Fredolin "Fred" Amann

With great sadness we announce the passing of Fred Amann on August 16, 2022 at the age of 92 in the Portage and District General Hospital.

Fred's passing is mourned by his daughter Catherine of Portage la Prairie, sons Ronald (Ginette Fontaine) of Winnipeg and Richard (Ellen McIntosh) of Dubai, UAE, grandson Aaron (Karen MacKinnon) of Winnipeg, great-grandson Ayden of Brandon as well nieces, nephews and close friends.   Fred is predeceased by his wife Loreen Amann (nee McRae, 2017), parents Konrad Amann (1954) and Louise Amann (nee Duttlinger, 2000), brother Antonius (1937), father-in-law John McRae (1962), mother-in-law Wilhemina (Minnie) McRae (nee Deas, 1987), brother-in-laws John and Grant McRae, and sister-in-laws Jean and Marie McRae.

Fred was born at his parents’ home on March 4, 1930.  Fred’s only brother, Antonius, sadly passed away at only 11 months of age, leaving Fred an only child. Fred and his parents, Konrad and Louise Amann, worked on various farms until they bought and settled on the farm site just south of the junction of 34 Highway and the CPR tracks, west of Austin. Fred married Loreen McRae from Katrime, Manitoba on June 19, 1954 and together they built their first and only small farm house adjacent to Fred’s childhood home on the same site, raising their three children, and where Fred continued to live for over eight decades.  

Fred’s entire life was devoted to family, farm and community. Being the son of German immigrants, little Fred’s first major challenge was learning English while attending school in Austin until (according to Fred) about the age of 16.  Fred’s childhood days revolved around the farm, a role that took on more responsibility at age 24 upon the tragic passing of his dad.  Fred had the dual responsibility of widowed mom and a new bride, Loreen. These new challenges had a silver lining in that it instilled in Fred an incredibly strong work ethic.

After leaving school, Fred worked at various odd jobs for businesspeople in Austin before he obtained his full-time work with the CP Railway.  Fred was assigned to the track gangs that worked out of northern Ontario, Winnipeg, and various other subdivisions in rural Manitoba. In 1961 he left the railroad to be closer to home and his growing family and worked as a Turner-Dozer operator for the Rural Municipality of North Norfolk until 1979 and then with Mac’s Rentals in MacGregor until his retirement. He loved to share stories about the areas where he worked, repairing the lines and building or plowing the roads. He was a hard working and dependable man who took pride in knowing every road, track subdivision or correction line in the region – well before Google Maps.

Fred volunteered his time by supporting many Austin community organizations. In the early 1960s he was part of the group of Austinites who had a dream to build a covered skating rink. Additionally, he helped with canvassing for Cancer Care and Heart and Stroke. Later on, he actively supported the Austin Cemetery Committee from 2000 until he moved to MacGregor in 2018. He helped with many aspects of the upgrading, marking graves, raising and lowering the flag, etc. Through it all, he was a member of the Austin Museum and restored a 1939 Massy Harris tractor that he faithfully drove in the annual Thresherman’s Reunion Parade.

Fred also participated in many community activities including the men’s curling club, hockey teams, and snowmobile club. As a young man, he played for the Austin Chipmunk Hockey Club with great pride. Once Fred’s children became active in community sports, he and Loreen travelled wherever the sporting events took them, with Fred always driving as he knew the best route. This continued when their grandson, Aaron, also became involved in sports as well as supporting and cheering on all Austin kids in their sporting events. Even with work and children’s sports, Fred found time to enjoy riding his motorcycle in the summer and his snowmobile in the winter with his neighbours. He rode both until his mid 80’s. Fred had an admiration of flying and one of his proudest accomplishments was when he and his son Ron obtained their pilot licenses. Fred later bought a plane and built a hanger at the Austin Museum.

When not working on heavy equipment, Fred enjoyed tinkering and if it could be welded he made it. He could look at something in a store and say that he could make his own, and he did!  Most were made to be functional but some would say that certain of his creations were works of art.

After his wife Loreen passed away, Fred rekindled a special friendship with Helen Rands. The two of them had been sweethearts in their teens but their lives took them in different directions. After 70 years their lives connected again and they were able to support each other during their golden years visiting and phoning one another and reminiscing about the ‘good old days’. Fred also developed the habit of making nightly phone calls to his family and close friends. He needed to stay connected.

Fred remained on the farm until 2018 when he made the difficult decision to move from his beloved farm and town of Austin to Victoria Place (VP) in MacGregor, Manitoba. Initially, he was not in favour of this move, but he soon grew to love living there and expressed gratitude for the kids ‘making’ him move. The staff at VP fell in love with his larger-than-life smile, his hardy, heartfelt laugh, and his many pranks.

Fred and Loreen always shared a dream of donating some of their land to Austin for a park. They wanted to leave a legacy that future families could enjoy and hopefully something the community could continue together on in the Amann family’s tradition. Sadly, Fred was not able to attend the official announcement of his and Loreen’s gift of 23 acres to Austin on August 13th, 2022 as he was in the hospital awaiting heart surgery.  

The family want to thank Dr. Dow, his team and the selfless staff, and Portage General Hospital for the patient and compassionate care provided for Fred over the years. The family is also very grateful for the loving staff at Victoria Place for treating Fred as a member of their own family.  

Fred was a gentle, kind, and honest man who loved his home and community. These are the some of the many wonderful characteristics that we will all truly miss about Fred. Those who knew him were blessed to have been a part of his life.

Fred’s interment will be at the Austin Cemetery at 1:00 p.m. on August 26, 2022, with a celebration of his life to follow at 2:00 p.m. at the Austin Community Hall in Austin, Manitoba.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Austin Cemetery or Amann Park at the North Norfolk Foundation website MyCharityTools | Donate to North Norfolk Foundation Inc and by entering in the name of either charity in the “Name of Fund (if known) box”, or mailing a cheque to PO Box 696  MacGregor MB R0H 0R0.

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