George Thiessen

George Thiessen fell asleep in the Lord on October 20, 2023, at his home in Hepburn, SK. George was born in Aberdeen, SK, in 1937. He married Mary Peters in 1957. George and Mary were married for sixty-six years and had six children. George’s professions included working as a mechanic at Flexi-Coil, owning a garage in Aberdeen, driving a school bus and supervising of a school bus fleet. He also sold real-estate and life insurance.

Having grown up on a farm, George always had a great love of rural life and hard work, something he passed on to his children and grandchildren. Even after moving off the farm, as a teen he would skip school in order to participate in his extended family’s farm work.

George’s great passion was his Orthodox Christian faith. In the spirit of their religious convictions, George and his wife Mary practiced remarkable hospitality, hosting twenty-four foster children for various lengths of time over the years, growing especially close to local members of First Nations communities. They routinely welcomed others to share their home, oftentimes high school or secondary school students from rural communities, who needed to live near their schools in the city. Sometimes they would even host whole families for extended periods of time.

George was known to rise early to pray in his home, and to spend more than an hour at prayer in the evening before bed. One of George and Mary’s great comforts in recent years has been to listen to the bible readings of Fr. Alexis Kouri on Ancient Faith Radio. George and Mary listened faithfully to whole Bible being read, bit by bit, over the course of a year. They did this for the last three years in a row. George served as treasurer for many years on the parish council of St. Vincent of Lerins Orthodox Church. He was beloved by the whole church community, and known for his stable good nature.

George is survived by his wife, Mary, and his children Gaye and her husband James, David and his wife Brenda, Terry and his wife Carol, Kevin and his wife Pat, as well as daughter-in-law Stacy. George is further survived by his sisters Tena and Mary and their families. His other family includes his grandchildren David, Angela, Shane, Anthony, Jordan, Nicole, Chantel, Travis, Melissa, Brent, Steven, Shawn, Jonathan, Cody, Logan, Emily, Curtis, Jack, Justin, Timothy, Shannah, Isaiah and Myriah, along with a large number of great-grandchildren. George is pre-deceased by his parents, John and Marie, brothers Jacob and John, and by his children Gordon and Crystal.

In lieu of flowers, the Thiessen family asks that donations be made to St. Vincent’s Orthodox Church.

Both services will be live-streamed on Zoom and can be accessed using this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3564438034?pwd=cXg0dkZiT29LRXVuK3NqR2JVOWRHdz09
Meeting ID: 356 443 8034
Passcode: 123

Kronsthal Cemetery can be found on Google Maps here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/YMvN2ZcRXJt1njp19

Osler Community Hall can be found on Google Maps here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/F9EuocpAN2FAHNxu5

Services are at St. Vincent’s Orthodox Church 304 Third Avenue N., Saskatoon, SK. (formerly 3^rd Ave. United Church).

Wake will be held Monday, October 23, 2023, 6:30 PM: Trisagion Prayers of Mercy followed by refreshments.

Funeral will be held Tuesday, October 24, 2023, 1:00 PM: Funeral followed by burial at Kronsthal Cemetery, east of Osler, SK. 3:00 PM (approx), Lunch at Osler Community Hall, 508 1^st Street in Osler. SK.

Martens Warman Funeral Home is honoured to be entrusted with the care and arrangements of George Thiessen.