January 5, 2004 - no issue on this date
Mennonite Weekly Review - January 12, 2004 - 82nd Year, No. 2 - p. 8
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Eskil Unruh, 80, of Goessel, Kan., died Dec. 25, 2003. He was born March 21, 1923, to Jacob S. and Sara Friesen Unruh at Goessel.
He received education at Sand Creek School and graduated from Goessel High School in 1942. He enjoyed classes in physics and had a special interest in airplanes.
After high school he settled down to help his father run the family farm, and he lived there the rest of his life until he entered Bethesda Home in July 2000. He stayed home during World War II on a farm deferment while many of his friends served in Civilian Public Service. He always had a vegetable garden and enjoyed growing strawberries, which he sold or shared. They operated a dairy for many years.
He was baptized on May 24, 1942, and became a member of Tabor Mennonite Church. He took his church membership and his devotion to God seriously and faithfully attended services.
He enjoyed and for a time sang in the church choir and in Mennonite Men’s Chorus. He took part in church and community choirs performing some of the well-known oratorios. One of his favorite vocal groups was the Russian Don Cossacks, with their wide range of voices. He got to hear them perform on stage and to see them do their fascinating dance routines.
He supported Mennonite Central Committee projects and Mennonite Men. He helped with the annual chicken barbecue and was cemetery sexton for many years.
He suffered from arthritis and back problems, and as he advanced in years he had difficulty walking. In July 2000 he experienced a debilitating fall and as a result entered Bethesda Home. He spent some time in the special care unit to cope with advancing Alzheimer’s disease. He never complained about being in a nursing home, and the staff enjoyed his cheerful attitude and sense of humor.
Survivors include a sister, Charlene Stoetzl, and a brother, Robert. Memorial services were held at Tabor Mennonite Church. Burial was in Tabor Mennonite Church Cemetery.
Mennonite Weekly Review - January 19, 2004 - 82nd Year, No. 3 - p. 8
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Benjamin P. Rahn, 90, of Inman, Kan., died Jan. 7, 2004, at Pleasant View Home. He was born March 20, 1913, to Peter G. and Gertrude Pankratz Rahn in Mountain Lake, Minn.
He married Tena Wieler on Aug. 26, 1937, in Mountain Lake.
He went to college at Bible Institute of Los Angeles, 1938-42, then attended Bethel College, North Newton, 1942-44. He was ordained as a minister at Bethel Mennonite Church of Mountain Lake on June 25, 1944. He attended Mennonite Biblical Seminary in 1958.
He served as a pastor in Kingman, Colby, Inman and Pretty Prairie in Kansas; in Aberdeen, Idaho; in Paso Robles, Atwater and Reedley, Calif.; and in Enid, Okla., and Kidron, Ohio. He retired in 1983.
He was on the Home Mission Board and was a jail minister in Newton. He was a member of First Mennonite Church of Newton.
Survivors include his wife, Tena; two sons, Ivan of Booneville, Ind., and Eugene of Ponca City, Okla.; a daughter, Frances Nunemacher of Lake Havasu City, Ariz.; a brother, Peter of Mountain Lake; a sister, Lorena Gruhlke of Visalia, Calif.; six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by two brothers, Henry (in infancy) and Willard; and two sisters, Olga (in infancy) and Marie Rupp.
Funeral services were held at Inman (Kan.) Mennonite Church. Burial was in North Inman Cemetery.
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Calvin C. Reddig, 86, of Glasgow, Mont., died Nov. 12, 2003, at Valley View Home. He was born April 24, 1917, to Karl and Bertha (Funk) Reddig in Lehigh, Kan.
His parents homesteaded in Lustre, Mont., when he was three months old. He attended school in Lustre and graduated from Glasgow High School in 1939. He then farmed with his father and his brother Wilmer. During World War II he was a conscientious objector and worked in California and Ohio.
On July 1, 1945, he married Martha Toews in Lustre. She died July 3, 1986. He married Mary Sperry in 1987 in Glasgow.
He was involved in church and school activities while living in Lustre. In Glasgow he served on the Valley View Home and hospital boards. He considered the men of the Wednesday morning Bible study group as valued friends. His grandchildren and children were a source of joy.
Survivors include his wife, Mary; four sons, Weldon and his wife, Jackie, of Glasgow, Gerald and his wife, Debbie, of Stevensville, Duane and his wife, Millie, of Boise, Idaho, and Merle and his wife, Sue, of Billings; four daughters, Kathy Laws and her husband, Ben, of Flower Mound, Texas; Brenda Boyum and her husband, Bruce, of Havre, Carma Bartel and her husband, Rod, of Wolf Point, and Nancy Ortmann and her husband, Sam, of Lustre; a sister, Ella Berg of Henderson, Neb.; a brother, Wilmer of Missoula; 25 grandchildren and a great-grandchild.
He was preceded in death by a sister, Esther Zerbe.
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Leo L. Miller, 77, of Moundridge, Kan., died Jan. 3, 2004. He was born June 16, 1926, to Ben P. and Marie (Mueller) Miller in Freeman, S.D.
After graduating from Freeman Academy, he served in Civilian Public Service in Boulder, Bolo., and later as a mutual aid administrative assistant in Akron, Pa., with Mennonite Central Committee.
