To do this, he used a variety of travel methods, especially, when the roads were blocked, resorting to skis and skied from place to place. The first electric lights came on during dinnertime in 1957 and kerosene lamps were retired for another time.

While the farmers worked hard, they also made time for recreation. The Glenbush Agricultural Society would put on an annual fair in order to attract more people into their circle of activities. One year they put on a small circus with a Ferris wheel, merry-go-round and other rides.

Another year, they had an airplane at the fair that would for a fee take a person up in the air for 15 minutes. From the little information available, a raffle was drawn and the lucky person got a free ride. Peter drew the lucky ticket and got his ride in a plane!! I do not think he had ever been in a plane before that or after that.

CHURCH AND EDUCATION

The Wiens family was very involved in church activities. Peter taught Sunday school and conducted the children's choir while Maria played the piano for the choir and taught Sunday school as well. Together with some of the older children, he sang tenor in the church choir. On occasion he even conducted an orchestra. Peter also sang solos as well as singing in a duet with one of his nephews Peter Pauls. Together they harmonized so well that people remembered their music many years later.

Attending church was very important to him and Maria. When he got an older two door Ford car, he made two trips to church making sure that each member of his family would be present in the House of the Lord. Peter maintained a high standard of Christian living which did not allow for any form of compromise which gained the respect of those around him.

He strived to uphold righteousness over flattery or falsehood and desired to stand up against it. Although he was strict, he also saw his imperfections and viewed himself as a diamond in the rough. He determined in his heart early on that he desired to be strict and determined, hard as steel and brass rising against all immorality, unrighteousness, injustice and flattery. His motto was 'do unto others as you would have them do unto you'. He also desired to be forgiving and to constantly be learning from others but let God bring about the results that He desired.

Incidentally that old car did more than just take his family to and from church. It also did double duty as his 'truck' hauling calves in the back. To accommodate this process, he would remove the back seat and place a box in the back ensuring the warmth of the young calves. Help someone with a cementing job? No problem! He strapped the wheelbarrow on the top of the roof, the cement mixer in the back of the car/truck and off he's go.

Education was equally important to Peter and Maria. Peter served as a trustee for the Artichoke District. Because the school bus had not made its appearance in the area until the 50's, each parent was responsible for providing their own transportation to and from school. Glenbush had no high school so Peter Enns, seven years older than Lily and a high school student, came to live with Wiens household. He would take Lily and Herb to school in a horse and buggy picking up the neighbor children along the way as well.

Another year, Marie Enns, Peter Enns' sister lived with them caring for the children and going to high school until the two oldest, Lily and Herb were old enough to handle the horses and sleigh by themselves. For three years, they worked together with their neighbors, Jake and Mary Klassen, getting the children to and from school.

ETERNITY - JUST A STEP AWAY

Whether we live to be 30 or 53 or even 100, every life comes to an end at some time but never when we plan for it to be convenient and certainly never without leaving an effect.

The Bible tells us that there is a right time to be born and the right time to die. A time to plant and a time reap. A time to cry and a time to laugh, a time to embrace and time to part, a time to hold and a time to let go, a time to search and a time to count your losses. (Ecclesiastes 3) Certainly in the 53 years that God allotted to Peter Peter Peter Wiens, he did all of these things.

September 25, 1961 started out as any other day in the home of Peter and Maria Wiens. It was a beautiful day filled with fun and adventure. For any adult it was also a day of fulfilling individual responsibilities. Children were roused out of bed, sat around the breakfast table for the daily word read by their father. Chores were carried out and those going to school boarded the bus for the trip to town.

Peter and one of his sons began their trip to Medstead to remove the foundation of an old water tower. On his way to work, he encountered a neighbor, Jake Klassen on the road, exchanged some friendly joke, shared a laugh or two and went on his way.

That is as far as the normalcy of that day went. Something went terribly wrong and in an attempt to rectify the problem and continuing on with their job, Peter was instantly killed. Instead of going home to his family at the end of the day, he entered the door of his heavenly home where he met his Father face to face. This changed the fabric of the Wiens family forever.

He did not know that when he woke up that morning, that it would be his final day on earth. Did he have a premonition that his life would not be long as far as years go, I do not know, but through a conversation or two, I think he did.

The year 1961 yielded a poor harvest. To supplement the family income, Peter together with John Isaac purchased an old water tower from the railroad company. Together with several other men, they worked to remove the foundation. Unfortunately, something went wrong while dynamiting the foundation. Peter went back to relight the dynamite but the dynamite blew up in his face, throwing him ten feet into the air killing him instantly. The date was September 25, 1961.

Peter & Maria Wiens
Silver Wedding 1960

Just two years before (1959), they had celebrated their 25th anniversary. His unexpected passing left behind a wife, 14 children - seven of whom were under the age of 16 or under. He had 8 daughter and 6 sons with the youngest child, Blondina, only 6 years old. Peter and Maria had been married almost 27

Needless to say, his passing left a big void in his family - a void no one would ever be able to fill and he was sorely missed by all who knew him. To the very end of his life, he remained faithful to God, his family and his church and he had gained the respect and love of his community.

"… And by faith he still speaks, even though his dead." (Hebrews 11:4)

This statement implies that even though a person has died, his actions can and do still speak on his behalf - negatively or positively. It is therefore our intent as his children that as you dear reader read this, you will gain an understanding of who our father, Peter Wiens was - what he believed - and by faith, allow his life to bless you, his descendents today. It is also our intention that you would learn from his mistakes as well as his successes and bring honor to him and his God as you bear his name.

The final resting place of
Peter Peter Wiens in the Glenbush M.B.Church cemetery

In Silence We Remember

A life lived well
A Godly example to all who knew him
Faithful to the end
A friend to everyone

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