Mennonite Weekly Review - January 7, 2008 - 86^th Yaer, No. 1 - p. 12

Gladys M. Lauver, 100, of Cocolamus, Pa., died Dec. 10, 2007. She was born Sept. 11, 1907, to Jacob M. and Emma Graybill Lauver in Cocolamus.

She worked at local garment factories, and later she and her sister Mary operated a book shop and home bakery. She was active in teaching children in Sunday school and Bible school.

She was preceded in death by a brother, William G. Lauver, who was a missionary to Argentina; and four sisters, Esther Bender, Lura Slabaugh, Alma Wert and Mary E. Lauver. She had lived with Mary.

Funeral services were held at Lauvers Mennonite Church. Burial was in the church cemetery.

Thelma S. Egli, 89, of Hesston, Kan., died Dec. 21, 2007, at Schowalter Villa. She was born Oct. 3, 1918, to Jonas and Anna Loucks Wenger in Canton.

On May 9, 1943, she married Donald E. Egli in Denver. He preceded her in death on March 11, 1997.

She was a homemaker. She lived in Denver, Colo., from 1943 until moving to Hesston in 2002. She was a member of First Mennonite Church of Denver.

Survivors include three daughters, LaDonna Gaeddert and her husband, John, of Buhler, Meredith Egli of Denver and Judy Yoder and her husband, Fred, of Kalona, Iowa; a sister, Bertha Miller of LaJunta, Colo.; a sister-in-law, Ruth Wenger of Hillsboro; five grandchildren and a great-grandchild.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Donald; four brothers, Russell, Norman, John and Marvin Wenger; and a sister, Grace Zook.

Funeral services were held at First Mennonite Church of Denver. Burial was in Crown Hill Cemetery, Lakewood, Colo.

Perry Arvin Klaassen, 68, died Oct. 15, 2007, almost  seven years after he was diagnosed with colon cancer. He was born Aug. 13, 1939, to Rudolph and Edna Bushman Klaassen near Weatherford, Okla. 

He graduated from Corn Bible Academy, Tabor College in Hillsboro, Kan., and the University of Kansas in Kansas City with a degree in medicine. He received a master’s degree in public health and tropical medicine from Tulane University. He was board certified in general preventive medicine.

His career began with a six-month stint at Gorgas Hospital, Panama Canal Zone. This was followed by three and one-half years of medical work near Calcutta, India, as an alternative to military service during the Vietnam War. In 1973 he began a 31-year tenure as clinical director of Mary Mahoney Memorial Medical Center in Oklahoma City and at times also served as chief executive officer. For the past three and one-half years he served as clinical director for Central Oklahoma Integrated Network Services, soliciting physicians and hospitals to join efforts to care for the uninsured.

He was recognized for his work with and on behalf of the poor and uninsured. Among these awards was naming the Mary Mahoney Memorial Health Center medical wing the Klaassen Medical Clinic. Nationally he was recognized for his contribution to community-based health care with the Samuel U. Rodgers Achievement Award. His peers recognized his life’s work this past May when he was awarded the Gordon H. Deckert, M.D., Oklahoma State Medical Association Award for Community Service. Tabor College gave him the Merit Award for his outstanding service.

He was a member of the Canterbury Choral Society for more than 30 years and music leader in Memorial Road Mennonite Brethren Church.

Survivors include his wife of 43 years, Jeanie Vogt Klaassen; two sons, Paul and his wife, Lisa, of Arkansas City, Kan., and Matt and his wife, Jenelle, of  Mount Albert, Ont.; two brothers, Dwight and Rolyn; and three grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by a brother, Erwin.

Mennonite Weekly Review - January 21, 2008 - 86^th Year, No. 3 - p. 9

John Wesley Hochstedler, 76, of Kalona, Iowa, died Sept. 5, 2007, after a long illness. He was born Nov. 24, 1930, to Samuel and Elizabeth (Otto) Hochstedler near Kalona.

On March 22, 1953, he married Alice Gingerich at Fairview Mennonite Church near Kalona.

He lived most of his life in the Kalona community, where he farmed and was a Lynks seed dealer for many years. He was a member of Sunnyside Mennonite Church, where he taught Sunday school and served on many committees. He volunteered with Mennonite Disaster Service. He enjoyed music and sang in a men’s chorus for many years.

