Martha Jean (Jantz) Friesen, 90

Martha Jean (Jantz) Friesen was born Nov. 17, 1931, to Daniel B. and Adell Gunda (Yost) Jantz, in Copeland, Kan. She peacefully passed away with family by her side, May 10, 2022, at Wildwood Care Center in St. Marys, Ontario, Canada, at the age of 90 years.

She is preceded in death by her parents; parents-in-law; five brothers, Franklin, Raymond, Ervin, John and Harvey; four sisters, Bertha, Erma, Rose and Gladys; four brothers-in-law and two sisters-in-law.

Martha’s early childhood was spent in Kansas where she began her elementary education at Colusa school and experienced the Great Depression and Dust Bowl years. Her family would hang wet burlap bags over the doors to prevent dirt from getting in their house. Despite their best efforts, it was a constant battle to keep a clean house. In August 1942 at the age of 10, her family made a 5 1/2 day move to Bonners Ferry, Idaho. The stake bed truck was tarped with packed belongings and the family dog in a crate attached under the truck bed. The children took turns riding in the cab or bed of the truck. They bought a property on King’s Row where her Dad built a small slab house. She continued her education at McKinley school.

Martha accepted Jesus as her personal savior in her early teens, expressing many times, “If it were not for my Lord, I would have no hope.” No one could shift Martha off her convictions, she meant what she said and stuck by it.

At the age of 14, Martha entered the working world; kitchen help at the hospital, housekeeping and nannying for prominent business families in Bonners Ferry. As a nanny, she experienced high society and events at the Davenport Hotel in Spokane, Wash. Even at a young age, Martha showed her generosity and commitment to her family by sharing her income and helping where needed at the family’s “home place.” She never had a driver’s license: so she walked and caught rides with those she knew going her direction.

Martha met Raymond in 1959 at a mutual friend's wedding and they were married on June 26, 1960, in Bonners Ferry. In October 1962, they moved from Linden, Alberta, to St. Marys, Ontario, where they purchased a farm a few miles from Raymond's parents.

In 1963, Martha and Raymond were blessed with their first child Marla, followed by Peter in 1964, Pamela in 1966 and John in 1969. She always welcomed her children home after school with open arms and snacks. In the evenings after the children went to bed, one of them would run to the banister and call down to her, “Mommy sing!” and her beautiful voice would lull them to sleep.

One of her life’s lessons was how to be frugal and make something amazing out of very little. She mended the children’s clothes and darned their socks, a mundane task she enjoyed. In her later years, she refurbished items from the thrift store giving them to others as tokens of love. Martha was always dressed to the nines, especially for Sunday worship. She never had a lot but knew how to stretch the dollar.

Martha’s children and grandchildren each had a special place in her heart. She loved her annual flights to California and Idaho to visit her children and grandchildren. The grandchildren have many happy memories of spending time with grandma, often spoiling them with 7-Up floats, delicious breakfasts and cookies.

Martha had many precious friends and cared deeply for them with her compassionate heart. She had a heart for those less fortunate, sharing smiles, kind words of encouragement and joy for everyone she met. Her humor lit up the world during difficult times. Many of those she loved heard her say “I love you all the way to heaven and back!”

Our loss is heaven's gain. Left to cherish sweet memories are her husband, Raymond; daughter Marla and Ivan Wedel (Coeur d’Alene, Idaho); son Peter and Michele (Granton, Ontario), grandchildren Kaylie, Chelsey, and Carly and Luke Maier; daughter Pamela and Nathan Giesbrecht (Livingston, Calif.), grandchildren Nathan, Nicholai and Caressa; son John and Justina (Cottam, Ontario), grandchildren Amanda and Dave Bergen, Marie Ann and Travis Leitch, Trisha and Brandon Revenberg and Kevin Sawatyky, great-grandchildren Tyson, Brynn, Willow, Rowan and Aubrey; four brothers-in-law, five sisters-in-law, and many other family and friends.