Mennonite World Review - August 2017
Obituaries are emailed to MennObits before MWR is printed. Wording may vary in printed version.
Ewert, Alma L. Hershberger Baker ; . . Flickinger, Sidonnia Nickel ; . . Voth, Kenneth Arlo ; . . Yoder, John Christian ; . .
MENNONITE WORLD REVIEW - August 14, 2017 - 95th Year, No. 17 - p. 15
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Ewert, Alma L. Hershberger Baker
Alma L. Ewert, 89, of Kidron Bethel Village in North Newton, Kan., died July 25, 2017. She was born Oct. 6, 1927, to Joseph Allen and Anna (Umholtz) Hershberger.
The family lived on a small farm just south of Zimmerdale and attended the Pennsylvania (now Whitestone in Hesston) Mennonite Church north of Zimmerdale. She graduated from Sedgwick High School in 1945.
She married Vernon Baker on March 17, 1946. They moved to Newton, where she took a job as a teller at Kansas State Bank. After working there for 14 years, she resigned to devote full time to being a mother and homemaker when they adopted a baby boy. Later they adopted another boy and two girls.
She also became the administrator of a print shop in their garage. Later they started a service preparing income tax reports. Along with being a mother and a homemaker, she became the administrator for the service while Vernon continued to work at the U.S. Post Office. After Vernon died of cancer, she became a volunteer for Harvey County Hospice. She volunteered for the American Cancer Society, soliciting funds and organizing fundraising activities. On April 7, 1984, she married Marvin Ewert.
She enjoyed being a homemaker, gardening, quilting and community service.
In 1986, she became a member of First Mennonite Church of Newton.
Survivors include two sons, Gregory (Teresa) Baker of Tulsa, Okla., and Anthony (Ronda) Baker of Newton; a daughter, Connie (Brian) Roadhouse of Tulsa, Okla.; a brother, Joe (Mary) Hershberger of Hesston; a sister, Virginia (Jerry) Davidson of Sedgwick; a sister-in-law, Joan Hershberger of Sedgwick; a brother-in-law, David Jones of Little Rock, Ark.; stepsons Warren (Jolene) Ewert of Bartlesville, Okla., and Brian (Kathleen) Ewert of Marshfield, Wis.; numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her husbands, Vernon and Marvin; a daughter, Jana; three brothers, Richard, Kenneth and Carl; and two sisters, Doris Jones and Bonnie Jantz.
Funeral services were held at First Mennonite Church, Newton. Burial was in Greenwood Cemetery in Newton. Memorials may be made to First Mennonite Church, Newton, and the American Cancer Society in Wichita.
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Voth, Kenneth Arlo
Kenneth Arlo Voth, 88, of Valley Center, Kan., died July 19, 2017. He was born April 8, 1929, to William and Emma (Voth) Voth in Newton.
He was baptized at First Mennonite Church in Walton, a congregation his father helped establish. His family moved to several places in Kansas during his school years due to his father’s teaching and farming work. He began high school at Bethel Academy in North Newton and graduated from Cullison High School in 1947.
He graduated from Bethel College in 1951 with a degree in physics. He participated in Bethel College choir tours to the West Coast and to Europe. He served in 1-W service at Brook Lane Farm mental hospital in Maryland, where he met a volunteer, Hulda Reimer, from Meade. They were married on Oct. 27, 1953.
He worked as a chemist at Southwest Grease and Oil Co. in Wichita and as a medical technologist at Bethel Deaconess Hospital in Newton and other laboratories for Halstead and Wichita hospitals. Later in his career, he took a job as a chemist at Vulcan Materials Co. in Wichita, where he worked until retirement in 1992.
He enjoyed photography, singing in choirs (including the Kansas Mennonite Men’s Chorus), camping, amateur radio, square dancing and traveling, with trips to U.S. states, Japan, Europe and cruises with family and friends to Alaska, Norway, the Panama Canal and the Caribbean. He had a pilot’s license for many years and co-owned two small aircraft with other pilots.
