Obituary of John Thiessen

John Thiessen was born April 17, 1932, in Rush Lake, Saskatchewan to George and Helena Thiessen. He was the fourth of seven children, born minutes after his twin brother. At the age of 10 or 11 he gave his life to the Lord while attending Daily Vacation Bible School in the summer. He loved hunting, and he and his twin brother, Frank, spent hours in summer and fall hunting for various animals. They took a taxidermist course as teenagers and stuffed quite a collection of game animals and birds. As he got older, the cowboy life appealed more and more to him. He found a job with the Community Pasture on the Matador riding fences and checking cows. Favorite times there were branding and lots of the stories Grandpa told were from those days. Later, as Burculosis raged through the country, Grandpa hired on with the local vet as an assistant and traveled many miles, to many farms, to get blood work from the cattle. It was while he was working this job, that he met Grandma. They first met at his place. And as music was a huge part of both family's lives, it was not long before the family had gathered around the piano that evening to sing. Grandpa and Grandma sang their first duet that night, and have followed it with many more. They were married on June 16, 1962, in MacGregor, Manitoba. Grandpa finished up that year with the vet and decided to follow his dream. He and Grandma came up to Pink Mountain, BC in 1963 and hired on with a local rancher for three months. They moved to Fort St. John for the winter and worked at the saw mill there. His brother came up and from there they traveled to the 81 area and staked out their land in the middle of winter, 1963. They plowed through waist deep snow to set the boundaries for their own land. The dream was coming true. Their first son, Warren, was born that winter, but sadly he did not live to come home with them. The year of 1964, Grandpa worked for a ranch at Mile 70, and it was also there that their second son, James, was born. Frank moved up to join them that summer. They built a shack there that would later be moved to the new land. In the spring of 1965, the brothers went to work building a road, the five miles from the highway to their new land. In August, they moved the shack in and moved Grandma and James onto their land. They build a log cabin 20' x 24' and moved in in October. The barn walls and shop were also put up before the snow flew. The first winter the four of them shared the small cabin. In spring 1966, they went to work clearing land and another son, Jack, was added. As time went on the brothers added a barn roof, a saw mill, second cabin as Frank married in 1968, and cattle to their operation. They put up a cable car to aid in crossing the river. Granaries, chicken coop, an addition to the house, and more fields continued to grace the new land. In 1969, the last son, Jeremy, was born. A road into Buick was build and the brothers became involved with the community, and its development there. They became members of the Buick Gospel Mission Church and served on board for many years. Later on Grandpa assisted in the construction of the church and camp buildings. He did many Bible studies throughout the years with different community families and neighbors. He was always ready to share his faith. As the families grew, Frank and Kathy had two children, Kevin and Marilyn, they began to pick up musical instruments. They would sing and play at functions and fundraisers. The ministered to people through music whenever they got the opportunity. Many, many evenings were spend around the piano, as the boys were growing up. Grandpa and Grandma made three trips to Mongolia to visit Jeremy and his family. They spent the time helping out with the mission work there, and enjoying the grandchildren. They went on various other trips with James and Jack and their families also. As Grandpa studied his Bible, the verses became real, and as he put them to practice, God became real. He was able to remember and quote numerous scripture verses and passages. He always had a verse ready for any situation. He had verses of encouragement, exhortation, and hope. He was not shy to share a verse with anyone. In April 2013, Grandpa had a major stroke. He was hospitalized, unable to swallow, read, walk, or use his left hand. As he slowly set regained his mobility, he set his goals to once again, walk, ride, read his Bible, and play his guitar. He was in the Fort St. John hospital for three months, and in Prince George rehab for two and a half months. In October, he was finally able to come home again to stay. He continued to regain his strength and was able to accomplish all four of his goals. On February 21st he had a second stroke. He again lost his ability to walk and swallow. He was hospitalized until he passed away in his sleep on February 27th. He was preceded by his parents, George and Helena Thiessen, his sisters, Olga and Mary, brother-in-law, Jake, son, Warren, and grandsons, Travis and Adon. He is held in loving memory by his wife of 53 years, Elma Thiessen, his son James & (Darlene) and children Amy, Lacey & (David), Lorne & (Naomi), Riley, Matthew, Mandy, Tiffany, Doralee, Atlin, and Kenton, son Jack (Judy) and children Jackie, Josh, Jodi, Joy, Jedd, and Justin, son Jeremy (Roxy) and children Lynn, Danielle, and Braydon, twin Frank (Kathy), sisters Gertrude, and Justine (Clarence) and brother Henry (Vivian), and numerous cousins, nieces, and nephews. Service 2:30 pm Friday, March 4, 2016 North Peace Mennonite Brethren Church 10816-106 Street Fort St. John, British Columbia, Canada V1J 5V2 Interment Buick Creek Cemetery 154 Road (Buick Creek Road) BUICK, British Columbia, Canada