Memories

Jake Hiebert was born December 19,1941.

He grew up south of Morden and spent most of his life in this small farming community.

He loved his Lord and Savior,Jesus Christ.

Many times I have seen him sitting and reading his well worn Bible,and other christian books.

Today will be a difficult day,as we say a final farewell to his earthly body.

I would like to share with you a tribute which his only child,Steve wrote for him.

I beleive Jake would be so proud of Steve and these kind words.

I apologize for the length of this post,but felt that I wanted to share the following tribute as Steve wrote it.

My memories of Dad start in 1973,but the stories I've heard go back much farther than that.Dad always loved hunting,whether it was with a gun in his younger years,or with a camera.I remember hearing stories of Dad and his buddies chasing some poor fox through ditches and across plowed fields with their cars..I was later told never to follow this example,but still laugh to this day when I think of some of those crazy things that I've heard about.These stories just don't seem to line up with the quiet,gentle man most of us knew him as,and loved.By the time I was forming my own memories os Dad he had matured..well at least to a point,he always kept his fun loving ways about him.I remember a father that always had time for the ones he loved.It didn't matter how tired Dad was from working all day,he always had time for a game of catch outside in the evening. There were countless walks in the bush as we'd go out with his camera and he'd point out out little details in the flowers to me.and explain how bees were not out to get me,but were just doing the job that God had created them to do.He taught me how to ride my bike for what seemed like forever,but I'm sure it was just a few evenings…he'd hang on to the back of my bike and run on the lawn with me…or so I thought..I'd look back  and realize that Dad was standing back and watching me ride on my own and as soon as I realized this,I ended up on my side and he would come running to make sure I was ok…with jst a little smirk on his face,knowing that I could ride on my own.At the time I'm sure I wasn't too thrilled with this teaching strategy,but he always knew what he was doing and now  laugh at this.

As I said earlier,by this time I started forming my own memories of Dad,he had matured..somewhat…I'm not sure how old I was ,but I recall wrestling with Dad one afternoon..in the living room,but I don't recall,but imagine Mom was probably telling us to settle down,when I got the upper hand and managed to push Dad over and we both fell backwards into a chair and bust the leg off the chair….my first response,oh dear,I'm in trouble now.Dad looked at me and started laughing..he was still that crazy guy that loved to have fun..even if it meant wrecking something.

As I grew up I was very interested in astronomy and wanted a telescope… I started saving to make the big purchase..funny thing is ,I think Dad secretly wanted that telescope as much as I did,so he ended up buying it for me as a gift…I think Mom even believed him that it was a gift for me.We spent many hours outside looking at the stars with it…from mosquito infested summer nights to −20C winter night…Dad was always there with me.

There are so many stories I could share about this amazing man that I call Dad..the last story starts only a few months back…I got a call from the hospital   Dad had not been feeling great for a little while,so he went to see the doctor.I remember getting the call and being told he had a large mass on his pancreas.The amazing part of this story is that faced with certain death Dad did not waiver…    I rarely saw him cry,he was not scared of death…even as he was laying in his bed in his last few days or even hours he was still the strongest man I've ever known.He knew he was going to be with Jesus and was excited about this.The last words he said were the morning of his passing…Mom leaned over and said,"I love you sweetheart"….She didn't think he was awake or alert and he whispered  "I love you too". A few hours later he quietly passed away to be with his Maker. 

I could go on for hours talking about all the amazing times that we shared,but as you can see Dad was much more to me than just my Dad…he was my best friend,and playmate and a loving and amazing husband to Mom.

I love you Dad.