My husband, our father, grandfather and great grandfather, Earl Leroy Reimer, 90, of Linden, Alberta, passed away peacefully on December 28, 2023, at the Westview Care Community, Linden. Some of the families were singing When the Roll is Called Up Yonder at his bedside when he passed.

Leroy was born in Linden, Alberta, to Anthony and Caroline Reimer on May 1, 1933, and was raised in the area with his 3 brothers and 3 sisters. He attended the Fertile Valley School all his eight school years.

At 15 years old Leroy started working in sawmills at both Spray Lakes and Crooked Creek. He also worked in construction and started Master Woodcraft in Linden. He raised chickens for 38 years and enjoyed grain farming and gardening. The family remembers a large well-watered garden with rarely a weed in it, and an abundance of potatoes.

Leroy met his future wife, Marianne Penner, when she came from Manitoba to stay with her cousins and started working at the Linden Nursing Home. They got engaged in June of 1955, but had to wait until after the harvest that year, so they were married in Greenland, Manitoba, on October 21, 1955. They lived in several places for 2 years before settling on the home place 1 mile north of Linden, where they raised their family of 5 sons and 2 daughters, and an infant daughter who left earth too early. There were many fun games of baseball played on the front lawn. They retired and moved to Linden, living there for 18 years, and then moved to Westview Care Community for the last 7 years.

He became a Christian in his early teens, and loved his church, attending church regularly and was always on time. He served as a song leader for almost 50 years. He led from the German hymnal as well, since he was one of the few that knew German. His family has many good memories of him singing, and with family and friends. There were also fellow church goers that he enjoyed singing quartets with. He passed on to his children and grandchildren a legacy of singing. Some of the important things he enjoyed included CDR projects, often being the first onsite locally, with his boys in tow. Other projects included building fences after grass fires in Montana, and cleanup after fire or flood in BC. He owned a water truck prior to the fire department starting in Linden and loved helping the community with fire prevention. One highlight was their trips to Brazil to visit Marianne's family.

Those who will miss him dearly are his wife, Marianne, of Linden, and children, Lester and Flora, Linden, Shirley and Darcy Toews, Abbotsford, BC, Shauna and Bob Boese, Earl and Caroline, both of Linden, Lorne and Stephane, Hythe, AB, Dalin and Shirley, and Gene and VJ, both of Linden, 23 grandchildren and 24 great grandchildren, 2 sisters, Audrey Toews of Pincher Creek, AB and Darlene Reimer, Linden, 2 sisters-in -law, Ruby and John Hendrickson, Diane Reimer, Linden and Marianne's family. Leroy is preceded by his parents, and infant daughter, Veronica Lynn, 3 brothers and 1 sister.

Funeral service will be held at the Church of God in Christ, Mennonite, Linden, AB on Monday, January 1, 2024, at 11 o'clock in the morning.

Burial will follow at the Linden Cemetery directly after the service. Sunset Funeral Service is handling the funeral arrangements. The family would like to thank the staff for the care they gave Leroy while at the Westview Care Community.