Funeral For: Helga Guenter
Funeral Date: April 25, 2025
Helga Guenter, 86, of Winnipeg formerly of Snowflake, passed away Friday, April 18th at Grace Hospital. She is survived by her husband Bill, 1 daughter, 1 son, 2 sisters, and 4 brothers. She was predeceased by 2 brothers.
The funeral service for Helga Guenter will be held Friday, April 25th at 11am at Sargent Avenue Mennonite Church, 926 Garfield Street, with burial at Springstein Cemetery.
Donations may be made to MCC.
Arrangements by Friends Funeral Service, Winnipeg.
Obituary for Helga Guenter (Goerz)
Helga Guenter (nee Goerz), a beloved wife, mother, grandmother, sister and friend, passed away peacefully after a brief and fierce battle with cancer, on April 18th, 2025, at Grace Hospital in Winnipeg. She left behind a legacy of love, kindness and unwavering faith.
Born in Curitiba, Brazil on February 18th, 1939, Helga was the second child of eight children born to Jakob and Katja Goerz. At the age of 6 months, her parents decided that life in Germany would be easier than life was in the jungle of Brazil, so they emigrated to Germany. In Germany, the family experienced the ravages of World War II and again, lost their home and became refugees. They fled the Russian army in a horse-drawn wagon, and to pass the time, the children counted the number of deceased horses that they passed along the road. On one day, they counted 122 horses that they had passed along their ride.
Eventually in 1948, the Goerz family was able to emigrate to Canada through the sponsorship of the Wiebe relatives in Manitoba. They settled on a farm near Snowflake, Manitoba where they resided for many years and where Helga spent her childhood with her siblings: sisters Ingrid and Anne, and brothers Eckhardt, Dietmar, Harry and Paul
Helga’s early education began in a one-room school on Starmound Hill. She continued her schooling at Snowflake High School and completed her final year of grade 12 at Mennonite Brethren Collegiate Institute in Winnipeg. After graduation Helga returned to the farm for one year to help her mother with her younger siblings. Following that year, she attended the St. Boniface School of Nursing and graduated with an RN in 1962. She had remained in contact with many of her Nursing School classmates right up until her death.
Helga’s first employment as a nurse, was at the St. Boniface Hospital in the Emergency Room. She loved the fast pace of the work the hospital, and she never shied away from situations involving severe trauma and urgency. In the mid 1960’s Helga met the love of her life; a slender book-loving, hard-working student whose name was Wilhelm (aka Bill) Guenter. Bill and Helga dated for 5 whole years, a length of time that seemed to go on forever for Jacob Goerz. Both Helga and Bill commuted back and forth, either to Winnipeg or to Fargo, North Dakota where Bill was completing his PhD in Animal Science. The two eventually married on September 18th, 1971, in the Fort Garry Mennonite Brethren Church. Following their wedding, Helga joined Bill in Fargo and worked in the St. John’s Hospital. Their first child, a son, Jon William, was born on March 1st, 1973, at St. Luke’s Hospital in Fargo. Bill completed his PhD and the family of three moved to Vancouver where Bill started a post-doctorate program at the University of British Columbia.
In August of 1974, Bill was offered a position with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), at the Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana, as the head of the Poultry Department. Helga had no apprehensions about moving abroad and was looking forward to a new adventure with Bill. Nevertheless, her dad was asking the question, “why would you take my daughter so far away from here, Bill?”. Eventually Jacob accepted this transition, and the Guenter’s moved to Kumasi, Ghana in that very month of August 1974. At the time of moving, the couple discovered that Helga was pregnant with their second child. Monica Dori Afia was born in a small mission hospital in Offinso, Ghana.
Helga thoroughly enjoyed the exotic life that they lived in the tropics, making many friends from all around the world. She was always happy to host newcomers, local friends and Bill’s students for dinners at their home. Helga loved Africa, except for the snakes and lizards. She especially had a distaste for the little, transparent lizards that lived on their walls near the lights, catching flies and mosquitos regularly. Bill had about 10 race horses on his research farm, where he and Jon would go riding each afternoon while she and Monica spent time at the Olympic sized pool at the university, trying to keep cool. Helga enjoyed using her nursing skills and volunteered to be a vaccination nurse for all the Canadians working in development. The Guenters lived in Ghana until August 1976, when Bill was offered a position as a Poultry Professor at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg. With a sigh of hesitation from Helga, they decided to move back to Winnipeg, settling in the neighborhood of Fort Garry where they lived in their home together for 49 years.
Helga made a conscious decision to be a stay-at-home mother until her children were both in school. She volunteered at their school, helping with field trips and fundraisers, and volunteering as an RN for annual eye exams. Helga was a deeply devoted and involved parent to Jon and Monica, working closely with them during their Suzuki music education, Monica’s gymnastics training, and Jon’s soccer practices. Helga was a devoted wife and mother, making sure that her children were living enriching lives, and that her husband was supported while he continued to build his career in academia.
