FRIESEN, Erna Susie (nee Suderman)
January 8, 1932 - June 7, 2021
We warmly remember Erna Susie Friesen, wife, mother and grandmother. She was born in Wawanesa, Manitoba and died at age 89, in Vancouver, British Columbia. Erna passed away in the loving embrace of her husband of 61 years, Dr. John D Friesen, with their children, Ingrid Friesen (Ben Mink), Carolyn Bishop (Norman Bishop), John Friesen (Juliana Sauer), and Kenneth Friesen (Cynthia Zantingh) by her side. Her 12 beautiful grandchildren Madeleine, Isabel, Alexandra, Lucie, Charlotte, Ariane, Samuel, Josephine, Isaac, Hayden, Joshua and Tessa will always treasure their memories of their Oma. Erna was a force of nature, a trailblazer, and a woman of many talents, intelligence and personal beauty. She began her career as a teacher in music and English. Erna met John when they were students at UBC. They married in April, 1960 and quickly started a family with four children arriving in rapid succession. Life was busy with sports, chores, music lessons and church. After the children began school, Erna entered UBC Law School. Soon after graduation, she formed Friesen and Epp with Harold Epp. She ran a general law practice with an emphasis on family law. In addition to their busy professional careers, Erna and John built and developed several construction projects including their cherished Whistler family ski cabin which all family members used whenever possible as a center of family togetherness. Together with others, Erna and John established the Menno Simons Center near UBC in 1986. The center served as both a university student residence and home to Point Grey Inter-Mennonite Fellowship. Erna served as board member and chair of Regent College, as board member of the Mennonite Central Committee (BC) and as a board member of the Canadian Mennonite University in Winnipeg. She was on the board of the Faith and Learning Society and along with her husband, was instrumental in establishing the Peace Studies program at the University of the Fraser Valley and the Conrad Grebel seminary in Cuba. Possessing a lifelong interest in the arts, Erna became an accomplished landscape oil painter. Throughout her long life, Erna was a woman of uncommon energy and vitality. Diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2017, Erna experienced much suffering but remained fundamentally optimistic to the end. She often said, " It Is a Beautiful Life". She had the will and the ability to make it so for her family, friends and the broader community. We will deeply miss her.