FELDER

With great sadness we announce the sudden, but peaceful passing of Josef “Joe” Leo Felder of Bluffton, Alberta at the University of Alberta Hospital, Edmonton on Friday, July 7, 2023, at the age of 73 years.

Josef, or Joe as most knew him, was born in Switzerland on September 6, 1949, to Hermann and Katharina Felder. He moved to Canada in 1972 to work for a couple of years, and then went back to Switzerland. It was when Joe was back in Switzerland that he realized Canada was his home. He returned a short time later, and went to work as a farmhand in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia. In 1977 Joe leased a farmstead south of Sylvan Lake, and with 35 cows he started his dairy farm. Not long after, in 1979, he purchased land in the Bluffton area and built his own farm – expanding his herd. Joe and his wife Karen opened their business, Rimbey Implements, in 1990 in Rimbey; they then established Future Ag in Red Deer in 2000.

Joe will be sadly missed and forever remembered by his loving wife Karen; four sons Sepp (Maria), Tony (Rebekah), Robert (Cassidy), and Markus (Ronette); and his daughter Melissa; as well as many cherished grandchildren. He will also be forever remembered by his family in Switzerland: his brother Peter Felder (Monika Meier); four sisters Katharina Tschannen-Felder, Hedwig (Christian) Mollet-Felder, Frieda (Fritz) Keller-Felder, and Gertrud (Alfred) Gäumann-Felder; and his sister-in-law Heidi Felder-Leuenberger. In addition, Joe will be greatly missed by several nieces and nephews; many treasured friends and neighbours; and by an abundance of people whose lives he touched. He was predeceased by his parents; his brother Hermann; and one brother-in-law Willi Tschannen.

A Public Funeral Service in Celebration of Joe’s Life will be held at the Peter Lougheed Community Centre, 5109 – 54 Street, Rimbey on Wednesday, July 19, 2023, at 11:00 a.m., with Pastor Mark Schultz officiating. Interment will follow at 3:00 p.m. in the Hoadley Cemetery, Hoadley. If desired, memorial donations in Joe’s memory may be made directly to the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation, 800 College Plaza, 8215 – 112 Street, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2C8 (www.stollerykids.com). Thoughts and messages to the family may be shared through the condolence area located at the bottom of this page.

Service and Burial Arrangements for the Late Josef “Joe” Leo Felder entrusted to the care of