Alfred Friesen

Mr. Alfred Friesen.
Alfred was born on the farm June 19, 1916, the 6th child of 15 of Henry J. and Katherina (Peters) Friesen.
He was an active boy and enjoyed outdoor activities- baseball, gentling the wild horses his Dad bought for the farm. He built a cupboard for his mother, which set in motion a skill he used all of his life.
He came to faith in Christ in his later teen years and took his Dad's offer to attend a Bible Institute. He completed 3 years at Tabor Bible Institute, Dalmeny, Saskatchewan as well as the 4th year program at Bethany Bible institute in Hepburn. During this time he had a vivid vision and call to a ministry with children that set the stage for the most significant period of his life.
He received his celebration-of-adulthood horse from his Dad and proposed marriage to Eldean Loewen from Dalmeny. The Canadian Armed Forces called next. He applied for conscientious objector status and spent most of the next 4 years in camps in the Rockies of Alberta. After a serious set of medical setbacks, he re-proposed to the love of his life-she accepted and they were married on October 4, 1945.
His earlier vision came to haunt him. His pastor Dr Toews organized a board of directors who then commissioned him. He produced a Bible Memory course of 800 verses, organized Daily Vacation Bible Schools, in what came to be called Mid Prairie Scripture Memory Mission and its camp- Camp Kadesh. Hundreds of people around the world recognize his ministry.
They had three children- Donald in '47, Victor in '48, and James in '54-a premature birth, he passed away 19 hours later. Don and Joanne now live in Mirror, Alberta; Vic and Darlene are retired in Trail, BC.
Eldean's health had been precarious for most of her life, in '73 they moved to Kelowna, and to Trail in '74. Always in ministry mode they took on the Junior Church service at Trail Alliance Church. Later Alfred organized a senior's home service for Sunday mornings. In August 1998 Eldean passed away.
In March of 2000 he married June Walker and added Wendy (Greg), Edward (Terri) and Joyce (Jim) and their families to his growing family. He loved to practice his farming skills in the garden. They loved hiking and travelling to places Al, as he came to be known, had never been-Hawaii and Nova Scotia, and visiting many friends and family across the country. They organized a care home service on Tuesday mornings that they faithfully kept up for 13 years.
In December of '12 he suffered a serious stroke. Help came, he quickly regained most of his functions but old age slowly started to take its toll. He spent the last number of months in and out of hospital and on August 13, 2014 departed this life for the better one we too expect to join him in.
He leaves in mourning his wife June, two sons Don(Joanne) and Vic(Darlene) and daughter-in-law Verna; 7 grandchildren, 13 great grandchildren; three step-children Wendy(Greg), Edward(Terry), Joyce(Jim) with their 8 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren; a sister Martha(Ben), a brother Reuben(Betty), sisters-in-law Beatrice, Mary, Catherine, Linda, Helen as well as many nieces and nephews and their families, and June's extended family; three church families: Blue Mountain Baptist, Trail Alliance and Langham Bible Church, and the staff and ministry of Camp Kadesh and the Mid Prairie Scripture Memory Mission.
“Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.” (Psalms 116:15 ESV)