Peter Kehler Wieler, 21, after suffering from Nephritis, passed away at the Bethesda Hospital on March 11, 1946 with his family by his side. Peter was the son of Henry U. and Susanna (Kehler) Wieler of Steinbach. He was born October 10, 1924 on a farm in the Hanover Municipality and later moved to Steinbach, where he attained his early education. Besides his parents, Peter leave’s to mourn his sisters, Helen (Joe) Grunwald, Elizabeth (Edwin) Giesbrecht, and Rosemarie. He also leaves behind nephews Harold and Henry Grunwald. He was preceded in death by a brother Bernhard, sister Phyllis, and nephew Walter Giesbrecht.
After his schooling Peter bought a team of strong horses, joined his father who also had a team and cut and hauled firewood to sell, as well as for their own use.
The funeral was held in the Steinbach EMC Church, with burial at the Felsenten Cemetery.
Peter, being our next door neighbour and first cousin on both sides, was very special to us. My brother Walter and Peter were like 2 peas in a pod, both the same age and went to school together. Because they were both extremely shy, they spent all their time together laughing and telling jokes. They spent the evenings together at our house, Walter sang, playing the guitar, and Pete would play the mouth organ (Juice Harp). If they were alone together they were not shy. Quite often my sister Violet would join in with her guitar and they would make nice music together.
During the winter of 1946, Edwin and Elizabeth Giesbrecht took their truck to haul logs out of the bush to Norquay Sask. Walter went along to help Edwin. During that time Elizabeth gave a birth to a baby boy, whom they named Walter, however the baby did not survive. It was during this time Pete suffered with his kidney disease, and constantly got weaker. He had a gramophone and a lot of western music that he loved to listen to. When he got so weak, I had to come over to crank up his gramophone. I listened too and would re-crank it for him. I also felt close to Pete, and he never complained.
When Pete died they had no way of getting in touch with Elizabeth, but CBC Radio had a messaging service at 1 PM every day to the Northern communities, and everyone up North listened to this broadcast, so they announced his death and they rushed home.
At the gravesite, the coffin was opened for a song and a prayer. During this time a young lady, who had a crush on Pete, laid a wreath of pretty yellow flowers over Pete’s heart in a very loving way and she wept too.
giesbrecht