Survivors include his wife, Alice; seven children, Joy Miller and her husband, Leon, of Haiti, Leon Hochstedler and his wife, Fran, of Delaware, Ohio, Doyle Hochstedler and his wife, Becky, of Kalona, Audrey Miller and her husband, Dale, of Iowa City, Myron Hochstedler and his wife, Cathie, of Kalona, Phyllis Miller and her husband, Mark, of Mechanicsburg, Ohio, and Virginia Wenger and her husband, Phil, of Wellman; six sisters, Alta Kropf of Halsey, Ore., Lydia Hochstedler, Martha Helmuth, Lovina Hochstedler and Viola Hochstedler, all of Kalona, and Darlene Miller of Hutchinson, Kan.; three brothers, Jonas Hochstedler of Kalona, Monroe Hochstedler of Tallahassee, Fla., and Nelson Hochstedler of Grand Blanc, Mich.; 24 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by four sisters, Ruth Hochstedler, Cora Hochstedler, Verna Hochstedler and Mary Alice Hochstedler; and a grandchild, Ryan Hochstedler.

Funeral services were held at Sunnyside Mennonite Church in Kalona. Burial was in Fairview Cemetery.

Susan (Schultz) Bartel, 107, of Hopkins, Minn., and formerly of Mountain Lake, died Jan. 10, 2008, at Chapel View Care Center. She was born Feb. 22, 1900, to John D. and Elizabeth (Sawatzky) Schultz in Mountain Lake. 

They attended the Evangelical Mennonite Brethren Church (now Cornerstone Bible Church) in Mountain Lake, where she accepted the Lord as her Savior, was baptized, taught Sunday school and was a lifelong member. After attending grade and high school in Mountain Lake, she graduated from Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. 

She married Loyal H. Bartel, also a Moody graduate, on June 4, 1926, in Mountain Lake. 

After her husband graduated from Northern Baptist Seminary in Chicago, they left for China and were supported by the Evangelical Mennonite Brethren and served under China Mennonite Mission Society. She was an instructor of music and a counselor to women at the Bible school in Caoxian. She supervised Bible school students who conducted children’s classes at the local church. After World War II, she also conducted a girls choir.

Upon her return to the United States in 1948, she lived in Mountain Lake for three years. Then she moved to Wheaton, Ill., where she worked for Scripture Press. During later years she led Bible studies in her home.

In 1988 she became a resident of Chapel View Apartments in Hopkins. In September 2000, she moved to Chapel View Care Center.  

Survivors include five children, Lenora Regier and her husband, Milton, of Glen Ellyn, Ill., Ruth Stough and her husband, William, of Uganda, Lois Pringle and her husband, Fred, of St. Charles, Ill., Esther Rupp and her husband, Robert, of Minnetonka, and David Bartel and his wife, Marilyn Vogel Bartel, of Dearborn, Mich.; 13 grandchildren and 23 great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Loyal H. Bartel, in 1971 while serving in China; three sisters, Justina Stoesz, Katherine Sawatzky and Elizabeth Thompson; and six brothers, Gerhard, Peter, Henry and John, as well as David and John, who died of diphtheria.

Lois Irene Diller Hershberger, 82, of Hesston, Kan., died Nov. 20, 2007, at Schowalter Villa of a malignant brain tumor. She was born Dec. 24, 1924, to Jacob R. and Grace Cooprider Diller in rural Hesston.

She attended Hesston Mennonite Church with her family and was baptized there in 1936. She attended school in Hesston and graduated from Hesston Academy in 1943.

On June 30, 1946, she married Glenn Leroy Hershberger at Hesston.

After their marriage, she joined Pennsylvania Mennonite Church (now Whitestone Mennonite) and was active there until her death. He taught math and science at Hesston Academy, where he died suddenly while teaching a geometry class on April 25, 1949. Their daughter, Glenna Joy, was born May 19, 1949.

She began work at Hesston Corp. in 1950 and retired in September 1988. She moved from her home in Hesston to an apartment at Schowalter Villa in 1993. She enjoyed volunteer activities there as well as time with family and friends.

Survivors include daughter Glenna Lowery and her husband, Steve, of Topeka; brothers Robert Diller and his wife, Marcella, Ivan Diller and his wife, Doris, and Eugene Diller and his wife, Donna, all of Hesston; four step-grandchildren and a step-great-granddaughter.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Glenn; an infant daughter, Evelyn Irene; two brothers and sisters-in-law, John and Emily Diller and Allen and Pauline Diller; and three brothers-in-law, Lloyd Rodgers, James Hershberger and John Hershberger.