Mennonite Weekly Review - April 2006
Bergen, Ben H.;
Goerzen, Sue Nikkel;
Graber, Wilbert James; Hartline, Frank;
Kauffman,
Esther; Miller, Vernon U.; Smucker, Roy
W., Sr.; White, Sally Jo Roeschley;
Mennonite Weekly Review - April 3, 2006 - 84th
Year, No. 14 - p. 11
----------------------
Wilbert James “Jim” Graber,
89,
died Feb. 14, 2006. He was born Dec. 19, 1916, to Jonathan and Louise
(Miller) Graber in Turner County, S.D.
He grew up on the family farm. He attended Country School District #93
and graduated from Freeman Academy. During World War II, he spent
almost four years working in Civilian Public Service camps in Nebraska
as a conscientious objector. While in CPS, he was part of a traveling
quartet that shared music in local churches.
He met Alice Rulla on a blind date. They were married on Nov. 4, 1945,
in Sterling, Neb., in a double wedding ceremony with her sister Elva
and Kenneth Damme. They celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in
November 2005.
After he completed his CPS duty, they moved to Norway Township in 1946
and established their family farm. He enjoyed raising purebred Durocs,
feeding cattle and playing first base for the North Pas at the church
softball diamond. Deer hunting and pheasant hunting were favorite fall
pastimes.
He was a lifelong member of Salem-Zion Mennonite Church of Freeman,
where he sang in the men’s choir for more than 40 years. He served as a
trustee, deacon, Sunday school superintendent and teacher. He served on
the board of Mennonite Aid Society for 33 years, the Marion Coop
elevator board for 18 years, NDC Home Missions Committee, Norway
Township board, Turkey Ridge Watershed board and the local school board.
He was passionate about life and willing to take risks. He was deeply
committed to the Mennonite church, Freeman Academy, Mennonite Central
Committee and Mennonite colleges. He was gregarious, had a marvelous
sense of humor and enjoyed engaging with people and activities. Sports
and music were always a part of his life.
Survivors include his wife, Alice; two children, Sharon Waltner and her
husband, Keith, of Parker, and Tim Graber and his wife, Carol, of
Hurley; a brother, Pete Graber; and seven grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by a daughter, Joan Marie, who died in
infancy; two brothers, Silas and Waldo; and two sisters, Elsie and
Claudia.
Services were held at Salem Zion Mennonite Church. Burial was in the
church cemetery.
-----------------
Frank
Hartline, 93, of Wooster,
Ohio, died Feb. 23, 2006, at Wooster Community Hospital. He was born
Dec. 30, 1912, to Edwin Stanley and Jennie (Reese) Hartline in Crandon,
Wis.
They lived in a log cabin built by his father on homesteaded property
in the northern woods of Wisconsin. His family lived a pioneer
lifestyle, which included farming and logging. The family also had a
maple syrup business. He lived on the family farm for 38 years working
as a farmer and logger.
He moved to Wayne County in 1950 and met the love of his life, Alice I.
Bond, in April 1953. They were married Oct. 11, 1953, in Wooster and
shared their lives together for 50 years before she died on Sept. 26,
2003.
They lived on a farm south of Wooster, where they made many land
improvements including the planting of 500 white pine and 250 poplar
trees. He also helped with the design and construction details of their
house in Wooster after moving off the farm. He worked for the Frito Lay
Co. in Wooster as a corn storage operator for 22 years before retiring
in 1976.
He was a beloved father and uncle who enjoyed telling stories, which
included his early adventures in Wisconsin. He enjoyed reading and was
an avid gardener. Along with other woodworking projects, he enjoyed
carving. He was a member of Wooster Mennonite Church for 52 years.
Survivors include a daughter, Marilyn Hartline of Columbus; and a son,
Myron Hartline of Phoenix, Ariz.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Alice; and a sister, Nora Garber.
Services were held at Wooster Mennonite Church.
Mennonite Weekly Review - April 10, 2006 - 84th Year, No. 15 - p. 16
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Sue
(Nikkel) Goerzen, a
longtime member of Harrow (Ont.) Mennonite Church, died on Jan. 14,
2006, at age 80. She was born in 1925 in Corn, Okla.
She married Gerhard Goerzen on July 23, 1960, and the couple moved to
Harrow, where they lived ever since.
Holding a bachelor’s degree in home economics from San Jose College and
a master’s in home economics from Kansas State University, she taught
high school in Kansas and at Tabor College in Hillsboro before she got
married. After her marriage, she taught high school for seven years in
the challenging environment of the inner city of Detroit before moving
to the University of Windsor, Ont., where she taught for 21 years. At
her retirement in 1990, she was given a University Teaching Excellence
Award in recognition of her distinguished career and her outstanding
contribution to education. She also sat on the Conrad Grebel University
College board from 1992-99.
