Iris Ulriksen

1941 - 2026

 Iris Marlene Marie Ulriksen (née Holmberg), at the age of 84 years, passed away very peacefully in Lethbridge on Tuesday, April 28, 2026 from end-stage dementia, when her beloved Saviour, Jesus Christ, came to gently take her home to heaven.

Iris was born to Nobel and Agnes Holmberg in Minnedosa, Manitoba and grew up as a shy middle child in a family of nine siblings. Being in a gifted family of singers and instrumentalists, she had a love of music and a good singing voice. She taught herself to play the piano by ear, practicing most assiduously after the supper hour in order to hopefully get out of doing dishes. This didn’t always work.

With such a large family there was a great deal to do, including tending an extensive raspberry patch. Iris never lost her love of gardening, picking berries of all kinds, and preserving them as jams and jellies. For the many homes she lived in throughout her life a large garden was a must-have, and if she didn’t have berry bushes planted, she was finding local places to go pick them!

Iris gave her life to God as a child, and thought she would become a missionary. However, while attending Briercrest Bible Institute, she met her future husband, Ray, and after graduating in 1963 they were married. They pastored a number of churches in communities from Manitoba to Alberta. During this time, they were blessed with three children, daughters Debbie and Barb, and son Corwin.

Iris often served in a musical capacity, and as the children grew she involved them in music as well, ensuring each of them got the piano lessons she’d longed for as a child.

Being both practical and tidy, she also uncomplainingly did a great deal of custodial work in the churches, not considering any act of service as beneath her. She mentored the work ethic of her heritage; in fact, the usual way she woke her children on a Saturday was with a morning song followed by saying brightly, “Time to get up – the early bird gets the worm!” This was always highly motivational!

Iris loved to do puzzles and play games with family delighting in the times she spent with much-loved grandchildren. She had a fun sense of humor, and didn’t mind being silly at times. Accidentally blowing out her dentures during a game left everyone helpless with tears of laughter, and she laughed right along. Her baking was much enjoyed, and she loved to sew, crochet and knit. When her children were young they were regularly supplied with clothes she had sewn or knitted. She also picked up cross-stitching, doing some beautiful work as gifts. In later years, she delighted to buy yarn and crochet blankets to give to needy persons through the organization Helping Hands.

She was a faithful pastor’s wife and mother, and once her children were all in school, she worked as a department store cashier, bank teller, and served in Christian book stores. After a final pastorate in Saskatchewan, they retired to Abbotsford, British Columbia to enjoy the mild climate and many more berry-picking opportunities!

 There were seasons Iris experienced, as she would call it, “being put through the wringer,” but in all of it, she herself wrote that she clung to her Lord, and He brought her through until she could say (from Psalm 62), “I wait quietly before God, for my hope is in Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken.”

At the end of 2019, there was a move from Abbotsford to Lethbridge to be near her eldest daughter, as cognitive decline had become difficult for Iris. Despite the painful loss of memory and function, there were many sweet, and often funny memories made in following years, such as the time she declared, “My conscious is …unconscious!” A particular gift was that Iris rarely seemed to forget her children, lighting up when she saw them even if she hadn’t the words to accompany it.

Iris will be privately and lovingly remembered by daughters Debbie (Scott) Dixon and Barb (Chris) Cooper; grandchildren Erin (James) Reid, and Sean (Tabea) Dixon; great-grandchildren Titus and Ada; and multiple other relatives and friends.

She was predeceased by her husband Ray and son Corwin.