Elfrieda Esther (Loewen) Fast, 95, passed away on Thursday, May 19, 2022. She was born on February 8, 1927, to Frank F. and Katherina (Wiebe) Loewen in Mountain Lake, Minnesota. She attended country school until the eighth grade and then went to the Mountain Lake Public School graduating from high school in 1945. Elfrieda continued her education at the Mountain Lake Bible School for one year. She then worked as secretary for the Mountain Lake School District.
Elfrieda accepted Christ as her Savior and was baptized at the Gospel Mennonite Church in Mountain Lake. She married Harold J. Fast on September 2, 1947, at the Gospel Mennonite Church. They farmed in the Mountain Lake-Windom area where she worked at the National Tea Food store and then at Fairland Management Company as bookkeeper in Windom. When they moved to Hutchinson, MN, she worked at the 3M Company. In Alexandria, she worked for Holiday Foods until she retired in 1992.
Harold and Elfrieda then volunteered at Wycliff (SIL) in Dallas, Texas, for four years. She enjoyed working in the boutique there and meeting people from all over the U.S. After staying home for two years, they spent their winters in Arizona for five years. She loved her church and was active having sung in the choir, taught Sunday School, served as Deacon on the Care and Hospitality committees, financial committee and being greeters. She was also a Gideon Auxiliary member. She enjoyed reading, making quilts, and her family meant a lot to her.
Elfrieda is survived by her son, H. James Fast of Golden, Colorado; her daughters, Kathryn Ann Fast of Little Elm, Texas, and Donna Powell and her husband, Rich, of McKinney, Texas; her granddaughters, Sheila (Dan) Heard, Jessica (Nathan) Allen, and Erin (Luke) Patterson; her great-grandchildren, Natalie Allen, Zachary Allen, Drew Brown, Dylan Patterson, and Madelyn Patterson; and her brother, Alfred Loewen of Edmonds, Washington.
She is preceded in death by her husband, Harold Fast; her sons, Ronald Fast and Norman Fast; seven sisters; three brothers; and her parents, Frank and Katherina Loewen.
A Remembrance Gathering will be held at Berkshire Chapel, 9073 Berkshire Drive, Frisco, Texas, on Saturday, June 4,2022, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.