Edwin Brandt, born August 21, 1921 in Altona, Manitoba, passed away peacefully at the Polson Care Centre in Vernon, with his wife Anne of 55 years at his side, on December 15, 2019. He was predeceased by his first wife Margaret (nee Enns) in 1963 and youngest son Steven in 2014. He is survived by 6 children and their partners: Lorne (Anne), Loretta (David, deceased 2015), Leslie, Lloyd (Patti) and Tim (Dianne) as well as 15 grandchildren and 16 great grandchildren. Edwin grew up largely in Saskatchewan during the depression. As a young man he went to Herbert and then Prairie Bible Schools in Saskatchewan and Alberta, respectively, and was baptized into the Christian faith by L.E. Maxwell when he graduated from the last. During World War II, as a Mennonite Conscientious Objector, he chose Alternative Service and ended up teaching in a United Church Indian Day school in Island Lake (now Garden Hill) in Northern Manitoba. That was the beginning of a 25-year career working in missions with Canada’s indigenous peoples, beginning with the United Church (2 years in Oxford House, MB), Northern Canada Evangelical Mission (9 years in Buffalo Narrows, SK and Grand Rapids, MB) and Mennonite Pioneer Mission, later Native Ministries of the Conference of Mennonites in Canada (10 years in Loon Straits and Winnipeg, MB). This was followed by pastoring in Meadow Lake, SK, bible school teaching at Swift Current Bible Institute in Saskatchewan and Okanagan Bible Institute in British Columbia, as well as a 3-yr period of service for the General Conference of Mennonites Commission on Home Missions among the Mennonites in Mexico. He returned to found the Vernon Mennonite Church and was most recently a member of Faith Baptist Church in Vernon, and resident of Polson Care Centre since June 2019.
Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Edwin Brandt December 15th 2019..
Death notice for the town of: Vernon, Province: Colombie britanique