An expanded obituary project of MennObits.  Includes additional information of obituaries appearing in
The Mennonite and other newspapers.   Source of individual obituaries given with each record.  Project managed by Thelma Martin.

2008  R

Elmer Ramer was born on April 15, 1919 in Duchess, Alberta Canada. He died on March 2, 2008 in Harper, Kansas. His parents were Amon and Eva Ramer. He was a stepbrother to Merlin and Titus Ramer and Esther Unruh, and a brother to Mildred Miller, Helen Mast, and Florence Gerber.

When Elmer was 10 his family left Canada, embarking on a two-year odyssey that took them to Illinois, Texas, and finally to Harper where his maternal grandfather owned property. They settled first in town and later moved to his grandfather's farm east of Harper. Tired of moving, Elmer put his roots deep into the dusty soil of this farm, and lived there for 70 years.

Elmer's arrival in Harper coincided with the darkest days of the Great Depression. The only work his father could find was shuttling mail between the train station and the post office, by wheelbarrow, for $5 a week. Once, as the family teetered on the brink of foreclosure, a letter arrived containing one or two $1,000 bills, cash payment for an oil lease on his grandfather's farm in Texas. These events left a lasting impression on Eltner. He vowed never to be in debt, to always live within his means, and to save as much as he could.

Elmer graduated from Harper High School in 1939. In 1941 he was drafted for WWII. A pacifist, he served in the Civilian Public Service until 1945, when he was honorably discharged. Assigned to a forestry project in Oregon, his skilled hands landed him a job as assistant to the blacksmith, and together; with forge, hammer and anvil; they made the shovels, axes, and other tools needed in the work. Elmer developed a love for working with metal and built himself a well-equipped shop when he returned to the farm. In this shop he build trailers and bale elevators for himself and his neighbors, and repaired many a broken farm implement.

In 1950 Elmer married Rhoda Martin, a schoolteacher from Pennsylvania who had come to Harper to teach at the Pleasant Valley School. They made farming an adventure raising pigs, chickens, cows, ducks, and a lamb. Once, when they were laying linoleum, that lamb got into the house and became stuck in the glue they had spread on the floor. What a mess! Trips to the stockyards in Wichita were followed by picnics at the zoo in Riverside Park and stops at Sears to buy tools and furniture. They had three children: Everett, Lois, and Steve.

As a father Elmer was patient and caring. He welcomed his children tagging along and "helping" him with his work. He was a good spiritual mentor, reading his Bible at the start of each day and making his faith a vital part of his daily life. He closed each day by kneeling in prayer beside his bed.

Elmer was a meticulous farmer. He kept his ditches mowed and his fields clean. In the late spring he would walk his fields at dusk, pulling the rye that was growing among the wheat.

Elmer's passing marks the passing of a way of life. Molded by the forces of economic depression and war, and rooted in the dusty Kansas soil, he was a man who had learned to be content with what he had. He did not work to acquire things, but rather because he had a passion for farming. He was not a procrastinator, but always had time to spend with family or to help a neighbor.

He was patient and took the long view of life, illustrated by his life-long effort to rid his farm of Mexican sandburs: bending over and pulling each one out, one plant at a time. Like Elmer, most of us are not the "movers-and-shakers" in our respective communities. However, what we can learn from his life is that a lifetime of being a "true and faithful servant" of God adds up to a life that is truly great!

Transcribed and edited by: Thelma Hoover Martin
Source: Funeral program
Submitted by: Don Stutzman, Halstead, KS