Albert Guenther

Albert Guenther

May 23, 1940 – August 8, 2020

Albert Guenther, beloved husband, father and grandfather, went to be with his Heavenly Father, August 8, 2020 in Saskatoon. Albert was born on the family farm at Hochstadt, Saskatchewan, to Jacob and Anna Guenter. He attended school in Hague and graduated from high school there. In Hague, he also met Tena Zacharias at a youth group, and it was while they attended that group that Albert accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour.

Albert and Tena married in 1961 and they had five children. Albert held various positions in Kindersley and Saskatoon during his working years, sometimes more than one at a time, because he enjoyed trying new things and because it provided a little more to give his family. Early in their marriage, Albert worked as an orderly at City Hospital and as a delivery man for Eaton’s. The family moved to Kindersley where Albert worked for CN Rail for five-plus years. Then he worked at Redhead Equipment as the service clerk. Albert was a Shipper-Receiver and a bus driver at the Abilities Council. He also worked as a courier for Zipper Courier. Albert earned a Fireman’s Certificate, not to fight fires, but to maintain a boiler. With that qualification, he worked as a maintenance man at Sherbrooke Nursing Home. While he worked there, he also drove school bus for Saskatoon Christian School and worked for a couple of local farmers in his spare time.

Working for local farmers was the job that gave Albert the most joy. He loved to be behind the wheel of a tractor.

No matter what position or positions he held at any one time, Albert’s primary focus was on being the best husband, father and grandfather he could be, and on following Jesus with all his heart, soul and mind.

Albert was Mennonite, so of course he was thrifty. But he was also generous. Albert often gave and helped when anyone, a friend or stranger, had a need. He’d also spend money, carefully, in order to make family times fun. His daughter Laureen remembers that, when the kids were young, Albert bought a second-hand snowmobile, although the family then lived in town, just so he could give rides to his children and their friends. She remembers that Albert got the most fun out of knowing the kids were having fun. His daughter Pearl remembers when they moved to the farm near Kindersley, she and her dad were riding that snowmobile and got stuck in a field.

Albert once said that, between holding multiple jobs and raising kids, he didn’t have time for hobbies.

But Albert loved to read. Maybe reading didn’t feel like a hobby to him, because it was essential for life. Reading was the most important hobby of all, and he passed that love of reading down to all his children and his grandchildren. All of us also need to read.

Albert always said, “I can’t carry a tune in a bucket,” but he loved to listen to music of many kinds. What’s more, Albert and Tena made it a priority for all of their children to take piano lessons, and to learn any other instrument they wanted.

His son Arlen said corny jokes were one of Albert’s hobbies. Albert was master of the corny joke, the play on words, the eye-roller. Long before the rest of the world called them Dad Jokes, Albert’s kids knew all about Dad Jokes.

Recently, Albert’s son Vern introduced him to The Daily Bonnet, a gentle satire on Mennonite culture and language. With its gentle mockery of his own culture and language, Albert loved The Daily Bonnet!

Beyond telling lame jokes, Albert also loved hearing and telling stories. Essentially, Albert was fascinated with people. He loved meeting new people and connecting with old friends, and he loved learning people’s stories.

His kids remember, when the whole family was in the car and they’d stop at a grocery store so Albert could just “run in” for a jug of milk or a loaf of bread, the wait would often get very long. They got used to saying to each other, “Dad’s talking to someone again.” And sure enough, Albert would return to the car with a story about the good friend or interesting stranger he’d just met.

Albert didn’t just talk to adults. Wherever he went, Albert paid attention to the children. He used to tease children by poking their noses to see if their noses squeaked. It was an ongoing game. One of his nieces remembers that she grew up believing her nose really did squeak when Uncle Albert poked it. She was disappointed to find out it wasn’t true. Not surprisingly, some of Albert’s nieces and nephews said Uncle Albert was their favorite.

Albert and Tena were always involved in their local church, serving and giving, leading and working. Albert contributed in every way he could, and he made important, lasting friendships at church. Albert also gave faithful financial support to missions, missionaries, and Christian organizations. Every evening, he listened faithfully to his line-up of Christian radio programs.

While Albert and Tena’s children were growing up, most of their vacations revolved around visiting family members across Canada, from northern BC to Toronto. When Albert worked for CN Rail, they usually traveled by train. Later, when they were grandparents, Albert and Tena enjoyed several trips overseas. They visited their daughter Laureen in Bangladesh. They visited their honorary daughter, Jayne Leung, in Hong Kong. And they visited their son Arlen in Sweden. Years later, Albert still talked about the lasting friendships he’d made in Sweden, thousands of miles from home.

Albert had a stroke in 1998, which ended his working years, but he continued to volunteer with groups like Saskatoon Stroke Recovery Association, the Lions Blind Bowling and the Seniors group at West Portal Church. All of those groups brought people together for encouragement and friendship, which is what Albert was all about. In those groups too, Albert made close and lasting friendships.

Four years ago, Albert and Tena moved from the family home where they’d lived for over 40 years, to an apartment at Luther Heights. That was a huge change, but very soon Albert and Tena were talking about the old friends they’d met, the new friends they’d made, and all the fun they were having. When they moved to Diamond House this summer, their friends at Luther Heights told the family how much they’d missed Albert and Tena. Dad moved to Diamond House directly from the hospital, and he really wished he could have said goodbye to his friends at Luther Heights. His family is grateful to the staff and other residents for making Luther Heights a comfortable, welcoming home for their mom and dad.

In his later years, Albert put even more energy and focus into keeping track of family members and friends, across the country and around the world. He regularly reached out to his children, siblings, nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. He would call often, just to pass on a bit of news, or to say he was thinking about them. Friends and family members have told us they’re already missing Albert’s stay-in-touch phone calls.

In the last few years, Albert also became the caregiver for his wife, Tena. He learned to cook and do laundry, which was impressive for an elderly man from a traditional Mennonite background. He was gentle and patient with Tena, even as her needs increased. Albert just kept being as optimistic as possible about what Tena could do. Though Albert himself was increasingly frail, he was determined to give all he had for Tena.

We know Albert is in Heaven with his Savior, but he is sorely missed.

Albert is deeply mourned by his wife, Tena. He passed away just three days before their 59^th wedding anniversary.

Albert is also mourned and missed by his children, Vern (Janice) Guenther; Laureen Guenther; Pearl (Ryan) Esau; and Arlen (Arleen) Guenther; and his grandchildren, Rebekah (Skyler) Miller; Naomi Esau; Natasha Esau; Ben Guenther; Jeremy Guenther and Declan Guenther. Albert is also mourned by his honorary daughter, Jayne Leung, and his honorary grandsons, Ryan and Nathan Ruf.

Albert is also mourned by his brothers, Walter (Gwen) and Elmer (Gladys); his sister, Irene; and his sisters-in-law, Anne Guenther and Marilyn Guenther. He is also missed by Tena’s sister Nettie (Abe) Hamm and Tena’s brothers Bill (Marg) Zacharias and Peter (Anne) Zacharias. Albert is mourned by many nephews, nieces, cousins, other family members and dear friends, whom he loved just as if they were his own family.

Albert was predeceased by his parents, Jacob and Anna Guenter; his brothers, John and Herman; his sisters, Sarah and Dorothy; and his daughter, Joyce.

In lieu of flowers, friends and family are invited to donate to Rescue Cambodia,

www.rescuecambodia.org.

A private Funeral is planned for Sunday, August 16, 2020,

Arrangements entrusted to DALMENY FUNERAL HOME 306-254-2022.