Frieda Wiebe Obituary

Frieda Wiebe, March 31, 1925-June 29, 2025
Frieda (Minder) Wiebe was born on March 31, 1925, in Onida South
Dakota, the third of 6 siblings, to Robert Minder and Frieda (Wipf) Minder.
The Minders were Swiss immigrants. They had one daughter Ella who
made the crossing with them, and then they had Robert in the US, followed
by Frieda, Carl, David and Bertha. Seeking the familiarity of other German
speaking people, the Minders joined the Emmanuel Mennonite Brethren
Church and raised their family within that farming community.
Frieda grew up on that farm with her sisters and brothers, at one point even
teaching all 8 grades in the one-room schoolhouse attended by the farm
children in the area. After high school, Frieda went to Tabor College in
Hillsboro Kansas. There she met Franklin Wiebe, whose warmth and
gentlemanly ways quickly won her over, and they were married on July 20,
1947, in Onida.
Franklin and Frieda first lived together for a time in the Ozarks with
Franklin's parents. Frieda often mentioned this was one of her favorite
homes after marriage; she so enjoyed getting to know Franklin's parents.
The couple lived in different parts of the Midwest for 10 years – Omaha,
Doland SD, and back to Hillsboro. Franklin was continuing his studies or
pastoring and Frieda taught school in each of these places. They moved to
Reedley, California in 1957 to begin Franklin's teaching career.
In California Franklin and Frieda adopted their daughter Jacqueline who
had been in an orphanage in Germany that was overseen by Franklin's
younger brother Dwight in his Mennonite Central Committee role at the
time. Eventually the family moved to Santa Clara, California and lived in
that area for the next 25 years. Franklin and Frieda were active members of
El Camino MB Church and helped to build Blossom Valley Bible church.
Franklin and Frieda returned to California's Central Valley in retirement and
lived near Pacific University in Fresno, and after 23 years in Fresno the
couple moved to the Palm Village Retirement Community.
Franklin passed away in 2011 at the age of 91, and Frieda continued on,
involving herself in many facets of community life at Palm Village.
After a long life of 100 years (and three months), Frieda entered into rest
on June 29, 2025. She is survived by her daughter Jacqueline and her
husband Rob, grandchildren Sydnee Mardell and Seanie Marquez and
their spouses Jeff Franklin and Arden Marquez; great-grandchildren Gloria
Reyes-Mitchell and Marceline Franklin; brother David Minder; sister-in-law
Glenda Huse; and a host of nephews and nieces and their families, all of
whom she loved beyond words.
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