Annie Nernberg

It is with heavy hearts that the family of Annie Nernberg announces her passing on Saturday, August 1, 2026, at the Russell Personal Care Home, at the age of 89 years.

Annie was born on July 20, 1937, in Encliffe, Manitoba, the ninth of ten children of Julius and Mary Zimmer. She grew up in a full and lively house, working on the family farm, playing ball, and holding her own among older brothers and sisters— a skill she put to good use for the rest of her life.

It was at a church gathering that she met a young man from Boulton, and on June 12, 1959, Annie married Wilfred Nernberg. They bought Uncle Jack's farm northeast of Inglis and began nearly forty years of farming together, raising five children along the way: Rhonda, Gail, Michael, Miles, and Lesley.

Farm life suited her. She worked the fields alongside Wilfred, ran the tractor, milked the cows morning and night for the cream quota, and kept a garden that fed the family through every winter. What she did not put up in jars she gave away. She was an exceptional cook, remembered above all for her potato pancakes, her Christmas baking, and her Bleanies — a recipe a good many people have tried to reproduce, and nobody has managed.

She was also, by all accounts, a great deal of fun. Annie played softball for the Russell Royals through the sixties and seventies and was known around the district for her home run hitting, but not so much for her speed on running the bases. She loved music and country radio, a good joke, a competitive card game, and an evening with her neighbours and friends. She quilted, painted, refinished antique furniture, made art out of bottle caps, word find puzzles but spent most of her life taking care of the farm and her beloved family. She was quick-witted, plain-spoken, stubborn when it counted, and generous without making anything of it.

Annie and Wilfred retired into Inglis in 2001, and in 2016 moved to the Roblin Personal Care Home. Following Wilfred's passing in 2019, Annie moved to the Russell Personal Care Home in September 2022, where she remained until her death. The family is grateful to the staff of both the Roblin and Russell Personal Care homes for the care and kindness shown to her over the past decade.

With Annie's passing, the last of the ten Julius and Mary Zimmer children has gone, closing a chapter for a very large extended family across Manitoba and beyond. She leaves behind a great many nieces and nephews who knew her simply as Auntie Annie, and who will have many of their own stories to tell.

Annie was predeceased by her beloved husband of sixty years, Wilfred (2019) and his siblings and spouses; her parents, Julius and Mary Zimmer; her brothers Bill (Eleanor), Herman (Ruth), Edward (Elsie), Rudy (Verna), Audie (Anita) and Walter (Carol); and her sisters Julia (Rudolph), Herta (Herbert), and Elsie (Louis).

Annie is lovingly survived by her five children: Rhonda May (Gerry) of Winnipeg, MB; Gail Frieze (Lorne) of Inglis, MB; Michael of Winnipeg, MB; Miles (Colleen) of Inglis, MB; and Lesley (Kanny) of Bangkok, Thailand. She is also survived by her 5 grandchildren, Jade, Reed, Jill, Donovan, and Kassandra and 4 great-grandchildren, Tucker, Tyne, Tave, and Tori, as well as her many nieces, nephews, and lifelong friends throughout the surrounding area.

A funeral service celebrating Annie's life will be held on Friday, August 7th at 2:00 PM at Bethany Lutheran Church in Inglis, Manitoba, with Pastor Judy Bauereiss officiating. Interment will follow at Bethany South Cemetery. 

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in Annie's memory to Bethany Lutheran Church Cemetery Fund.

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