Mennonite World Review - October 2014
Obituaries are emailed to MennObits before MWR is printed. Wording may vary in printed version.
Ediger, Tina Block ; . . Goering, Paul Louis ; . . Hartzler, Ruth Soldner ; . . Jantz, Marjorie J. Enz ; . . Jantzen, Gretl Linder ; . . Leander, Jill L. Roth ; . .Reimer, Erna Marie Penner ; . . Zehr, Floyd J. ; . .
Mennonite World Review - October 13, 2014 - 92nd Year, No. 21 - p. 21
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Erna Marie Reimer, 95, of rural Beatrice, Neb., died Sept. 27, 2014, at Beatrice Community Hospital. She was born July 29, 1919, to John and Anna (Penner) Penner in Beatrice.
She graduated from Beatrice High School, attended Bethel College in North Newton, Kan., for two years and then became the secretary for Beatrice High School from 1941 until 1951.
She married John E. Reimer on May 4, 1951, at First Mennonite Church west of Beatrice. They were the second couple married in the present church building.
They farmed northeast of Beatrice until 1960 and then moved west of Beatrice to live on the Penner home place. She was a lifelong member of First Mennonite Church of rural Beatrice, where she played the organ, sang in a trio and was a Sunday school and Bible school teacher. She enjoyed volunteering at the Ten Thousand Villages store in Lincoln, traveling, playing cards, sports and was a china painter. She had many friends from all walks of life and enjoyed people coming into their home.
Survivors include two daughters, Marcia Regier and her husband, Gayland, of Beatrice and Karen Beadie and her husband, David, of Edina, Minn.; and three grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her husband, John, on March 15, 1997; and an infant brother, Edgar.
Funeral services were held at First Mennonite Church west of Beatrice. Burial services will be in the First Mennonite Cemetery.
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Marjorie J. Jantz, 92, died Sept. 12, 2014. She was born March 31, 1922, to Paul and Margaretha (Ensz) Enz in Newton, Kan.
She graduated from Newton High School and attended Bethel College in North Newton. She married Willard Kurt Jantz on June 2, 1943.
They resided in Wichita until 1965, when they moved to Prairie Village. She was project director of Johnson County Retired Senior Volunteer program, assistant director of Metropolitan RVSP, co-director of the Johnson County Volunteer Bureau Agencies for Senior Awareness, consulted for the Johnson County Parks Senior Discount Program, Senior Arts Council and Arts Festival, a chair for Johnson County Commission on Aging and the Advisory Council to the Kansas Department of Aging Shepard's Center of Shawnee Mission, where she served as president and treasurer of the board. She served on numerous boards: Johnson County Voluntary Action Center; Johnson County R.S.V.P.; Services for Seniors Inc.; Legal Assistance for Senior Adults Inc.; Associated Youth Services, Rosedale Sharing Community Inc.; Human Resources Task Force; and for six years on the Western District Conference Ministerial Committee. She was the first female moderator at Rainbow Mennonite Church and pioneered the concept of women in leadership roles in the church. She received honors for "Senior Intern" to Washington, D.C., in the Close Up program; J.C. Penney's Award for Community Service and the Shepherd's Center Hall of Fame. She was a former member of Lorraine Avenue Mennonite Church in Wichita and presently a member of Rainbow Mennonite Church in Kansas City, Kan. She was passionate and committed to her community.
Survivors include her three children, Margaret Gingerich and her husband, Nelson, of Anchorage, Alaska, Kurt Jantz and his wife, Susie, of Wichita, and Keith Jantz and his wife, Rebecca, of Leawood; six grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Willard Kurt Jantz; a grandson, Kyle Jantz; and a sister, Lucile.
Memorial services were held at Rainbow Mennonite Church of Kansas City.
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Goering, Paul Louis
Paul Louis Goering, 92, of Goshen, Ind., died Sept. 26, 2014, at Greencroft Healthcare. He was born May 15, 1922, to Christian H. and Selma (Bachman) Goering in Moundridge, Kan.
He was baptized on confession of faith at First Mennonite Church of Christian, Moundridge.
He married Wilda Metzger on Sept. 13, 1952, at Marquand Chapel at Yale Divinity School, New Haven, Conn.
He was drafted as a conscientious objector into Civilian Public Service in 1943. He served as a staff aide in state psychiatric hospitals in Howard, R.I., and Cleveland, Ohio. Upon discharge, he relocated to Washington, D.C., and served from 1946 to 1950 as associate director of the National Service Board for Religious Objectors and then as liaison to Mennonite Central Committee.