After two years at Freeman Junior College, he attended Bethel College in North Newton and received his bachelor’s degree in 1950. With the call to ministry came two years at Mennonite Biblical Seminary.
He married Lola L. Goering on Aug. 15, 1952. He then was pastor at Beatrice (Neb.) Mennonite Church as a nine-month interim.
After completing seminary studies in 1954, he pastored Goessel Mennonite Church, First Mennonite Church of Beatrice, Neb., First Mennonite Church of Reedley, Calif., Meadows Mennonite Church of Chenoa, Ill., and West Swamp Mennonite Church of Quakertown, Pa. All these communities were very different, and each provided unique and culturally diverse experiences. Working for God as a pastor, in his quiet and mild-mannered way, was a great joy for him.
Music was an important part of his life, singing in quartets, choirs, men’s choruses and ensembles as long as health would allow. Other special interests were photography and gardening.
He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 1992. His retirement years were spent in Chenoa, Ill., and Moundridge.
Survivors include his wife, Lola; three children, Rochelle Augspurger of Normal, Ill., Steve Miller and his wife, Marcia, of Hesston, and Marti Tuck and her husband, Doug, of Erie; a sister, Ruby Kaufman; and 12 grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by a brother, Orlando; and two sisters, Esther Miller and Selma Preheim.
Memorial services were held at
Eden Mennonite Church of Moundridge. Burial was in the church cemetery.
Mennonite Weekly Review - January 26, 2004 - 82nd Year, No. 4 - p. 12
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Herbert D. Goering, 80, of North Newton, Kan., died Jan. 14, 2004. He was born Sept. 15, 1923, to John B. and Jesse Schrag Goering near Moundridge, the seventh of 16 children.
He received his high school education in Canton. Later he attended McPherson College and the University of Kansas, majoring in accounting.
He developed Brights Disease at age 10 and had to spend six weeks in bed on a milk diet. His mother died when he was 12. In 1936 the family moved to a farm near Canton and continued farming and dairying. In 1947 they moved to a farm northeast of Peabody. In 1950 he married Dorothea Regier.
He enjoyed farming, but drought in the early 1950s made it necessary to find other employment. In 1956 he was hired by the Missouri Pacific Railroad as a railroad clerk. As work took him to other areas, they moved from Newton to Wichita to Osawatomie and lastly to Independence, Mo. He enjoyed working for the railroad and was able to retire in 1986 after 30 years of service.
During retirement he and Dorothea enjoyed traveling to visit their children, relatives and friends, and to see the natural beauty of the United States. He also liked tending his lawn and reading, especially poetry and history. He was a member of First Mennonite Church of Newton.
Survivors include his wife, Dorothea; two daughters, Constance Gehring of Albuquerque, N.M., and Roberta Anderson and her husband, Gerald, of Lockport, Ill.; three sons, David and his wife, Cathy Anderson, of Newton, Charles and his wife, Anne Simpkins, of Burlington, N.C., and Loren and his wife, Melissa Cahn, of Hawley, Pa.; four sisters, Elva Goering of Newton, Frieda Regier of Halstead, Martha Sundgren of Denver, and Joan Epp of Goessel; six brothers, Arthur and Leonard, both of Newton, John of Gresham, Ore., Jim of Dayton, Va., Harry of Menifree, Calif., and Larry of Ayden, N.C.; and eight grandchildren. He was preceded in death by five brothers, Walt, Al, Bill, Dan and Ralph.
Memorial services were held at First Mennonite Church. Burial was in Greenwood Cemetery of Newton.
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Chris Preheim, 96, of Freeman, S.D., died Jan. 5, 2004. He was born Oct. 10, 1907, to Peter J. and Anna Mueller Preheim in Turner County. He was the eighth of nine surviving children.
He graduated from Freeman Academy in 1924. His father’s early death in 1922 placed much family and farm responsibility upon him at an early age.
He was baptized Dec. 24, 1922, at Salem Mennonite Church and remained a faithful and supportive member until his death.
He married Celia Graber on Aug. 12, 1932. Together they established a home on his parental farm and raised a family of three children. The Depression of the 1930s strengthened their relationship to God and to each other and developed in them a strength of character and commitment to a life of good stewardship.
He served the church as deacon, assistant Sunday school superintendent and Sunday school teacher. He served as mission treasurer of Northern District Conference for many years. He also served on the boards of Salem Mennonite Home, Freeman Junior College and Freeman Academy. With his wife, Celia, he enjoyed volunteer work through Mennonite Disaster Service and other voluntary service assignments in Mississippi, Illinois and Montana.
He enjoyed reasonably good health all of his life. His health began to decline about two years ago. On Dec. 22 he fell and broke his hip. He died two weeks later.
Survivors include his children, Ardys Becker and her husband, Palmer, of Hesston, Kan., Doyle and his wife, Mary Jo, of Santa Fe, N.M., and Janet Lautzenheiser and her husband, Richard, of Indianapolis, Ind.; three sisters-in-law, Linda Preheim, Leone Graber and Lucille Walter; nine grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Memorial services were held at Salem-Zion Mennonite Church of Freeman. Burial was in Salem Mennonite Church Cemetery.