Family thankful for community support

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This article was published 24/09/2016 (2742 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Nine months after their home in an established Steinbach neighbourhood went up in flames, the Pangman family still cannot find the words to express themselves.

The overwhelming emotion just hours after a plume of smoke emanated from their Reimer Avenue home on a late afternoon last November was thankfulness. They were appreciative their family escaped harm, but also of the community they have discovered for stepping up when they needed it the most.

Their new front door was knocked on regularly those early days after the fire, first when they were in a motel room and later when they found a house to rent on Third Street. Becky Pangman figured 75 people paid separate visits those early weeks bearing essentials. This does not include the hundreds more who mobilized, like local churches and dozens of people hauling garbage bags full of clothes to a neighbour’s house to come to the Pangman’s aid.

IAN FROESE | THE CARILLON
William and Becky Pangman with three of their children, from left, William II, Wisdom and Ashton, at their Third Street home in Steinbach, only a block and a half away from where their home burnt down last November. The family wants to thank the hundreds who came to their rescue after they lost the roof over their head and many possessions.
IAN FROESE | THE CARILLON William and Becky Pangman with three of their children, from left, William II, Wisdom and Ashton, at their Third Street home in Steinbach, only a block and a half away from where their home burnt down last November. The family wants to thank the hundreds who came to their rescue after they lost the roof over their head and many possessions.

“As these people are coming to our door, more and more every day, I was an emotional wreck. I was crying,” recalled Becky. “I couldn’t find words that seemed strong enough to show my gratitude.”

She still struggles to find the right thing to say, she feels.

Neighbours near and far came in droves with clothing, groceries and gift cards. The Pangmans couldn’t keep track of all the people that dropped in on them, many complete strangers. There was a man who dropped by daily to pray. A family’s five kids gave up their Christmas presents to give to the Pangman children.

The Pangmans cited a visit from Liane Morran who knocked on their door two days after the fire, offering to help wherever. Asked what his family needed, William confessed they needed a set of wheels, and Morran promptly drove them to her Kleefeld home and let them borrow a van she had.

“The people in this community,” marveled Becky. “Oh my goodness, what they did for us, I can’t even put to words.”

The Pangman family contacted The Carillon to thank people far and wide who opened their hearts after their tragedy.

What people read, saw or heard was what happened on Nov. 30, 2015. The family’s detached garage caught fire, likely caused by a pickup truck inside somehow starting ablaze. Smoke permeated into the southern end of the house and made it uninhabitable, leaving William Pangman to watch on hopelessly.

Pangman looked composed then, another face in the crowd seeing the billowing smoke above slowly begin to fade as night fell. He seemed unruffled by the tragedy as he answered questions, but admits now he wasn’t so calm.

“I may have looked like I kept my composure, but you know what, I had no choice but to,” he said. “I had my disabled wife in the house, and I also had my four children and my dog. I realized I’m going to have to get my act together.”

The family did not have insurance for their contents.

In the wake of how Steinbach embraced this family, the city has proven itself as a sanctuary for the Pangmans.

They escaped a Winnipeg neighbourhood frequented by gangs to give their children a shot at avoiding the organized crime William Pangman found himself embroiled in for 19 years. He initially aimed to make Niverville their home, but when the right abode opened up they found themselves being called to Steinbach. The family expects to stick around and let their children cultivate the friendships forged here. Their parents have made friends, too, with the Island Breeze ministry group and people they worship with at Southland Church.

Though they live comfortably, there are challenges ahead. Becky is diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and every night before bed she is unsure if she will be able to walk the next morning. Sometimes she has to use a walker, a wheelchair and on some occasions stays in bed. The pain ebbs and flows, she says. Seizures will show up unpronounced.

“It’s something that’s very hard for me and my babies to deal with it,” said William Pangman, the primary caretaker for his wife, of his partner’s condition. He says the family takes it one day at a time, and tries to shelter their young children from learning too much about the diagnosis.

What gets them by, through the ups and downs, is their Christian faith. When the long-time couple tied the knot in 2012 in Niverville, they got baptized soon after they were pronounced husband and wife.

Seeing how the city and surrounding locales rallied behind them after the fire only bolstered their belief that God is walking with them.

“Our faith is so much stronger now because of this community,” said Becky.

Her eyes welled up with tears later as she thanked the community that pulled her family up.

“I don’t know where we would be without these people, who chose to help us out of the kindness of their hearts.”

“What they did was life-changing, I’ll never forget it,” she said as she hugged her husband tight.

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