Henry Enns
After a short illness, Henry Enns of Winnipeg died at Victoria General Hospital on May 20, 2023.
He was born in Reinland, MB on July 19, 1926, the third child of Heinrich Ens and Helena Redekopp. Tragedy struck when his two-year-old brother died 10 days later, followed by his mother on Dec. 27, 1927. He grew up in his grandparents’ home in Reinland along with his older sister Margaret, cared for by his father and his beloved Tante Marie. When he was 12, his father married Maria Wiebe, and together they had eight children.
Henry attended public school in Reinland for nine years, and then attended Mennonite Collegiate Institute in Gretna for grades 10 and 11. He took on jobs at mining and lumber camps in Ontario and British Columbia, returning to Reinland each summer to farm a small acreage and haul gravel.
Henry married Helen Wiens of Blumenort on June 23, 1951, settling in Winnipeg in 1952 where they joined First Mennonite Church. Their daughter was born in Winkler and three sons were born in Winnipeg. Henry was employed by Monarch Industries for 32 years, working his way up to the position of controller-treasurer. In retirement, he took courses in financial planning, mutual funds and securities and in 1989 he was appointed to Manitoba Public Utilities Board, where he served for seven years. He also volunteered his financial acumen as a board member for Mennonite institutions such as Crosstown Credit Union, Bethania Personal Care Home, Autumn House and Mennonite Benevolent Society.
The family spent many summers camping at Spruce Woods and Falcon Lake and taking road trips to Ontario, B.C. and California. Later Henry and Helen enjoyed their cabin at St. Laurent and travelled to Europe, Mexico, Hawaii and the southern United States.
Henry loved to play golf, shoot pool, curl and watch sports. He cheered on the Winnipeg Jets and Winnipeg Blue Bombers in person for many decades but in later years watched them on TV.
Henry moved to Bethel Place in 2006 to be near Helen who was living in a personal care home due to Alzheimer’s disease. They were married for 57 years when she died on Sept. 21, 2008. On Dec. 12, 2009, Henry married Mary Rand, also of Bethel Place, and they enjoyed many happy years visiting friends, driving around Manitoba and frequenting coffee shops and Salisbury House. He reluctantly gave up his driver’s license and sold his beautiful Honda Accord just weeks before his death.
Henry Enns was predeceased by his first wife Helen, his parents, brother David, and sisters Margaret Wieler, Erna Pauls and Elfrieda Olfert. He is survived by his wife Mary Rand, daughter Elenore Enns of Calgary, sons Richard (Ivy), Geoffrey (Caroline) and Ronald (Lisa), all of Winnipeg, nine grandchildren: Jennifer, Angela, Corah, Suzu, Simon, Zachary, Joshua, Matthew and Marissa, and five great-grandchildren. Also mourning his passing are his brothers George (Margaret), Philipp (Ilse), Alvin (Ruth), sisters Lydia Zacharias, Magdalena Suderman and Esther (Glen) Janzen and Mary’s three daughters, one son, five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
A celebration of life will be held at 1 p.m. Tuesday, May 30 at Friends Funeral Service, 2146 Main St., Winnipeg, followed by a short reception.
The service will be livestreamed, and available at
https://fweb.tv/102353
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to CancerCare Manitoba Foundation, 1160 – 675 McDermot Ave., Winnipeg, MB R3E 0V9, support.cancercarefdn.mb.ca/memorialdonation.