Timothy Jonathon Peter Wiebe died at Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg in the early hours of February 9, 2024, after a 131-day hospitalization. Tim was born Apr. 17, 1980, a beautiful day in a year when there was an early spring and the snow had already disappeared. His birth brought such joy that his dad spent the next day working off the adrenaline high by raking the half acre lawn on our property on Pritchard Farm Road before it was even time to visit the hospital. This place was Tim’s home for the first 12 years of his life, and he had a happy childhood there playing with the boys next door and his sister Leslie.
Timmy, as he was known in his younger years, attended Tante Laura’s preschool at North Kildonan Mennonite Brethren Church and then moved on to the German bilingual program at Princess Margaret School for his elementary school education. Athletics were his primary interest from an early age; he was kicking a ball shortly after he learned to walk. He excelled at soccer and baseball at the East St. Paul Community Centre, despite always being the smallest player on the team. In the winter months, he enjoyed bowling for several years. Tim sang in the Mennonite Children’s choir for 2 years and travelled to New York to sing at Carnegie Hall with this group when he was 9 years old. A wonderful summer was spent in Yellowknife, N.W.T., in 1991, and Tim’s love of tennis was solidified here as he spent many hours on the courts. He attended Valley Gardens Community Church with his family; many of his childhood friends came through this connection.
Our move to Abbotsford, B.C., occurred when he was 12 in 1992. Tim attended the Clayburn Campus of Abbotsford Christian School for seventh grade, and this is where he was first dubbed with the nickname Teemu, as he remained a fan of the Winnipeg Jets, for the duration of the 9 years that we lived there. His high school years were spent at Mennonite Educational Institute; floor hockey became his passion during his time in high school. He attended youth group at Mountain Park Community Church and continued to play baseball in the summers. During this time, there were frequent trips back to Manitoba to see grandparents and extended family, visits to Seattle to watch the Mariners, and vacations in Hawaii, Phoenix, San Diego, and Oregon. Many weekends were spent exploring the Lower Mainland, with White Rock, Stanley Park, and the hiking trails of the North Shore mountains being some of our favourite destinations.
High school graduation brought challenges for Tim, and he felt a little adrift, uncertain of what direction to take in life. He spent a year at the local community college in Abbotsford and worked a variety of odd jobs. That summer, he and his friend Mike made a road trip across Canada in Tim’s Honda Civic, a trip that culminated in Montreal.
Tim settled in at Steinbach Bible College back in Manitoba in the fall of 1999. He enjoyed dorm life, and lasting friendships were formed there. This was also where Tim first sustained a knee injury while playing soccer which developed into an inflammatory arthritis.
The fall of 2001 saw our family move back to Winnipeg, and Tim completed his final year of Bible school in Steinbach as a commuter. He subsequently did a year at Red River Community College in the business administration program, then worked for his dad in their accounting business in Carman for a number of years. In 2007, shortly before his diagnosis of Hodgkin’s lymphoma, he found his work home in the accounting department of the Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches. Tim loved the people he worked with there and remained a loyal employee until his cancer relapse and stem cell transplant in 2020.
Tim’s progressive, debilitating arthritis, which included a hip replacement in 2011, gradually took away his ability to actively participate in the sports he loved, but he remained an avid fan of the Jets, the Bombers, and the Seattle Seahawks, as well as various Canadian tennis players. For him, the highlight of holidays in Palm Springs was his attendance at the Indian Wells tennis tournament. Tim was also a long-time member of a fantasy football league. He enjoyed old sitcoms and was an unapologetic devotee of Mr. Bean. He loved the band Collective Soul and followed them to concerts across the country.
Tim accepted Jesus as his personal Saviour at an early age and later recommitted his life to God at a youth rally in B.C. After an episode of septic shock during chemotherapy in 2008 put him in the ICU, he felt convicted of his need for baptism, and on his birthday in 2011, he was baptized by his friend and work colleague Robert Bell at The Meeting Place. He attended the young adults group at this church, and he remained a faithful online attender during the pandemic and during his most recent hospitalization.
Tim fought a valiant battle for many years bravely and with grace. He did not like the focus to be on his health issues, and only those closest to him were aware of the degree to which he struggled. He had issues with social anxiety, and it was only when you got to know him well that you recognized his quirky sense of humour and his kind and gentle spirit. He touched more hearts than he ever knew.
Left to cherish Tim’s memory are his parents John and Linda, his sister Leslie and her husband Scott Unger, his nephew Lukas and his niece Kenzie; as well as many extended family members and friends.
Embracing him in heaven are both sets of grandparents, Peter and Gertrude Wiebe and John and Anne Froese.