Her involvement in church life reached far beyond the local
congregation. On several occasions she served as parliamentarian for
conference sessions, and she also served on various committees
throughout the 1980s and 1990s, one of which helped establish Windsor
Mennonite Fellowship. In 1990, the General Boards of the General
Conference Mennonite Church and the Mennonite Church mandated the
formation of a Listening Committee for Homosexual Concerns, on which
she served as co-chair. At the time, she had just completed an
eight-year stint as co-chair of a General Conference committee on human
sexuality that helped draft the position paper, “Human Sexuality in the
Christian life.”
----------------
Ben H.
Bergen, 87, of Goessel,
Kan., died March 18, 2006. He was born Feb. 10, 1919, to Peter Henry
Bergen and Elizabeth Goertz Bergen in Goessel.
He attended Gordon Grade School and Goessel High School. He was
baptized in 1937 upon confession of faith into membership at Goessel
Mennonite Church.
At age 25 he served in Civilian Public Service in Colorado Springs,
working in the blacksmith shop and helping to build irrigation ditches.
In 1947, he returned to Goessel and joined his father and brother Jake
in Bergen Blacksmith Shop building and repairing farm implements,
sharpening plowshares and hard facing tilling tools such as cultivating
shovels and sharpening discs. He was especially interested in helping
his father perfect his ideas on his many inventions. The hog feeder,
grain pickup guards and the creation of the vehicle lubricant for
springs on cars were among these patented inventions.
After his father’s death in 1960, he and his brother continued to run
the blacksmith shop. After Jake’s death in 1989, he continued to live
in their home next to the blacksmith shop. His work in the blacksmith
shop became less as he cared for his sister, who was blind. He
enjoyed sitting on his porch visiting with people who walked by. He
loved to recall times of days gone by. He moved to the assisted living
unit at Bethesda Home in February 2004.
He is survived by a sister, Susie Schmidt. He was preceded in death by
three sisters, Annie Bergen, Tina Schmidt and Mary Reimer; and by a
brother, Jake Bergen.
Funeral services were held at Goessel Mennonite Church. Burial was in
Goessel Cemetery.
Mennonite Weekly Review - April 17, 2006 - 84th Year, No. 16 - p. 11
-----------------
Vernon
U. Miller, 89, of
Goshen, Ind., died March 26, 2006, at Greencroft Healthcare. He was
born Feb. 13, 1917, to Uriah and Barbara (Kauffman) Miller in LaGrange
County.
On Jan. 1, 1946, he married Bertha Stauffer in Olive Mennonite Church.
He had lived in Goshen, Blountstown, Fla., and wintered in Sarasota,
Fla.
He was a farmer and had owned and operated a livestock farm near
Middlebury, and produced eggs, chickens and hogs.
He was a member of North Goshen Mennonite Church and a former member of
Holdeman Mennonite Church, where he served as a Sunday school teacher
and elder for each. He had served as the Indiana state CROP chairman
and the Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Con- ference treasurer.
During World War II, he served with Civilian Public Service and worked
in mental hospitals in Henry, Ill., Ypsilanti, Mich., and Macon, Neb.
He also built trails in Glacier National Park in Montana.
He founded the very first Friendship Farm. He participated in Vacation
with a Purpose for five years, working to build homes for the poor in
Brownsville, Texas.
Survivors include his wife, Bertha; three daughters, Nancy Ketcham and
her husband, Steve, of Wakarusa, Linda “Pert” Shetler of Ocean Isle,
N.C., and Melodie Davis and her husband, Stuart, of Harrisonburg, Va.;
a son, Terry Miller and his wife, Debbie, of Altha, Fla.; nine
grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by seven sisters, Mary Ellen, Mabel, Susie,
Erma, Elnora, Adeline and Arlene; and a brother, Truman.
A prayer service was held at Yoder-Culp Funeral Home in Goshen. A
memorial service was held at North Goshen Mennonite Church. Burial was
in Olive Cemetery.
---------------------
Roy
W. Smucker Sr., 90, of
Crossville, Tenn., died Feb. 27, 2006. He was born July 12, 1915, in
Smithville, Ohio, to William and Bertha Smucker.
During World War II, he served as business manager in the following
Civilian Public Service camps: Wells Tannery, Pa., Galax, Va., Three
Rivers, Calif., PHS, Fla., and the Akron, Pa., office.
In 1946, he began mission work for Mennonite Central Committee and was
assigned to the Philippines and became director of Church World
Service. There he met and married Ellen Gregorio.
In 1950, he joined the staff of Stilliman University, Dumaguete City,
Negros Oriental as business manager of the printing press. After
returning to the United States three years later, he joined Mennonite
Publishing House in Scottdale, Pa. He was transferred to Bloomington,
Ill., where he started a new Christian bookstore.
