Mrs. Valerie Ann (Heppner) Pankratz

Surrounded by her family, Valerie Pankratz died peacefully on June 24, 2023 after a long journey with cancer.

Val was born in Swift Current, SK on September 26, 1962, the second daughter of Hulda (Guenther) and Oliver Heppner. She spent her early years in Cross Lake, MB, where her parents worked with Indigenous communities through what is now Mennonite Church Canada. She attended public school in Swift Current and Winnipeg and graduated from Swift Current Comprehensive High School in 1980.

She moved to Altona, MB to study at Elim Bible Institute, where she met Douglas Pankratz of Winnipeg. They married at Zion Mennonite Church in Swift Current on September 3, 1983, living in Winnipeg, Rosthern, Taiwan and Calgary before settling in their character home of 29 years on Mandeville Street in St. James. Their sons Michael and Derek were born in Rosthern and Lindsey and Jonathan were born in Winnipeg.

Val was an engaged mom supporting her children in their many activities, attending countless choir and band performances and cheering them on from the spectator stands at their volleyball and basketball games.

While raising her family, Val ran a hairdressing business out of her basement and later worked in the non-profit sector, including Mediation Services, Mennonite Church Canada, and the Cancer Care Foundation. She enjoyed helping people find their career path in her most recent work in employment services. She also served on the boards of Mennonite Central Committee Manitoba, Westgate Mennonite Collegiate and Fort Garry Mennonite Fellowship.

She delighted in being grandma to Hudson, Presley and Amari and eagerly anticipated the birth of two more grandchildren later this summer.

Val was passionate about quilting, enjoying all aspects from designing a quilt, piecing it together and quilting it by hand or on the long-arm machine. Being a deeply social quilter, Val organized retreats at Camp Moose Lake with her friend Christine Epp, hosted the Gallery Quilters monthly at CMU, and in her final months invited friends to help finish baby quilts for her growing family. She gifted countless quilts to family, friends, and fundraisers, including donating numerous large quilts to the Westgate Mennonite Collegiate Bursary Fund and coordinating other quilt projects for public spaces or events. Val delighted in working with colour, pattern and design but mostly she enjoyed the relationships stitched together over common threads.

Val enjoyed the outdoors, whether it was gardening, camping, or staying at friends’ cottages. She deeply loved her family homestead in Waldheim SK, where she would often bring her family to share in family values of stewardship, humble generosity, and living simply on the land. She brought these values home by living creatively, repurposing furniture and other household items, cherishing the stories that they told.

Val was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2011 and then lived cancer free for nearly a decade before it returned in the form of metastatic breast cancer in December 2021. She faced her illness and the resulting limitations and losses with honesty, dignity, and humor. She was grateful for the visits, food and moral support provided by her large circle of friends during her illness.

Val is survived by her husband Doug, her four children and their partners: Michael (Amanda Peters), Derek (Melissa Ramharakh), Lindsey (Charlie) Perera and Jonathan (Emma Berg), grandchildren Hudson, Presley and Amari, sister Loretta (Gordon) Giesbrecht and brother Michael (Donna Wiebe) Heppner, and stepmothers Justina Bergmann and Ruth Heppner. She is also survived by in-laws Victor (Kathy) Pankratz and Rennie (John) Fast and many nieces and nephews.

Val was predeceased by her parents Hulda (1994) and Oliver (2018) Heppner and her in-laws Rudy Pankratz (2021) and Marianne Berry (2021).

A celebration of life will take place on Thursday, June 29th, 11:00 am, at Fort Garry Mennonite Fellowship, 150 Bayridge Ave., Winnipeg. As parking will be limited, we ask that those who are able, consider walking a couple of blocks and park at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints parking lot, located at 45 Dalhousie Drive. Attendees are invited to bring with them quilt work gifted to them by Val. These will be displayed on the chairs in the sanctuary.

For those who cannot attend in person, the service will be available live on Zoom at https://us04web.zoom.us/j/158787495

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the Westgate Mennonite Collegiate Capital Fund, WESTGATE MENNONITE COLLEGIATE - Donate Now

or MCC’s Love and Comfort program

Love and comfort | Mennonite Central Committee