When the children became more independent, Helga decided to take a refresher course at the Red River Community College to recertify herself as an RN. For a short period of time, she was employed as a community nurse, working for VON services, dedicating herself to patients who were in palliative care. Helga found this work to be incredibly taxing and demanding and so she decided that her time would be better spent serving as a volunteer with the Mennonite Central Committee. She was heavily invested in the quilting group at the Sargent Avenue Thrift store, where she immersed herself in the fellowship of the women who quilted with her. Helga took part in creating hundreds of blankets and afghans that were sent overseas to babies born in war-torn countries.
Helga loved to entertain and was often seen as a surrogate mother or grandmother to Bill’s overseas PhD students. She was also a devoted daughter, taking great care of her mom and dad in their final years alongside her siblings. Helga also took great care of her Aunt Mary, visiting her often and ensuring that she felt loved and cared for. Helga embraced the lives of her children, welcoming Jon and Monica’s own friends into her life, and always looking out for them and asking about their lives.
Helga’s Mennonite faith and heritage were very important to her. She enjoyed teaching Sunday school, singing in choirs, participating in the Women’s Fellowship groups, serving alongside others in numerous church groups such as the food committee and the administrative team.
Bill retired from the University of Manitoba in 2007 (well, sort of retired…). They loved sharing their retirement years together and enjoyed staying active in the community. The two regularly enjoyed nature while walking at the Fort Whyte Alive Centre together. They enjoyed participating in their fellowship group at Sargent Church and were also active in the caregiving group for elders in the church in need of extra support.
Helga was absolutely devoted to her grandchildren: Eryn and Abby (of Jon and Charlene), and Rockland aka ‘Rocky’ born to Monica and Phil. She made many trips to Quebec to spend time with Monica’s family and roping Rocky into various arts and crafts. Helga was Eryn and Abby’s biggest fan, attending as many of their cycling and school events as humanly possible. She always had meals ready for Sunday Night family dinners, and she loved visiting the family in Wolseley.
It was difficult to spend time with Helga, without having to listen to all the latest news of the grandchildren, and how they were keeping busy and growing up quickly. She was so proud of them. Helga had the privilege to be present when Rocky was born in Hawkesbury, Ontario after a long and complicated pregnancy. She arrived for the birth with all kinds of books on how to be a birthing partner, and how to best be a postpartum doula. Helga was a huge support through all the years that Monica lived in Montreal as a student, and she never stopped supporting and encouraging her as she worked to pursue her dreams of becoming a great musician. When Monica started raising Rocky, she always offered support and advice, with no judgement, and she always made sure that Monica and Phil knew that she was praying for them. Helga was also a serial package-sender. Packages would arrive in Quebec, month after month, always with a hand-written card, some sort of uplifting quote, and lots of treats for everyone, including Chester the dog (who she could kind of take or leave, to be honest).
Helga was predeceased by her infant brother Manfred, parents Jacob and Katja, oldest brother Dietmar Goerz, aunt Mary and onkel Paul; brothers- in-law, Reinhold Epp, Len Janzen and Frank Enns, and her sister-in-law Maria Epp. Left to mourn her passing are her husband Wilhelm of 53 years, son Jon along with wife Charlene and granddaughters Eryn and Abby; daughter Monica along with husband Philip and grandson Rockland; her adopted family, Wei, Shun with son JJ; her siblings, Eckhard
(Joyce), Ingrid (John), Anne, Paul (Heidi), Harry (Delores) and Emily. Also left to miss her are siblings through Bill, Katie (Gerhardt) and Irene; and so many nieces and nephews.
What will we miss about Helga? What won’t we miss, is the question. We will miss her extensive wardrobe, fashion collections from MCC Thrift store, always coming home with another great find of a vest or some elastic-waist pants. We will miss her putzing around the house, never being able to sit down, and if she did, she would be asleep in under a minute. We will miss her inability to sit down at a meal, without getting up 12 more times to go and get something else that she thought we needed. We will miss her way of telling stories, always with her eyes half closed, but hands very theatrical. We will miss her sitting at the out-of-tune piano, playing old hymns and songs from her childhood. We will miss her cooking and baking, always ready to put another batch of buns or bread immediately into the freezer after coming out of the oven. We will miss her long talks while loving being outside on the deck with her dear neighbors and friends, enjoying a cold drink together. We will miss her playing games with us, always, with a trick up her sleeve, and sometimes a few steps behind us. We will miss her loving her grandchildren fiercely, always encouraging them and cheering them on. We will miss her wit, her great sense of humor and her deeply empathetic heart. We will miss her unwavering faith, and her ability to hold space for anyone and everyone who might be suffering.
We will miss you so dearly Mama, for the rest of our days on this earth, but your love continues to live through the ways that you loved all of us with your whole heart. We are at peace, knowing that you have joined the angels and that you are finally in the arms of your maker, where you always knew that you would finally be home.
Friends Funeral Service, Winnipeg in care of arrangements.Tributes can be made at www.friendsfs.ca