David Abraham Duerksen

David Abraham Duerksen was born on March 19, 1933, to Abraham Duerkesen and Eva Schartner Duerksen at Linden Nursing Home in Linden, Alberta. Dad went to his eternal reward at Piccadilly Seniors Community in Salmon Arm, BC on August 10, 2026, at the age of 93 years.

He attended Antler Hill School. At the age of 8, dad was badly burned to 40 percent of his body. He spent 6 months in the hospital 60 miles from home only receiving a visitor occasionally. He loved the outdoors. In his youth he learned to skid logs with a horse. He was a good skidder operator.

Dad was baptized at the age of 16 by Minister Frank Heibert at Linden, Alberta. In his youth dad moved to Abbotsford, BC where he met the love of his life, Dorothy Giesbrecht. They were married on June 10,1955 and enjoyed 71 years of marriage.

In the early 1960’s Dad and Mom journeyed to Salmon Arm BC looking for work. He found work in a sawmill, working out on the boom feeding the mill. After the mill closed, dad found work on a dairy farm. After that farm was sold, we as a family moved to Linden, Alberta. There dad went to tech school in Calgary to become a licensed mechanic. After a few years, dad felt the farm calling, and in 1974 they bought a farm in Stettler, Alberta. Our family of 6 moved into a small 14’x28’ house with a small bedroom and kitchen built on. Dad did numerous jobs including owning a gravel truck and graveling roads to feed the family. Growing up there were many years of scrimping and saving. We learned how to make a dollar go a long way, and we did lots of sharing. It took us all pitching in and working hard. But what fun times we had. Family water fights, pancake and waffle suppers with friends, and pig butchering days. Dad loved the Lord and taught us children to have faith in prayer and love the Church. Him and mom taught us to pray when we were very young. Family devotions were very important. Dad remained faithful to the end and left us with an assurance by saying “I’m ready to go”.

Dad’s love of doing tract work took him to different small towns and he would keep the tract racks full. They spent time on the tract board at Linden; also helping with the Bible School in Rocky Mountain for several years. Dad had a love for little children and had a way of winning them over. Mom always said if they weren’t feeding people, they were feeding their souls. Dad and mom felt the call to give some time for the Lord, which led them to Montreal. They enjoyed their time there with the different boys, and with the many people they met. In 2005, they moved to Enderby, BC to enjoy their retirement years. They enjoyed traveling from Nebraska to across Canada; Alaska and down to Mexico to visit their children in the mission there.

Dad was not a complainer, even in financial difficulties and especially with his health. He’d always say he was doing just fine.

The family would like to give a special thank you to Lakeside Manor and Piccadilly Seniors Community for the excellent care he received there.

Left to mourn his passing are his wife Dorothy, Salmon Arm, BC; Children: Judy Bronzy, Morinville Alberta; Brenda and Robert Toews, Enderby BC; Douglas and Edna Duerksen, Swan River, Manitoba; Barbara and Danny Goertzen, Madrid Nebraska; James and Suzanne Duerksen, Rosenort, Manitoba; 21 grandchildren and 34 great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his daughter Janelle Curtis, grandsons Joey Duerksen and Delany Koehn, his parents and seven siblings and their spouses.