Mennonite World Review - May 18, 2020 - 98th Year, No. 10 - p. 15

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Weaver, M. Lloyd

M. Lloyd Weaver, Jr., “Teepa,” 96, of Harrisonburg, Va., died April 7, 2020, at Crestwood of Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community. He was born Jan. 16, 1924, to Martin Lloyd and Sara Stoner (Oberholtzer) Weaver, Sr., in Lancaster, Pa.

On June 18, 1947, he married Sarah Yoder.

He devoted many years to the Mennonite church. He served as pastor of Huntington Mennonite Church in Newport News and bishop and overseer for Virginia Mennonite Conference. He also served as president of the Virginia Mennonite Missions board.

He was also a dairy farmer. He made clear that he was a farmer-preacher at heart. He and his wife moved to Harrisonburg in 2008 and in 2019 to Virginia Men­nonite Retirement Community.

Survivors include his wife of 72 years, Sarah; four children, Malinda (Glen) Stoltzfus of Harrisonburg, David Weaver of Harrisonburg, Lavonne (David) Lehman of Toano and Alta (Max) Blosser of Williamsburg; three siblings, Ken Weaver of Harrisonburg, Sam Weaver of Harrisonburg and Ron (Susan) David of Richmond; six grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at a later date. A private family burial at Warwick River Mennonite Church Cemetery will also be held at a later date.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Williamsburg Christian Retreat Center, Toano, or to Virginia Mennonite Missions, Harrisonburg.

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Voth, Hulda E. Reimer

Hulda E. (Reimer) Voth, 95, of Wichita, Kan., died April 20, 2020. She was born and grew up on a farm near Meade.

She attended for two years and earned a degree in 1949 from Tabor College Academy in Hillsboro. She attended Grace Bible Institute in Omaha, Neb., in 1951 and taught for a short time at a Bible school in Kalispell, Mont.

In 1952 she met her future husband, Kenneth Voth, while they were both in voluntary service at Brook Lane Farm, an inpatient mental health hospital in Maryland. They married in 1953.
As they moved several times to accommodate Ken’s training as a medical technologist, she put into practice her interest in home economics: cooking, sewing and managing the household budget. She worked as a school cook, first at Pleasant Acres east of Newton, then in the Valley Center school system. She was promoted to head cook for one of the schools, responsible for meal planning, nutrition and food inventory management. Later she returned to the mental health field as an industrial therapist at Prairie View Mental Health Center in Newton. There she supervised patients in a work environment.

Support for her family led to Sunday school teaching, an extension homemaker unit and family camping road trips from Texas to South Dakota to California. After retirement she and Ken had a robust social life through church and travel. They maintained a large circle of friends through First Mennonite Church in Newton and later Bethel College Mennonite Church in North Newton. She suffered a severe stroke in 2005. Ken was her primary caregiver until 2017, when his health began to fail.

Survivors include four children, Alan Voth of Valley Center, Lucinda Beach of Elgin, Ill., Karen (William) Claypool of Ankeny, Iowa, and Deana Voth (Paul Larson) of Waukee, Iowa; a sister, Alma Koehler of Meade; three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 64 years, Kenneth A. Voth; and three brothers, Dan, Arnold and George Reimer.
A memorial service will take place at a later date.

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Duerksen, Rosella Reimer

Rosella Reimer Duerksen, 94, of Tucson, Ariz., died April 30, 2020. She was born Jan. 12, 1926, to Maria and Abraham Boese in Goessel, Kan. This joyful day turned tragic when her mother died. She was adopted by her mother’s cousin, Katharina Voth Reimer, and her husband, Thomas Reimer.

The Alexanderwohl Mennonite Church community in Kansas provided strong nourishment in the Christian faith, academic leadership and music. After completing a bachelor’s degree at Bethel College, North Newton, Kan., she attended Westminster Choir College in Princeton, N.J., earning a master of music degree. She returned to Bethel College to teach for several years. After marrying Harold K. Duerksen, they moved to New York City and continued their education at Union Theological Seminary.
She earned her doctor of sacred music degree at Union, The Julliard School of Music, and Columbia University Graduate College of Music. After graduation they moved to Ann Arbor, Mich., where she organized a semi-professional choral ensemble, the Ann Arbor Cantata Singers. She was also the choral director at Trinity Lutheran Church.

They moved to Iowa City, Iowa, in 1964. She was director of music at First Presbyterian Church from 1966 to 1980. She organized another choral society, The Iowa City Chamber Singers, and in 1972 founded the annual Bach Festival. In 1980 she moved to Little Rock, Ark., where she was music director of the Arkansas Chamber Singers, which sang for the inauguration of President Bill Clinton. She was also director of music at Second Presbyterian Church and started an annual Religious Arts Festival there.

Moving to Tucson in 2000, she was active in the American Guild of Organists. She served in the music programs of both St. Philip’s in the Hills Episcopal Church and St. Frances Cabrini Church, where she was the music director for 10 years.
Survivors include her husband of 68 years, Harold K Duerksen; three children, Kathleen (Kevin Finnegan) Duerksen of Tucson, Kristina Duerksen of San Diego and son Tom of Tucson; a grandson and great-grandson.

The family will have a private service. Burial will be in Alexanderwohl Church Cemetery.