George Heidebrecht
1932 – 2022
Dad was born in Tofield, Alberta on June 11, 1932. He was the youngest child of John and Katherine (Penner) Heidebrecht. During his growing up years he developed a reputation as a good natured and fun-loving person. He had no end of stories of life as a child “in the hills”
As he grew older, he took great pride in hard work, and if we are to believe his stories none worked harder! He also cherished many memories of working together with his father, clearing land, hauling feed, and so on. During these times his father shared many experiences from his life in Russia which dad really treasured.

Dad married Ericka Schmidt on October 25, 1953 and they began life together in Tofield where dad worked at the creamery. In 1963 they made a big move to Calgary with 3 sons, Darrel, Randy, & Phil. Barry was born in Calgary in 1966. Dad soon found himself back in the dairy business as a butter maker with Swift Canadian. After several years there, he, along with 2 others, started their own creamery, known as Foothills Creamery. These were ambitious years for dad as, along with running the creamery he became very involved with Boy’s Club activities at Foothills Mennonite Church and at Camp Valaqua. One highlight of this time was a horse program he established at the Camp which ran for 2 years.

Dad never let go of the richness of his growing up years and in 1977 he left the creamery to start up his dream of bringing farm experiences to city kids. Our acreage became Heide’s Farm, with almost every imaginable farm animal and what ended up being thousands of kids a year coming for farm tours. Dad loved nothing more that squirting milk at the kids as he milked the cows and then serving home-made ice-cream.

A few years later, dad was hired as Operations Manager at Calgary Market Mall. This change was about as different from the farm as you can get. He jumped into this job with gusto, even to the extent of filling in as Santa Claus during the Christmas Season.

Mom’s death in 1996 was a big blow to dad. He had started renovating restaurants in Calgary and the opportunity to go to Boston to renovate a restaurant there provided a great opportunity for him to get away to focus on something new. His zest for life could not be squelched and in 1997 he married Jeanette Hartzler from Carstairs. He moved to her farm and immediately felt at home back in the country. This move also marked the beginning of his involvement at Bergthal Mennonite Church which became a dear community to him and Jeanette. Jeanette joined dad during a few more restaurant projects in the Boston area and at one point they went to Mexico for 3 months with MCC, engaging with Low-German Mennonites there. Even though the language was foreign to her, Jeanette embraced the people warmly and this was a high point for dad and her. Back at home, they became regular volunteers at the MCC Thrift Shop, where dad continued until a couple of weeks ago. When picking up furniture became too difficult, he developed a new interest and began repairing clocks for the store.

The reality of getting older became more evident a few years ago and in January 2020 Dad made the difficult decision to move off the farm into a supported living facility in Airdrie. While difficult, he soon made many friends at Luxtone Manor. Before long they were bringing him clocks to fix, and his room became a clock repair shop. He took great pride in getting a clock to work, and always knew exactly what tool he needed to get to made the job easier!

One of the best ways of describing our dad is as a “connector.” He loved meeting people and figuring out who they knew in common or where they might have crossed paths. This was most true with family. He loved staying in touch with nephews and nieces, and would always let us know who had called recently.

It goes without saying he has left a big hole in all our lives. Dad will be dearly missed by his children Darrel (Gladys), Randy, Phil (Barb) & Barry (Leslie) and his 9 grandchildren – Steven (Rita) Amanda (Alex Harms), Casi-Lee, Alex (Jackie), Ethan (Lori), Mikaela, Clinton, Cheyenne, & Carlee. He also had 7 great-grandchildren( Elias, Sadie, Carter, Wesley, Nia, Aria, and Riley). He will also be missed dearly by his wife Jeanette and her family.

Interestingly for many people, the constant ticking of a clock will serve as a reminder of our dad. His faith was a central part of his life, and was at the foundation of the many genuine relationships he formed across many circles of people. George was George – he could be nothing else!

• Date : 2022-04-24
• Location : www.ParklandFuneralHome.com & www.HeartlandFuneralServices.com