Mennonite Weekly Review - March 2007
Flaming, Randolph P.; Guengerich,
Willard Eldon; Klassen, Walter J.; Mast, Dorothy
Marie; Neuenschwander, Ruth J.;
Pankratz,
Elsie
Marie; Penner, Bertha Elsie Jantzen; Ray, Dorothea S. Bechtel; Roth, Richard A.; Stoltzfus.
Jason E.
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Mennonite Weekly Review - March 5, 2007
- 85th Year, No. 10 - p. 13
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Dorothy
Marie Mast, 89, died
Feb. 10, 2007. She was born Aug. 25, 1917, to Samuel and Barbara
(Slagell) Stutzman, northeast of Weatherford, Okla.
She grew up in the Weatherford area, attending school at Cedar Grade
School, Jabbok High School and Hesston (Kan.) Academy. After Hesston,
she taught school at Daisy Rural School near Yoder, Kan., and at
Jefferson School, rural Thomas, Okla.
On June 28, 1941, she married Levi Mast at Pleasant View Mennonite
Church. They lived in Thomas until 1948, when they moved to a farm
northeast of Weatherford.
She worked alongside Levi on the farm, and later at TG&Y in
Weatherford, a chiropractor’s office, and at the Thomas Hospital.
Starting in 1973, she accompanied Levi on at least six assignments in
Central America and the West Indies, where they worked with Eastern
Mennonite Missions, Hospital Albert Schweitzer in Haiti and Church
World Service. While Levi worked with water well drilling, she
volunteered in an orphanage and in a variety of missionary activities.
Their home in Haiti became a guest house for many mission workers and
others who found a home away from home while in Port-au-Prince.
Her main interests were her family and the activities of the church.
She accepted Christ at an early age and was a lifelong member of
Pleasant View Mennonite Church, where she taught Sunday school and
Bible school for many years. She enjoyed gardening, needlework and any
activity that included family and friends.
Survivors include two sons, Daryl Mast and his wife, Miriam, of
Weatherford, currently residing in Harrisonburg, Va., and Delvin Mast
and his wife, Anita, of Weatherford; two brothers, Roy Stutzman
of Hutchison, Kan., and Howard Stutzman of La Junta, Colo.; and
five grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Levi; a son in infancy, Eldon
Wayne; two sisters, Lois Waters and Ruth Miller; and a brother, Myron
Stutzman.
-----------------
Richard
A. Roth, 86, of Morton,
Ill., died Feb. 2, 2007, at Apostolic Christian Restmor. He was born
Nov. 17, 1920, to Austin and Ida Householter Roth in Morton.
He married Geraldine Roth on Sept. 10, 1944, in Morton.
He was a lifelong farmer in the Morton arrea. He was a member of Bethel
Mennonite Church in Pekin.
Survivors include his wife of 62 years, Geraldine; a son, Russell Roth
and his wife, Barbara, of Morton; a sister, Edith King and her husband,
Oliver, of Morton; five grandchildren and a great-grandson.
He was preceded in death by a son, Ralph Roth.
Services were held at Knapp-Johnson Funeral Home in Morton. Burial was
in Roberts Cemetery, a mile from his family farm in Morton.
--------------------
Dorothea
S. (Bechtel) Ray of
Souderton, Pa., formerly of Spring City, Pa., and Harrisonburg, Va.,
died Feb. 21, 2007, in Grand View Hospital, Sellersville. She was born
to Irene (Souder) Bechtel and Norman H. Bechtel in Phoenixville. She
was married to Kenneth M. Ray Jr.
She graduated from Christopher Dock Mennonite High School in Lansdale
and attended Eastern Mennonite College, Harrisonburg, Va. She worked
for Pella Windows as office/mail manager, as an administrative
assistant at Shenandoah Valley Preparatory Music Program and was office
coordinator at Community Mennonite Church, both in Harrisonburg. She
was also general manager at World Culture Open in New York City, and
administrative assistant and financial bookkeeper at the Mount Vernon
Place United Methodist Church in Washington, D.C. She also worked at
Liberty Thrift Store, Collegeville.
She was a member of Souderton (Pa.) Mennonite Church and Mary, Mother
of the Redeemer Church of North Wales and a former member of Vincent
Mennonite Church in Spring City.