A 1948 graduate of Bethel College, North Newton, Kan., he went on to study at Yale Divinity School, where he received a bachelor of divinity degree in 1953. He served as pastor of First Mennonite Church, Upland, Calif., 1953-61; Lorraine Avenue Mennonite Church, Wichita, Kan., 1961-69; and Eighth Street Mennonite Church, Goshen, 1969-78. From 1978 to 1992, he was central regional manager of Mennonite Foundation, Goshen.
In retirement, he served on the board of Greencroft Communities Foundation, Goshen; as a volunteer host at Menno-Hof, Shipshewana, Ind.; and in various volunteer ministries at Eighth Street Mennonite Church, Goshen.
He loved music, hymns and playing the piano. He was active in peace and social justice issues.
Survivors include his wife, Wilda; three children, Kurt A. Goering and his wife, Teresa, of Phoenix, Ariz., Peter L. Goering and his wife, Sara, of Silver Spring, Md., and Paula J. Harms and her husband, Gordon, of Rochester, Minn.; and four grandsons.
He was preceded in death by two brothers, Waldo A. Goering and Robert C. Goering.
Memorial services were held at Eighth Street Mennonite Church. Burial of his cremains will be in First Mennonite Church of Christian cemetery, Moundridge, Kan.
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Jill L. Leander, 49, of Morton, Ill., died Sept. 7, 2014, at Unity Point Health Methodist in Peoria. She was born Feb. 25, 1965, to Herbert and Darlene (Roth) Roth in Peoria.
She married Todd Leander on May 30, 1987, in Morton.
She belonged to First Mennonite Church of Morton her entire life and spent countless hours serving with children, youth and the sick. She spent her professional career as a clinical laboratory scientist at Unity Point Health Methodist.
Survivors include her husband, Todd, of Morton; two sons, Ryan Leander and his wife, Anna, and Blake Leander, all of Morton; her parents, Herbert and Darlene Roth of Morton; and two brothers, Doug Roth and his wife, Donna, and Jeff Roth and his wife, Donna, all of Morton.
Services were held at First Mennonite Church of Morton. Burial was in Pleasant Grove Mennonite Cemetery of rural Tremont.
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Gretl Jantzen, 84, of Beatrice, Neb., died Oct. 5, 2014. She was born March 15, 1930, to Adolf and Luise Linder Ott at Neureut, Germany.
She attended school in Germany through the ninth grade. She was confirmed in the Reformed Evangelical Church on March 5, 1944. She lived through World War II and started working at age 15 to support her family. In 1949, she went to work for a family in Switzerland. Through a small German Mennonite community there, she decided to participate in an International Vistor Exchange Program in the U.S. She was assigned to work at Mennonite Deaconess Hospital in Beatrice in September 1953. While working there she met Henry Jantzen, and they were married on Dec. 15, 1955, in Neureut, Germany.
She was baptized at First Mennonite Church on May 28, 1956. They had a busy life on the dairy farm with travel, church and community activities. Their wish to host participants through IVEP became real in 1978. They hosted 18 trainees over the next 10 years. In 1993, they moved to Beatrice.
She was a member of First Mennonite Church, where she taught Sunday and Bible school, sang in the choir for many years and was a member of the Women's Mission Society.
Survivors include four sons, Vern Jantzen and his wife, Dolores, and Glen Jantzen and his wife, Linda, all of Plymouth, Mark Jantzen and his wife, Alice, of Newton, Kan., and Eric Jantzen and his wife, Joelle, of Overland Park, Kan.; a daughter, Sarah Peters and her husband, Tim, of Silverton, Ore.; 11 grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; three brothers, Hans Ott of Karlsruhe, Germany, Bert Ott of Carthage, Mo., and Adolph Ott of Kevelar, Germany; and a sister, Sieglinde Evensen of Sandefjord, Norway.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Henry, on Nov. 29, 2003; two grandsons, Justin Jantzen and Luke Peters; and a sister, Irma Zickwolf.
Memorial services will be held Nov. 1 at First Mennonite Church of rural Beatrice. Burial will be in the First Mennonite Cemetery of rural Beatrice.
Mennonite World Review - October 27, 2014 - 92nd Year, No. 22 - p. 19
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Ruth Soldner Hartzler, 92, of Pandora, Ohio, died Sept. 19, 2014, at the Hilty Memorial Home. She was born May 11, 1922, to T.H. and Meta (Neuenschwander) Soldner in Berne, Ind.
