Mary Ann Harder

Less than 2 weeks after her husband Harry Harder ’s passing, Mary Ann Harder (Wall), 71 of Steinbach, Manitoba passed away peacefully at St. Boniface Hospital on December 6, 2020 with her children by her side.

Leaving to mourn Mary Ann's passing are her children, son Curtis (Monica), daughter Shari (Chris) Teetaert and son Kelly (Stacy).  Grandma Harder will be missed by her 11 grandchildren, 2 great grandchildren and 3 step-great grandchildren, Staci Harder (Bob Adolphe) & Kennedi, Nicole, Kayla and Erin,  Zachary Teetaert (Holly) & Milo, Bronson Teetaert, Keegan Teetaert (Lori), Spencer Teetaert, Arabella Teetaert, Xavier Teetaert, Lexi Harder (Curtis Oude Voshaar), Taran Harder, Kyler Harder and Cazden Harder.

Mom was born on October 31, 1949 in Winkler, MB  (and yes, she hated her birthday on Halloween). She was the youngest of 5 children.  Mom was baptized upon confession of her faith on May 14, 1967 in MacGregor.

Until 13 years of age, mom lived on a farm in Edrans, at which time they moved to Austin.  After her dad passed away when she was 16, mom moved to Portage La Prairie and got a full time job as a telephone operator for MTS.  At 17, she got transferred to Selkirk, but was only there for 6 months.  Working many years as an operator, she had lots of stories to tell. The friendships she had made as an operator lasted her lifetime as they continued to have regular operator lunches.   After her years of being an operator, she became a customer service rep.  In 1987 until the end of summer of 1988, she worked in negotiations for the MTS employees, making sure that everyone would be treated fairly.  This job was stationed in Winnipeg, but she would make sure to be home in Steinbach on the weekends.  In March of 2000, mom took the buyout package from MTS as she was not willing to drive back and forth to Winnipeg.  After taking a few months off, she got a job at Ste. Anne Co-op head office doing accounts receivable and she remained there until her retirement.

Mom enjoyed crafting; Cross-stitching, knitting, and quilting were her favorites.  She also enjoyed her sports. When we were younger, she was passionate about baseball, coaching and playing, but she was especially passionate about hockey and was quite upset when the boys quit playing. She could spend hours at the arena watching them practice and play.  She then became quite passionate about volleyball, often at times, we thought that she would get kicked out of the gym because the refs made a bad call, and she wouldn’t hesitate to let them know.

Dad and mom met in the summer of ‘66 when they went on a blind date. They started going steady on November 23, 1966, were engaged in March of ’67 and married on September 23, 1967.

Dad and mom lived in Steinbach for 7 months before moving to Portage La Prairie, where they resided from 1968 to 1970.  While in Portage, Dad completed grades 7, 8, 9 and 10 in 32 weeks.  Portage was also where they had their first child, Curtis, born in ‘68.  In 1970, they moved back to Steinbach.  They bought their first house on 1st Ave (Stonebridge Crossing) on December 24, 1971.  Just before their daughter, Shari was born in 1974 they moved to Rosewood St, followed by another move in ’76 to Kleefeld.  Their 3rd child, Kelly was born in 1977.  Dad and mom moved back to Steinbach in 1978.

Growing up, we knew dad and mom to be very active in church, as ushers, deacon, church council secretary, scout and pioneer girls leaders. Their church family was very important to them, and became their social group, whether it was their small group bible study, breakfasts after church, or whist drives.  One thing we knew was that their door was always opened to anyone that wanted to stop by for a meal, coffee or a game of cards.

Mom and Dad enjoyed many activities throughout their years together, bowling league, square dancing, traveling and camping. But by far, their favorite activity would be watching their grandkids in their many activities, whether it was soccer, baseball, volleyball, swimming, music and dance recitals, choir and Christmas concerts, they went all over the country to support them.

Along with their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, they leave behind dad’s  brothers Jake (Jan), Ed (Vi), Elmer (Jackie) and his sisters Sharan (Maurice Desmarais), and Karen (Dennis Janz), his sister-in-law Lottie Harder and mom’s sister and sister-in-law Marge Friesen, Anne Wall,  a brother-in-law, Clarence Friesen, and many nieces, nephews and friends.

They are predeceased by their parents, Henry & Helen Harder and Peter and Katherina Wall, dad’s brother Peter Harder and mom’s siblings Helen Buhler, Art Wall and Elizabeth Friesen.

Our family would like to thank all the doctors and nurses at Bethesda Hospital in Steinbach as well as the ICU doctors and nurses at St. Boniface Hospital.  Your kindness and compassion towards caring for our parents is so appreciated.

A private funeral service for Harry & Mary Ann Harder will be held at Crossings Funeral Care on Friday, December 11, 2020 at 2PM. The joint service will be live steamed for the public, with virtual viewing starting at 1:45 PM.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church Memorial Fund or ROC Eastman.