Louise Epp of Lethbridge, Alberta, beloved wife of the late Werner Epp, passed into the arms of Jesus on the 18th of January at the age of 96 years.

Louise was born in Coaldale, Alberta to Peter and Anna Unger on November 13th, 1929. She was the third youngest of nine siblings and is survived by her youngest sister Gertrude Krahn.

Growing up in a family of hard-working immigrants, she also learned to work hard to get by. She spoke of picking beets on a farm east of Coaldale as one of her earliest jobs. At home, she learned to cook and sew and these skills would prove to be distinguishing and valuable throughout her life. But, her career life started with training as a nurses aide.

Then along came Werner and soft-spoken Louise had found her husband for life. At the age of 24, she and Werner married on December 30th, 1953. Werner’s career took them to Battleford, Saskatchewan and a new beginning. Together, they bought an empty lot and built their own home. They lived for a time in what was to be their garage and then in the basement as Werner slowly constructed the house while working full-time. In the meantime, they started their family with Gilbert (Gib) coming in 1954 and Randal (Randy) in 1957. Being a mom and a wife was more than a full time job in those early years. Their family continued to expand to include Susan in 1959 and Nathan in 1963. By that time, their small house was also home for up to six out-patients from the Saskatchewan Mental Hospital where Werner worked. As you might expect, cooking meals and sewing and mending clothes were an important part of the hard work of keeping that home going.

Eventually, her sewing skills led to jobs outside the home. First working for good family friends Gus and Anne Friesen who ran a business selling and servicing sewing machines and later working at Grobmans fabric store.

Louise would later close out her working career as a clerk at the Battleford Land Title’s office.

As hard as she worked at all these things, there was something else around which their home was focused. Faith in God and involvement in the life of their church was really at the center of their growing family. Whether it was participating in church services, having folks over for Sunday lunch, or evening get-togethers, the fellowship of their church “family” was just a natural extension of their faith. Although Louise was not an extrovert, her faith in Jesus was the foundation on which her life and her family were built.

While living in the Battlefords, regular vacations also became an important part of family life. Trips to Alberta and BC camping in the mountains were almost a given but there were also many visits to family on both Louise’ and Werner’s sides of the family. As their family grew up, Werner and Louise were also able to travel to Israel and Europe which were trips of a lifetime for them.

After decades living in the Battlefords, Werner and Louise moved down to Lethbridge in their retirement years. With many members of both their immediate family and their extended family living in the area, it once again became home. They purchased a duplex along with Gib and Anne and that has become home to four generations of the Werner and Louise Epp family.