Myrl attended school in Waldheim, Sask., aside from 2 winters in California and one in Surrey, B.C. She attended Bethany Bible Institute, Hepburn, Sask., for 3 years and obtained a teacher’s certificate in Saskatoon. Myrl taught Grade 2 in Waldheim for a year prior to marrying Mervin Driedger, June 30, 1959. They both taught one year in Hepburn, and then moved to Saskatoon. Myrl taught at Mayfair School, prior to welcoming their first son, Kevin, in July 1961. Following a brief time teaching in Meadow Lake, Sask., Mervin and Myrl, with their one-year-old, joined The Evangelical Alliance Mission, and moved to Chironga, a bush mission station in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), where they spent 5 years teaching at a teacher training school. Myrl was 7 months pregnant when they arrived. There she gave birth to Brian, Janine, and Wayne. They returned to Canada in 1968 and, after 2 years in Dalmeny, Sask., having added Bonnie to the family, Merv and Myrl returned to Zimbabwe with their 5 children, and spent 1970–76 at Evangelical Bible College in Chinhoyi. In 1976, Merv and Myrl settled in Dalmeny, Sask., where Myrl faithfully served her family, church, and community. Zimbabwe continued to draw them back; they returned for a visit in 1983, and longer stays in Chinhoyi (1984–85) and Mvurwi (1991–92, 1996–97). In 2008, Myrl and Mervin moved to Abbotsford, B.C., to be closer to family. In retirement, they went on multiple short-term mission trips to Brazil, Paraguay, Ukraine, Lithuania, Nicaragua, and Mexico. Myrl played piano, sang countless solos, joined the Bakerview choir and attended concerts in the area. Myrl was devoted to her family, patiently taking them to music lessons, reading to them, sewing for them, and cooking for them and their friends. She attended her grandchildren’s and great-grandchildren’s concerts, recitals, plays, and sporting events. In August 2019, when Myrl was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer, she took the news in stride. Thanks to a new treatment regimen, Myrl was able to have a bonus 4 years with her family. She walked those years with courage and grace, trusting in the Lord to whom she had committed her life to so many years before.
88