Survivors include her husband, Kenneth M. Ray Jr; her mother, Irene;
four children, Michael Eckman and his wife, Cathy, of Atglen, Clinton
Holmes and his wife, Tabitha, of Lititz, Elaine Holmes of Reading, and
Johanna Mearns and her husband, Richard, of McLeansville, N.C.; three
stepchildren, Jennifer Ray of Philadelphia, Kathryn Ray of Phoenixville
and Eleanor Ray of Scotland; six siblings, Geraldine Hardison of Little
Rock, Ark., Eleanor Fuhrman of Hanover, Wilmer Bechtel of Estacada,
Ore., Lois Shank Gerber of Lititz, Lorraine Sayre of Navarre, Ohio,
and Doris Kolesar Schmehl of Wyomis-sing; and six grandchildren
She was preceded in death by a brother, Harold Bechtel.
Funeral services were held at Mary, Mother of the Redeemer Church and
at Vincent Mennonite Church, Spring City. Burial was in Vincent
Mennonite Church Cemetery.
------------------
Elsie
Marie Pankratz, 96,
formerly of Mountain Lake, Minn., died Feb. 22, 2007, in Goshen, Ind.
She was born March 1, 1910, to Abraham A. Penner and Aganetha Balzer
Penner in Mountain Lake.
She graduated from Mountain Lake High School in 1928 and attended the
University of Minnesota for two years. She was baptized at Bethel
Mennonite Church in 1927, where she remained a member her whole life.
On Aug. 21, 1933, she married Henry Pankratz in Mountain Lake. He
died Oct. 3, 2006.
She was a supporter of her husband’s farming business. She served on
many committees at Bethel church, where she taught Sunday school,
Mennonite history to high school youth, sang in the choir and was a
member of Bethel Mission Society. She was one of the first women to
join Mennonite Economic Development Associates. She and Henry, together
with others in their community, started the Mountain Lake Heritage
Village Museum. She enjoyed art, music, quilting, hand work and flower
gardening.
She was interested in other peoples and cultures and traveled
throughout the world. They served as host family for a young Mennonite
refugee from Russia, Justina Neufeld, in 1948, a Rotary International
exchange student from Indonesia, several “Fresh Air” children from
Chicago and numerous international guests.
They moved to Greencroft retirement community in Goshen, Ind., in
September 1992.
Survivors include three daughters, Lenore Waltner and her husband,
James, of Goshen, Louise Kreider and her husband, Emil, of Beloit,
Wis., and Barbara Fast and her husband, John, of Harrisonburg, Va.; a
son, Stanley Pankratz and his wife, Eileen, of Minneapolis; 10
grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; two step-grandchildren and
three step-great-grandchildren; and a sister-in-law, Mabel Pankratz.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Henry; a brother, Albert
Penner; and two sisters, Hulda Rich and Martha Unruh.
A memorial service will be held at Bethel Mennonite Church in Mountain
Lake on March 10. Burial will be in Mountain Lake Cemetery.
-------------------
Mennonite Weekly Review - March 12, 2007 - 85th Year, No. 11 - p. 12
-------------------------
Willard
Eldon Guengerich, 96, died Feb. 11, 2007, at Parker Adventist
Hospital in Parker, Colo. He was born June 23, 1910, to Joel and
Magdelena (Yoder) Guengerich in Plainview, Texas.
He didn’t start his formal education past eighth grade until after he
was 21 years old. He graduated from Hesston (Kan.) Academy in 1936 and
received his associates degree from Hesston College in 1938. He met his
future wife, Verna Linda Enns, at Hesston when he was a student in one
of the bookkeeping classes she taught. They were married on Sept. 1,
1938, near Cheraw.
After the wedding, the couple lived in Hesston for two more years while
she continued teaching at Hesston Academy and College and he worked as
a day laborer. Then they moved to Colorado in 1940, living in Glenwood
Springs from 1955 to 2000. He was part of the construction crew that
built First Mennonite Church in Denver and the Miller Hall residence
for nurses in training at LaJunta Mennonite School of Nursing. Later he
was part of the volunteer crew from the church who built Glenwood
Mennonite Church, where he served as treasurer for many years. He
retired from the work force in 1974 after 13 years as maintenance
engineer at Valley View Hospital in Glenwood Springs.
He was a lifelong New York Yankee fan.
