ABRAHAM (ABRAM) PETERS -

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ABRAHAM (ABRAM) PETERS 1920 - 2005 Peacefully, on Saturday, December 31, 2005, Abraham passed away at the Deer Lodge Centre where he had been a patient for two years. Remaining to cherish Abraham's memory are his beloved Dolores; three sisters, Nettie Klassen of Morris, MB, Agathe Plohman (Billy) of Ashern, MB and Doris Markwart of Selkirk, MB; and many nieces and nephews. Abraham was a Hong Kong Veteran, who spent four and a half years as a Japanese Prisoner of War at Nagasaki, Japan. He joined the Winnipeg Royal Rifles in June of 1940 and served with them for two years, then transferred to the Winnipeg Grenadiers three days before they left for Hong Kong, which they were to defend. Badly out numbered and short on ammunition and supplies, they lost that battle on Christmas Day of 1941 with a very heavy casualty load and were taken prisoners of war. Their prison years were extremely hard, a lot of torture, starvation, beatings and many did not survive. There were only two doctors and they had no supplies. They did many operations with razors as they simply had nothing to work with. They became mere skeletons. They were liberated after the bombing of Japan and hospitalized at home in September of 1945, very under nourished and in poor health. While in prison, the Canadians built the Hong Kong Airport, which is now a Memorial to Canada's war dead. In the next several years, Abraham spent much time in the Deer Lodge and slowly got his health back to where he was able to work as an Immigration Officer for five years before it shut down. Soon after, he moved to Kelowna, BC, where he got into down hill skiing, which he enjoyed for many years. When he could ski no longer, he moved back to Manitoba. In keeping with Abraham's wishes, no formal funeral service will be held. Our family wishes to thank the doctors, nurses and staff at the Deer Lodge Centre for their kindness and the wonderful care they gave Abraham all that time. As well, many thanks to the staff and residents at Metropolitan Courts. Abraham's arrangements have been entrusted to the Family Owned Funeral Chapel of: WOJCIK'S ALL BELIEFS FAITHS FUNERAL CHAPEL CREMATORIUM 897 - 4665

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Jan 04, 2006