Henry Loewen was born March 3, 1914, in Pretoria, Orenburg, and was 12 years old when he left Russia with his family for a new life in Canada. Upon arriving in Acme, Alberta, his older brothers immediately went to work for local farmers, and together with his younger siblings, he soon started school. None of them spoke English and since the teacher didn’t know German, communication was a challenge. He learned quickly, mostly through playing marbles with other boys at recess.

     He was 15 at the end of grade six, and as far as his dad was concerned, this was enough education. By this time, the family had moved to a farm at Simons Valley and the boys were needed there. Henry wanted to continue and after lots of discussion they reached a compromise: he would be at home during seeding and harvest, but free to go to school for the remaining months. Grade eight marked the end of his formal education; it was time to become a full-time farmer.

     Getting started on the farm was difficult, from a killer-frost wiping out a promising first-year crop, to a landlord who took advantage of new immigrants unfamiliar with language and laws. There was no money to hire a truck for transporting cattle to market, so Henry and his brother made an overnight cattle drive into Calgary, guiding the herd down Centre Street and over to Burns Meat Packing Plant.

     For the first few years in Canada, ‘church’ consisted of singing hymns around the kitchen table, along with a sermon read out of a book as well as a children’s story. Henry accepted Jesus as his Savior when he was 21, during special meetings in Calgary, and was later baptized. When they could afford a car, they drove once a month, to Bergthal Mennonite Church east of Didsbury.

     Here he met Justina Loewen, and after a brief courtship, they were married on Oct. 30, 1938. She didn’t even have to change her name! Their first home was on the family farm and although this was intended to be brief, the war changed everything. Henry applied for Conscientious Objector status, which was granted, along with permission to remain on the farm rather than serving in a CO camp. They were now raising hogs, but without help, his father would have had to sell everything and the high appetite for bacon in Britain required a steady source of supply.

     Ten years and three daughters later, the farm was sold and Henry and Justina joined his parents in Abbotsford, B.C.  After one season of hoeing and picking in a berry patch, the only thing Henry enjoyed about strawberries was eating them. In fact, he decided that B.C. had only one good side – Alberta. Packing all their possessions onto the back of his old one-ton truck, they moved again, this time to Didsbury, where Henry bought a farm a few miles east of Bergthal Mennonite Church. It had an old, drafty house with a dirt cellar inhabited by lizards, mice, and garter snakes. Electricity was new to the area and he earned a bit of income digging holes for power poles – $1.15/hole. In 1963, they built a new house with the welcome addition of indoor plumbing and a propane furnace.

     Along with farming, Henry was active in the church, serving as an usher and on various committees, as well as in the local Co-op, Unifarm, and the Midway Home and School Association.

     In 1975, he decided it was time to think of retirement, and oldest daughter, Marlene, and her family moved onto the yard, starting the process of taking over the farm. ‘What now?’ Plans were not yet in place but he still preferred living in the country rather than moving into town. One night he dreamed about developing an acre, half a mile down the road; a pie-shaped property bordered by a tree-filled coulee and of no use for farming. When he told Justina about it in the morning, she thought it was a crazy idea. So did Henry, but he pursued it anyway.

     They lived there for 15 happy years, enjoying a wide range of gardening projects including flowers, trees and a lot of grass in constant need of mowing. Henry discovered a new interest in creating walking sticks and tables out of the diamond willow which grew in the coulee. Some he gave away as gifts and others were sold at the MCC auction. He enjoyed being close to the farm where he could still help if needed, especially during harvest time.

     Years earlier, his older sister, Lena, had bought an old mandolin, offering it to any sibling interested in learning to play it. Henry accepted and taught himself, a hobby that became a retirement activity as he (with an upgraded mandolin), with Justina on piano and others on guitar and accordion formed a group, playing in church and at various seniors’ gatherings.

     They enjoyed travelling to Hawaii, Alaska, Europe, the US, and Canada, often with bus tours but more locally, with a truck and camper. In 1986, Henry travelled to the Soviet Union to visit his brother Jake, whom he hadn’t seen for 62 years. They had official permission to meet in Moscow, but he was also able to visit Jake’s home and be introduced to the rest of his family. Two years later, Jake’s daughter, Ela, was able to come to Canada in time for Henry and Justina’s 50^th wedding anniversary, followed in 1989 by Jake himself.

     In 1993, the acreage was sold and Henry and Justina moved into a new retirement complex in Didsbury. They enjoyed living in town where everything was within walking distance and there was no lack of people to meet for games, whether Aggravation or Pool. Henry was often called upon to help other residents with minor repair jobs, and otherwise, stayed busy volunteering at the recycling depot or cutting quilting patches for MCC.

     Henry passed away February 25, 1999, a few months after celebrating their 60^th anniversary, just days short of his 85^th birthday. Justina passed away 10 years later, on December 7, 2009, at the age of 92. Their direct descendants number 28 (2023).