Survivors include a son, Vernard E. Guengerich and his wife, Florence,
of Goshen, Ind; two daughters, Elaine Kauffman and her husband,
Richard, of Aurora, and Joelene Johnson and her husband, Doug, of
Kamuela, Hawaii; two brothers, Harold of Denver and Glenn of Wellman,
Iowa; five grandsons; a granddaughter; and two great-grandsons.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Verna, on Feb. 3, 2004; a
daughter, Genelle Eileen Guengerich, on Nov. 8, 1970; two brothers,
Albert and Earl Guengerich; and a sister, Edna Stoltzfus.
Memorial services were held at Glenwood Mennonite Church and Peace
Mennonite Church in Aurora.
----------------------
Bertha
Elsie Jantzen Penner, 90, formerly of Beatrice, Neb., died Feb.
15, 2007, at Kidron-Bethel Retirement Village in North Newton, Kan.,
where she had resided for the past two years. She was born July 19,
1916, on a farm near Plymouth, Neb.
She was baptized into the Christian faith as a Mennonite and was a
graduate of Plymouth High School. She married Alfred T. Penner on
Feb. 17, 1939, in the former Kilpatrick Mennonite Church west of
Beatrice.
Together they operated the Lin-Pen registered Holstein dairy farm west
of Beatrice for many years. In 1966, they were named Nebraska Farm
Conservation Family of the Year. In 1975 they began volunteer
assignments as host and hostess at Mennonite Central Committee in
Akron, Pa., for three and one-half years. After a further year of
voluntary service at Mennonite Mission Network offices in Elkhart,
Ind., they retired to Beatrice.
She was a member of First Mennonite Church of rural Beatrice, where she
was involved in Sunday school, Bible study and Ladies Aid activities.
She enjoyed visiting, cooking, sewing, reading and writing and
traveling to visit family and friends.
Survivors include four sons, Marvin Penner and his wife, Ruth, of
Newton, Kan., Harold Penner and his wife, Barbara, of Akron, Pa.;
Milbert Penner and his wife, Ruth, of Indianapolis, Ind.; and Tim
Penner and his wife, Faith, of Harper, Kan.; a brother-in-law, Frank
Penner, and two sisters-in-law, Elizabeth Reimer and Margaret Boyce,
all of Beatrice; nine grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Alfred, on May 2, 1994; and
all of her seven siblings.
Funeral services were held at First Mennonite Church west of Beatrice.
Burial was in the Mennonite cemetery at the church.
-----------------
Walter
J. Klassen, 84, of Hopedale, Ill., died Feb. 21, 2007, at Pekin
Hospital. He was born Nov. 28, 1922*, to Jacob G. and Katherine Woelk
Klassen in Marion, Kan.
He married Dorothy Litwiller on March 23, 1951, in Hopedale.
Klassen was a carpenter, retiring in 1985. After retiring, he did
residential painting. He served in Civilian Public Service in Terry,
Mont., for three years. He was a member of Hopedale Mennonite Church in
Hopedale. He enjoyed woodworking, photography, golfing, fishing,
classical music and singing in a men’s quartet.
Survivors include his wife, Dorothy; three sons, Stanley Klassen and
his wife, Frances, of Wellesley, Ont., Steven Klassen and his wife,
Sheryl, of Morton, and Ray Klassen and his wife, Eileen, of Goshen,
Ind.; two daughters, Sherrill Schweitzer and her husband, Brad, of
Geneva, Neb., and Wanda Mast and her husband, Jerry, of Hesston, Kan.;
two sisters, Ella Deines of Wichita, Kan., and Esther Thieszen of
North Newton, Kan.; 14 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by an infant brother.
Graveside services were held at Mennonite Cemetery. A memorial service
was held at Hopedale Mennonite Church.
*Correction for birth.
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Mennonite Weekly Review - March 19,
2007 - 85th Year, No. 12 - p. 8
------------------
Jason
E. Stoltzfus, 75, of Carlsbad,
N.M., died Feb. 16, 2007. He was
born Oct. 26, 1931, to Elmer and Sarah Glick Stoltzfus in Morgantown,
Pa. After high school he went to nursing school and anesthesia training
in Philadelphia, Pa. He worked in Salisbury, Md., for four and a half
years before moving to Carlsbad in 1964. He worked as a nurse
anesthetist from 1964 to 1995, when he retired. He enjoyed traveling,
hunting, fishing, volunteer work and playing games with family and
friends.
