Abram, “Abe”, Elias was born on June 26, 1925.

As he grew up he experienced many challenges.

For one thing, he had eight brothers and four sisters which made for a pretty crowded house.

Another thing was the hours of chores that he put in as his family struggled to keep their farm alive.

It was hard.

They aren’t called the dirty thirties for nothing.

Due to a lack of money in his family, Abe was required to share a bed with his young brothers. As Abe told it, this was not as enjoyable as one might think.

As Abe grew older, there came that fateful day that comes to many a young man. The day when a beautiful young woman catches your imagination and you just know that you have to do something about it. Abe was no exception. He had seen Mary around the village near his family farm and the day came that he knew that he just had to try and win her over. After a determined courtship, which included a memorable evening spent beside a local pond being serenaded by frogs, he married Mary Fehr on Oct 14, 1951. Their marriage was blessed with four children, Kathy, Betty, Jake (Connie), Bill (Karen) as well as fifteen grandchildren and fourteen great grandchildren.

As an adult, Abe spent seventeen years working in and running a store, until eventually, at the age of 49, he decided to take on the new challenge of a dairy farm. The farm had its own set of challenges, yet Abe also found the time to work the garden with his wife and daughters. There were days when he was even seen tinkering on a go cart with his two sons. It may not have been the best cart, but it was a cart, and man, it did go…for awhile anyway. At 64, instead of retiring, Abe took on another new challenge. The one of working with disabled people. Even after he officially retired, he was always busy puttering around the house , fixing something, doing odd jobs. Honestly, some of those little jobs were pretty odd. There was really nothing that Abe would not attempt to fix and you know, most of the time he would even be able to get that broken item working again.

Abe wasn’t all about work though.

He loved to read.

If he saw something with words on it, he would be sure to pick it up and read it.

The evenings he spent singing together with his wife, Mary, are memories that she will always treasure.

Family gatherings were also very important to him. He sure enjoyed spending time at a table loaded with good food discussing life, politics, and most importantly, his faith.

Abe was a young man when he began listening to the broadcasts of Back to the Bible. As Abe listened to these broadcasts, he began to realize that he needed something more in his life than the traditions he had always known, he needed a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. As Abe was heard to say, “I realized that I needed to set those other things aside and just stick with what the Bible says.” Abe’s relationship with Christ became his passion for the rest of his life and he actively shared his faith with family and friends. He was a strong prayer warrior for his family. It was a rare day indeed that was not begun with a time of Bible reading and prayer. Throughout his life Abe was also actively involved in the Church in various roles.

Due to the onset of Alzheimer’s disease, Abe spent the last two years of his life at a care home. The family would like to express their appreciation for the quality care that he received from the staff of Gladstone Hospital, Douglas Campbell Lodge, and Portage Hospital.

Abe was predeceased by three sisters and six brothers, a grandchild and son-in-law. He was loved by his family and friends and will be dearly missed, but we rejoice that he has finally arrived in his eternal home and will live eternally in the presence of his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.