She married Ellwyn Hartzler on March 2, 1946. He preceded her in death on Oct. 20, 2000.
She graduated from high school in Berne, Ind. She attended Bluffton College and Bethel Deaconess School of Nursing, Newton, Kan., where she received her RN degree.
She and her husband served under Mennonite Central Committee in Puerto Rico as an instructor and a supervisor of nurse aides. She also worked as a nurse in Chicago and at Bluffton Community Hospital. After retirement, she and her husband spent 14 years in voluntary service around the country as well as weaving many rugs and placemats with recycled fabrics. She also volunteered at the Et Cetera Shop in Bluffton.
She was a member of Grace Mennonite Church, Pandora, where she served in many capacities, including Christian education and Women in Mission.
Survivors include five children, Tim Hartzler and his wife, Marybeth, of Bluffton, Jan Buerge and her husband, Lonnie, of Kansas City, Mo., Judy Hartzler of Columbus, Sandi Hostetler and her husband, Jim, of Goshen, Ind., and Alan Hartzler and his wife, Staci, of Pettisville; 11 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Ellwyn; a brother who died in infancy; and a sister, Vera Grimm.
Memorial services were held at Grace Mennonite Church, Pandora. Burial of the cremated remains will be in Mennonite Reformed Evangelical Cemetery, Berne, Ind.
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Tina Block Ediger, 83, of North Newton, Kan., died Oct. 16, 2014. She was born April 25, 1931, to Julius H. and Katharina (Penner) Block near Steinbach, Man.
She was baptized in 1951. She attended Steinbach Collegiate High School and Red River Secretarial College in Winnipeg, and then worked as a secretary in Manitoba. From 1955 to 1981, she worked at the General Conference Mennonite Church Board of Missions in Newton. She organized furlough visits for the U.S. by many missionaries and was known as "Aunt Tina" to the missionary kids. She spent two years in India as the secretary-bookkeeper at Union Biblical Seminary. She is the author of Window to the World, which describes 100 years of overseas missions of the General Conference Mennonite Church. While she worked full time for the mission board, she was a part-time student and completed a bachelor's degree in English at Bethel College in North Newton. From 1986 to 1996 she worked in the development offices at Prairie View Mental Health Center in Newton. In 2001 she volunteered to be a Low-German interpreter for the Kansas Department of Health and Human Welfare in order to provide services to Old Colony Mennonites who had immigrated from Mexico to Kansas. She traveled to 38 countries, making friends around the world. She developed close friendships with Bethel College students from China, Japan and India. She was a longtime member of Bethel College Mennonite Church.
In 1975, she married Elmer Ediger of North Newton.
Survivors include three children, Elaine Burdette and her husband, Bob, of Mulvane, Carol Peters and her husband, Ron, of North Newton, and Mark Ediger and his wife, Jocelyn Milner, of Madison, Wis.; three brothers, William Block of Winnipeg, Jim Block of Morden, Man., and Peter Block of Steinbach, Man.; a sister, Martha Epp of Brantford, Ont.; six grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Elmer Ediger; two brothers, Jacob and Henry Block; and a sister, Anna Isaak.
Memorial services were held Oct. 25 at Bethel College Mennonite Church of North Newton.
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Floyd J. Zehr, 85, of Lancaster, Pa., died Sept. 18, 2014, after having a stroke. He was born to Elias and Martha Zehr in Lowville, N.Y.
He met his wife, Pearl, at Goshen (Ind.)?College in 1956 after graduating from Eastern Mennonite College in 1954 and teaching from 1954 to 1956 in Puerto Rico at the La Plata school. He completed a second bachelor's degree in 1957 at Goshen.
He received his doctorate in physics from Syracuse University in 1966 and taught physics, astronomy and energy conservation at Westminster College in New Wilimgton, Pa., from 1965 to 2000. He had leave from the college in 1988-89 and 1991-93 to teach physics in Malaysia. He and Pearl were active in the Christian Brethren church during those years. His sabbatical research times were in Baton Rouge, La., Chicago and Oak Ridge, Tenn., which gave his family varied experiences. He and his family built a homestead with an Alpine-Chalet design, which incorporated his knowledge about energy conservation. The nearly 50 years they lived in New Wilmington they were members of Maple Grove Mennonite Church.
Survivors include his wife, Pearl; four children, David, Kenton, Mary Ann and Bonnie; nine grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; and nine siblings.
He was preceded in death by a brother and a brother-in-law.