Cleric, author.
Born on a small farm near Morden around 1933, one of ten children born to Heinrich Doerksen and Katherine Klippenstein, he attended Lloyd George School. In 1951, called to ministry while attending the Manhattan Beach Family Bible Camp near Ninette, he later attended the Bethel Bible Institute in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan where he met his future wife.
He ministered at Napinka, Lac du Bonnet, and Pine Falls before moving to Winnipeg where he served at Evangel Chapel (now New Beginnings Church). He produced faith-based plays television programs for CKY and wrote the book The Saga of Turtle Mountain Coal (1971) based on an essay that, in 1970, had received a Margaret McWilliams award from the Manitoba Historical Society. He also contributed historical articles to the Winnipeg Tribune and Western Producer.
On 3 October 1959, he married Louise Griggs (1936-2018) at Oak Lake and they had three children, including Charlotte Mae Doerksen (1964-1992, wife of Joseph Coyston).
He died at the St. Boniface Hospital on 13 July 2025.
His articles for the Manitoba Historical Society:
The Great Grain Blockade 1887-88
Manitoba Pageant, Winter 1974, Volume 19, Number 2Dominion Day Brawl on the White Horse Plains
Manitoba Pageant, Autumn 1974, Volume 20, Number 1The History of Thanksgiving
Manitoba Pageant, Autumn 1975, Volume 21, Number 1The Brandon Wheat Kings - 1887 Vintage
Manitoba Pageant, Autumn 1976, Volume 22, Number 1
“Engagements,” Winnipeg Free Press, 4 September 1959, page 20.
Obituary [Charlotte Mae Coyston], Winnipeg Free Press, 26 September 1992, page 91.
Obituary [Louise Doerksen], Winnipeg Free Press, 7 April 2018.
Obituary [Tony Doerksen], Winnipeg Free Press, 26 July 2025.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 28 July 2025
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