He was a caregiver for his wife, Hulda, since her stroke in 2005, and was thankful for the faith and love that sustained them both.
Survivors include his wife, Hulda; a son, Alan Voth; three daughters, Cindy Beach, Karen (Bill) Claypool and Deana (Paul Larson) Voth; two brothers, Orie (Donna) Voth and Bruce (Linda) Voth; two sisters, Joan (Eldred) Thierstein and Carol Schmidt; three grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Services were held at Bethel College Mennonite Church, North Newton, where he was a member.
Mennonite World Review - August 28, 2017 - 95th Year, No. 18 - p. 15
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Yoder, John Christian
John Christian Yoder, 66, of Harpers Ferry, W.Va., died June 9, 2017, after complications from heart surgery. He was born Jan. 9, 1951, to Gideon and Stella (Hostetler) Yoder and grew up in Hesston, Kan.
He attended Hesston College for one semester before transfering to Chapman College, Orange, Calif., graduating in 1972. He earned a law degree from the University of Kansas in 1975 and a graduate degree in business administration from the University of Chicago in 1976. He was an assistant professor of business at Goshen (Ind.) College, 1975-76, and taught U.S. government at Bethel College, 1976-78.
He ousted the incumbent in the 1976 primary election in Harvey and McPherson counties in Kansas and was unopposed in the general election, becoming the youngest district court judge in the U.S. at age 25. Upon completion of his term as district court judge, he was selected in a national competition to serve the U.S. Supreme Court from 1980 to 1983 as a Supreme Court Fellow and special assistant to Chief Justice Warren Burger.
With the war on drugs by the Reagan administration, he was appointed to become the first director of the Asset Forfeiture Office for the U.S. Department of Justice, serving 1983-85. After this he practiced law in Washington, D.C., and Harpers Ferry for 23 years, specializing in constitutional law.
He was elected to two terms in the West Virginia Senate, in 1992 and 2004.
He was elected to the bench in 2008 in the 23rd Judicial Circuit of West Virginia. Just last year he was elected to a second eight-year term. He was a passionate advocate for the Jefferson County Drug Court and believed he was making a difference by giving participants support and incentives to turn their lives around.
He valued his experience at Bethel College Mennonite Church and retained his membership there. Later in life he came to appreciate his Mennonite background and wrote a 200-page book, Listening to God in a Busy World. He never had the book published, as he felt he could not until he left public office.
Survivors include four siblings, Russel Yoder of Kansas City, Kan., ImoJeanne Johnson of Michigan City, Ind., Galen Yoder of Chevy Chase, Md., and Bonita Yoder of Lawrence, Kan.; and former spouse and friend, Irene Sanders of Harpers Ferry.
Memorial services were held at Asbury Methodist Church in Charles Town, W.Va.
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Flickinger, Sidonnia Nickel
Sidonnia Nickel Flickinger, 94, of Phoenix, Ariz., died Aug. 16, 2017, after a stroke. She was born Jan. 16, 1923, to Abraham Nickel and Marie (Heppner) Nickel on a farm northwest of Mountain Lake, Minn.
She graduated from Bethel College in North Newton, Kan., in 1952 with a degree in nursing. She married Calvin Flickinger on Aug. 30, 1953, in Mountain Lake.
They served with the General Conference Mennonite Church in Oraibi, Ariz., and Cachipay, Colombia, before settling in Phoenix. There she worked at Phoenix Baptist Hospital for 21 years before moving to Glencroft Retirement Community in Glendale in 1985. She was deeply committed to a life of service, always wanting to help those in need. She was a member of Shadow Rock Congregational Church in Phoenix.
Survivors include her husband, Calvin Flickinger; her children, Ron Flickinger and Colleen Kliewer Flickinger, Dan Flickinger, John Flickinger and Douglas Basinger, Susan Flickinger and Doris Bartel, and Lois Flickinger; and one grandchild, Martin Flickinger.
She was preceded in death by her brothers, Leander, Marvin and Arnold; and a granddaughter, Teresa.
Services were held at Glencroft Retirement Center in Glendale.