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Elizabeth Friesen Bergen born 1933 in Cuauhtemoc, Mexico |
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My parents were Jacob Friesen and Margaretha Banman. My grandparents had come to Manitoba, Canada, from Russia in the 1870s. Life was good for the Mennonites in Manitoba until World War I, when resentment was stirred up against the German- speaking people there. In 1916, the Manitoba government forbade the use of the German language in the Mennonite schools. This alarmed a large group of Mennonite families and as a result, 6,000 conservative Mennonites, including my Mother's and Father's families, moved to Mexico in 1922. I was born in Cuauhtemoc, Mexico, in 1933. I started school at six years in Schoenberg, Swift Colony where my first teacher was Johann Loewen. Several years later, my parents purchased a farm in Bolivia where they grew soy beans, rice and fruit trees. Because of the warm climate, the family gardens produced two crops annually. The beginning years were difficult there, but since that time, some Mennonite families have become wealthy in Bolivia. After five years, our family returned to Mexico.
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In 1951, Isaac Bergen and I were married. Together we raised 14 healthy children: 10 sons and four daughters. Our one son died at 41 years. They had been cutting down trees and a large branch fell on him. In 1972, our daughter Margaret and husband Jake moved to Wheatley, Ontario. We were alarmed when they left Mexico, but seven years later, we moved to Canada, as well. We lived near Wheatley and worked on farms in the Tilbury area during that time. Then we moved to Leamington. Our other children soon followed, except for the oldest two, who came to Canada later. When Isaac died in 1998 I moved to Pickwick Drive in Leamington. Isaac and I have been blessed with 50 grandchildren and 41 great grandchildren. AK 2008 |
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