Survivors include his spouse, Miriam Clymer Stoltzfus; four
children, Winona Stoltzfus, Winfred Stoltzfus, Bernice Moyers and
Darlene Reesor; foster daughter Carmen Ramirez; 15 grandchildren and
two great-grandchildren.
Funeral services were held at Carlsbad Mennonite Church.
Mennonite Weekly Review - March 26,
2007 - 85th Year, No. 13 - p. 8
---------------------
Ruth
J. Neuenschwander, 84, of Berne, Ind., died Feb. 18, 2007, in
Swiss Village Retirement Community, her home since 2001. She was born
Feb. 26, 1922, to Charles and Marguerite (Hinchman) Grandlienard in
Wells County.
She married Sherman Neuenschwander on March 6, 1947. He preceded her in
death in 1994.
She was a French teacher in Adams County for 31 years, retiring in 1987
from the South Adams Schools. She led students on five tours of France
during her career. She was a member of First Mennonite Church in Berne,
a longtime Sunday school teacher, a member of numerous church
committees and a member of the Women in Mission group, serving as
president for two years. She also served many years as her
congregation’s reporter to Mennonite Weekly Review.
She was among the founders of the Swiss Heritage Society in Berne, an
organizer of the Wabash Township Cloverleaf 4-H Club, a trustee of the
Adams County Museum in Decatur, a precinct committee member in Wabash
Township and a member of the Wabash Township Advisory Board.
Over the past 20 years, she donated more than 200 of her hand-knitted
sweaters to the Michiana Relief Sale.
Survivors include two daughters, Marjean Beck of Findlay, Ohio, and
Linda Vybiral of Lecanto, Fla.; three sons, Robert Neuenschwander of
Decatur, Ned Neuenschwander of St. Clairsville, Ohio, and
Stan Neuenschwander of Marion; three brothers, Fred
Grandlienard of Bluffton, Ind., Kenneth Grandlienard of Celina, Ohio,
and Joe Grandlienard of Phoenix, Ariz.; 14 grandchildren and eight
great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Sherman; and a brother,
Brooks Grandlienard.
A memorial service was held at First Mennonite Church. Burial was in
the MRE Cemetery, rural Berne.
-------------------
Randolph
P. Flaming, 78, of Bethesda Home in Goessel, Kan., died March 8,
2007, of a stroke after a five-month illness. He was born Nov. 13,
1928, to John G. and Marie Pankratz Flaming in Goessel.
He grew up on a dairy farm east of Goessel and graduated from Goessel
High School. On May 20, 1945, he was baptized and became a member of
Alexanderwohl Mennonite Church, where he remained a faithful member
until his death.
On May 2, 1950, he married Laura Schmidt. They established their own
farm north of Goessel. He was a dairy and crop farmer. Raising animals
and tending crops in the field gave him great satisfaction.
His example of serving others, through Mennonite Men and Mennonite
Disaster Service, helped his children embrace and live out those values
in their own lives. He had a passion for Agri-Urban, and the annual
“Day on the Farm” was a highlight for him. His joy of music was an
expression of his faith, and he participated in the bell choir and sang
in church choirs and Kansas Mennonite Men’s Chorus.
Together with Laura he enjoyed travel, whether it was leading bus tours
with Prudent Travel or traveling to Poland, Haiti, India or other
places in Europe. The circle of family was extended to include
international college students, MCC Polish trainees and those in the
Gulfport exchange program. His strong will and desire to succeed
carried him through the many challenges, including the 1980s farm
financial crisis, son Warren’s extended disabilities and death, Laura’s
bout with cancer, his own accidents and final illness.
Survivors include his wife of 57 years, Laura; son Ron and his wife,
Patrice, of Akron, Pa., daughter-in-law Cheryl Flaming of Hesston, son
Dwight and his wife, Tammy, of Goessel, and daughter Charlotte
Warkentine and her husband, Brian, of Chandler, Okla.; two siblings,
Melvin Flaming and Marilyn Schmidt; eight grandchildren and a
great-grandchild.
He was preceded in death by a son, Warren, and two brothers, Vernon and
Francis.
Memorial services were held at Alexanderwohl Mennonite Church. Burial
was in Alexanderwohl Mennonite Cemetery.
Correction
The March 12 obituary of Walter J. Klassen should have stated that he
was born in Goessel, Kan.
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Mennonite Publishing House, Scottdale, PA
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INDIANA
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