In 1963, he and his family moved to Champaign, Ill., where he started
his own Christian bookstore. He retired to Fairfield Bay, Ark., in 1980
and became assistant state director for AARP. He and Ellen moved to
Fairfield Glade, Tenn., in 1989, where he became state coordinator for
55 Alive and continued being active in AARP.
He was an active member of Fairfield Glade United Methodist Church and
sang in the men’s chorus. He was a member of Crossville Wood Carving
Club. He enjoyed wood carving.
Survivors include his wife of 55 years, Ellen; two sons, Roy Jr. of
Asheville, N.C., and Robert of Atlanta, Ga.; a sister, Doris; six
grandchildren and two great-grandchildren;
He was preceded in death by a brother, Orden.
Memorial services were held at Fairfield Glade United Methodist Church.
Burial was in the Memorial Garden.
-----------------
Esther
Kauffman died Feb. 12,
2006, at Brendan House in Kalispell, Mont. She was born Feb. 13, 1920,
to Glen Joseph and Cora May (Chupp) Borntrager in rural Dawson County
near Bloomfield.
She was baptized upon confession of faith at Red Top Mennonite Church
in 1933, and on Nov. 8, 1946, was received into membership at Mountain
View Mennonite Church, Creston, where she remained a lifelong member.
She was a 1940 graduate of Dawson County High School. As a young woman
she lived a year in Oregon, where she worked at various jobs, mainly as
a housekeeper or maid.
On May 31, 1943, she married Paul S. Kauffman at Red Top Mennonite
Church, Bloomfield. They lived in the Bloomfield area, and in Glendive,
in the first years of their marriage, where she worked variously in a
laundry and taught school for most of a year.
In 1946 she moved to Creston with her husband. As the mother of seven
children her life was full of homemaking, and her assistance as
go-getter, bookkeeper and general helper in both logging and farming
were indispensable.
Her sweet Christian spirit, her depth of spirituality and her
commitment to Christ were appreciated. She was a good musician. The
alto section in church choral groups leaned on her accuracy, and for a
number of years she enjoyed singing in the Sweet Adelines.
Survivors include her husband, Paul S. Kauffman; three sons, Daniel D.
Kauffman and his wife, Debbie, Kenneth G. Kauffman and his wife,
Frieda, and Stephen G. Kauffman and his wife, Ginger, all of Kalispell;
three daughters, E. Elaine Kauffman of Mountain Lake, Minn., Brenda M.
Younger and her husband, Steven, of Stratton, Colo., and Alice L.
Arneson and her husband, Richard, of Bothell, Wash.; a brother, Mahlon
Borntrager of Glendive; two sisters-in-law, Effie Borntrager of
Glendive and Violetta Borntrager of Mobile, Ala.; 14 grandchildren and
three great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by three daughters, Eileen, Arlene and
Rebecca Ann; two sisters, Lillie Greiman and Lena Boese; and three
brothers, Floyd Borntrager, Elmer Borntrager and Oscar Borntrager.
Mennonite Weekly Review - April 24, 2006 - 84th Year, No. 17 - p. 8
-------------------
Sally
Jo Roeschley White, 68,
of Chevy Chase, Md., died April 6, 2006, of lobular breast cancer at
the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda. She was born Aug. 30,
1937, to Eli and Emma Roeschley in Graymont, Ill.
She was an active 35-year member of Hyattsville Mennonite Church, where
she was the first woman elected to the position of congregational chair
in 1976. She served as interim leader for the congregation when the
church was without a pastor. She directed youth choirs, bell choirs and
musicals, led worship services, preached and served on numerous
congregational and conference committees.
She received a bachelor’s degree in music education from Goshen (Ind.)
College and did graduate study in music and education at the University
of Michigan and American University, Washington, D.C. After receiving
her bachelor’s degree, she taught music in the public school systems of
Roanoke, Ill., and Iowa City, Iowa. She served in Mennonite Voluntary
Service in Iowa City in the early 1960s. She moved to Ann Arbor, Mich.,
in 1964, where she helped start Ann Arbor Mennonite Church. She lived
in Newton, Mass., from 1968-71, and then moved to Chevy Chase.
For more than 45 years she taught piano lessons in her home. She also
hosted chamber concerts and recitals to encourage young musicians. She
volunteered with numerous organizations, including For Love of Children
Learning Center in Washington, D.C.; Montgomery County (Md.) Public
Schools English for Speakers of Other Languages program; Rolling Ridge
Study Retreat Center, Harper’s Ferry, W.Va.; and International Guest
House, Washington, D.C.
Survivors include her husband, Donald E.; two daughters, Jane
Hiebert-White and her husband, John, and Miriam de Decker and her
husband, Guillaume, all of Chevy Chase; a sister, Myra Gunden of
Goshen, Ind.; a brother, Burdell Roeschley of Flanagan, Ill.; and four
grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by a sister, Wilma Roeschley of Goshen.
A memorial service will be held April 29 at Hyattsville Mennonite
Church.
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