Walter Loewen

Walter Loewen the middle child born to Abram and Margareta Loewen in 1942.  He had four brothers and four sisters.  Walt was born in the Chaco area of Paraguay.  The Loewen family immigrated to Canada in 1950.  Life was tough for them after their trip to Canada was delayed by one year forcing the family to live off the funds that had been saved for their journey to Canada.  Upon arrival in Canada with seven children to feed, no money to speak of and a language barrier to tackle,  the family settled in Yarrow and Dad Loewen Sr. found work to support the family.  Walt found it especially difficult as he spoke no English and found himself a couple of years older than most of the other students in the grade level at school that he was placed in.  He worked in the berry fields when his parents moved to Arnold and also helped his father with the dairy farm.  He left school at the end of Grade 8 to help full time on the family farm.  Although he was limited by a lack of formal education, he was very creative in solving problems.  His ability to “do it yourself” predated its popularity on TV by decades.

As a young man, Walt was convicted of his need for Jesus and was baptized in Stewart Creek and became a member of the Arnold M.B. Church.  An interesting note on this baptism location is that the creek would be dammed to provide water for the baptism and following the baptism it would be opened and become a creek again.  He eventually moved to Vancouver to work with a landscaping company which he purchased and operated by himself for several years.  Walt met Lorraine in 1966 and they were married in September 1967. Over the next few years, Walt and Lorraine were blessed with three sons, Darryl born in 1971, Glen in 1972 and Wayne in 1977.  Walt was very happy – three sons – every man’s dream.   Darryl married Janet in 1994 and Glen married Colleen in 1994 – leveling out the male/female ratio somewhat. 

In 1969 Walt changed careers and starting driving dump truck for his brother-in-law.  He eventually bought his own truck and continued driving truck until the fall of 2007.  He enjoyed driving and only retired when his health forced him to do so in 2008.  Even in retirement you could still find him working a machine at home or at church.  His last act of service for the church was planting the hedge at the back of the church parking lot, done just 3 weeks ago.

Walt and Lorraine made a hobby of travelling, especially cruising.  They took their last cruise together in September of this year.  Travelling with friends and relatives and making some lasting friendships while on these cruises was always special to Walt.  He enjoyed camping with the family, going out on the sailboat with Glen, and spending time in Palm Springs.  This past summer he showed a renewed interest in fishing.  In 2010 on a trip to Europe, Walt got to meet many more Loewen relatives he never knew existed – this was a time that was very special to him.  He was also very thankful for the care group that they have been part of for the past number of years – often commenting on what a great group they have.

Another source of joy to Walt were his five grandchildren – Jonathan, Grayson, Jamie, Adrian and Dana.  In the past year he especially enjoyed his visits from Dana – she always had a kiss and a hug for Grandpa.

Walt was diagnosed as being bi-polar in 2008 and seemed to be managing that relatively well with cycles of ups and downs until a few months ago.  The seasonal weather we experience at this time of year was particularly difficult for him to handle.

He lost his fight against depression on Thursday, Oct. 30 and passed in to the arms of Jesus on Friday, October 31, 2014 with his family at his side.

He is survived by his loving wife, Lorraine, his sons:  Darryl, (Janet); Glen, (Colleen), and Wayne and his five grandchildren.  He is also survived by three sisters, two brothers and several cousins.   Even though it has only been a few days, the family are all missing him immensely. 

You are invited to leave a personal message of condolence for the family.

Earth has no sorrows that heaven cannot heal.

Thomas Moore