Ernie Rowein went to heaven on Wednesday, July 22 after a brief sojourn in Olds Hospital and Peter Lougheed Center, I.C.U., at the age of 78 years. His parents, Pete and Betty (nee Kloberdanz) started married life in Macklin, Saskatchewan, and moved west. Both worked for a short time in a Calgary hospital then moved north, nearer to relatives already established in a farming community near Red Deer, Alberta. Ernie was born in Red Deer. Pete became the farm manager in Fred Grimson’s farming/welding, blacksmith, “mechanical fixer” shop enterprise. After that three or four-year stint, the Rowein’s moved to the Eagle Valley community to farm with Betty’s brothers (Leo, Pete, and Vincent (“Slim”). Ernie’s education began at the Eagle Valley School, shifted in Grade 3 to a Catholic school in Edmonton while Pete was pursuing Carpentry certification at NAIT, back to Eagle Valley and then to Sundre when centralization eliminated small community schools. He took a “gap year” at the coaxing of Cousin Armand and got a job welding drill bits in Calgary oil patch but continued to help his parents at the farm on weekends and holidays.

Returning to Eagle Valley in 1974 to farm with his dad, Ernie also worked at the Harmattan

Gas Plant with Canadian Superior (starting in 1976) and continued with Mobil Oil as a Fourth-Class Steam Engineer until his retirement in 1996. Pete’s death in 1979, combined with other life crises, necessitated selling the farm, ensuring Betty’s well-being and re-establishing his farm life by building on adjoining land that he referred to as Uncle Pete’s quarter:” In 1982, he married Marilynne (“Mim”) Grimson, un-cousin” of yore-his best friend and soulmate forever. Also mourning Ernie’s passing are his sister-in-law, Alexis Grimson; nephews Gavin Grimson and his children, Alissa and Austin, and Corbett Grimson, his wife Terri, and their children, Erik and Jayna; Jennifer Oborne, her children, Christine, Wesley, Jill, and Russell, and their families; Jim and Lindy Tuppen, Jarvis, and Larissa and her family; Ted and Linda Robertson of Vineland Station, Ontario, and their “Rent-a-Kids,” Louise, Vincent (“Slim”), Malcolm, and Julie; as well as cousins Ernie and Margie Sheck, Betty Ann and Lloyd Shapka, and Doreen Osborne. A graveside service will be held on Saturday, August 22, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. at Eagle Valley Cemetery, 4455 Township Road 340, Mountain View County, Alberta. A come-and-go time of fellowship with tea and coffee will follow at the Eagle Valley Community Centre, Range Road 44, Mountain View County, Alberta. Condolences, memories and photos may be shared and viewed at www.heartlandfuneralservices.com. Arrangements in care of Heartland Funeral Services (Sundre) 2A, 102 – 2 Street, 403.638.4393

• Date : 2026-08-20
• Location : Heartland Funeral Services (Sundre) "Honouring Families Since 1999" www.heartlandfuneralservices.com 403.638.4393