Mennonite Weekly Review - November 2008
Clemens,
Marcus A.;
Esh, Glenn; Kauffman,
Gwen F. Kauffman; Miller, Catherine Yoder;
Ortman, Leslie;
Preheim, Sieglinda Waltner;
There are no obituaries in the
Nov. 3 issue of MWR.
Mennonite Weekly Review - November 10, 2008
- 86th Year, No. 42 - p. 9
Ortman, Leslie
Leslie Ortman, 79, died Sept.
24, 2008, in Lewisville, Texas. Active until the end, he had arrived at
his daughter Faith Hartman’s home nine days earlier from two months of
doing tractor field work at Jubilee Partners in Georgia.
He was born Jan. 17, 1929, to Henry C. and Adina Ortman at home on a
farm in McCook County, S.D. He graduated from Freeman (S.D.) Academy as
valedictorian and went on to earn his bachelor’s degree from Tabor
College in Hillsboro, Kan., in 1950.
He married Hope Wiebe on Aug. 29, 1950, and together they prepared for
the mission field.
He received a master’s degree in animal husbandry from Kansas State
University and then a bachelor’s degree in divinity from Central
Baptist Seminary in Kansas City, Kan. In 1957, he and Hope and their
two sons went to Belgium to learn French and then went on to the
Belgian Congo as Mennonite Brethren missionaries. Independence followed
by rebellion in 1960 forced them to flee the Congo with their four
young children. From 1961 to 1965, he pastored First Baptist Church in
Alta Vista, Kan., while earning a second master’s degree, followed by a
doctorate in genetics, from KSU in 1965. He then accepted a position
with Cornell University in New York for two years, followed by a year
at Franklin College in Indiana before becoming professor of biology at
Friends University in Wichita, Kan., in 1967, and soon after chair of
the science department. In 1976 he was asked to be president of Freeman
Junior College. In 1979 he returned to Wichita, pastoring several
churches while teaching special education in high school. In 1995, he
and Hope moved to Georgia to live with their son Blake and his family
at Jubilee Partners. After Hope’s death in 2006, he split his time
between his daughter Faith in Texas and Jubilee Partners.
Survivors include three sons, Mark, Blake and Bryan; a daughter, Faith
Ortman Hartman; and 12 grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his wife of 55 years, Hope, on July 25,
2006.
------------
Esh, Glenn
Glenn Esh, 89, died Oct. 11,
2008, in Columbus, Ohio. He was born Samuel Glenn Esh on Jan. 6, 1919,
to Samuel Huey Esh and Katharine (Yoder) Esh in Belleville, Pa.
He spent his childhood in that small Amish-Mennonite community. He was
a member of Maple Grove Mennonite Church.
He graduated from Goshen (Ind.) College with a degree in chemistry and
went to work as a chemical engineer for Sylvania. During World War II
he was education director/ director of Civilian Public Service camps in
Maryland and Virginia. After the war he worked for Mennonite Central
Committee in Akron, Pa., from 1946 to 1959.
He attended seminary and became the pastor of Monterey Mennonite Church
from 1948 to 1965. When Akron Mennonite Church was formed, he was also
their pastor for their first two years. He moved his family to Columbus
in 1965 to become the first pastor of Neil Avenue Mennonite Church, now
Columbus Mennonite Church.
After many years as a pastor, he became the director of Volunteer
Action Center in Columbus. He was deeply involved in making changes in
disadvantaged neighborhoods. He was active in promoting humanitarian
and social causes. In retirment he set up a woodworking shop, became a
master cabinet maker and made many pieces of beautiful furniture. He
enjoyed gardening, cooking and reading.
Survivors include his wife, Janet (Grieser Gautsche); a sister, Susan
Esh Gibbons of Ingomar, Pa.; two sons, Samuel Esh of Savannah, Ga., and
Steven Esh and his wife, Susan, of Columbus; a daughter, Ellen Wiseman
and her husband, Kenneth, of McArthur; stepdaughter Nancy Gautsche and
stepson-in-law Ivan Emke of Newfoundland; two stepsons, Gary Gautsche
and his wife, Kim, of Santa Fe, N.M., and Randy Gautsche of Columbus;
five grandchildren and three step-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by a sister, Nancy Louise Esh; a brother,
Robert Leland Esh; a son, Jonathan Smucker Esh; granddaughter Elizabeth
Ann Esh; step-grandson Daniel Gautsche Emke; and his first wife,
Virginia Smucker Esh.
---------------
Miller,
Catherine Yoder
Catherine Miller, 93, of
Oakland, Md., and formerly of Greencroft retirement home, Goshen Ind.,
died Sept. 12, 2008, at her daughter’s home. She was born Nov. 21,
1914, to Daniel E. and Magdalena “Maude” (Bontrager) Yoder in Topeka,
Ind.
She married Cornelius Miller on Nov. 30, 1933, in Topeka. He preceded
her in death on Nov. 27, 1990.
She moved to Goshen from Topeka in 1940 and resided there until 2002,
when she moved to Oakland. She was a homemaker. She managed the
Waterford Elementary School cafeteria in Goshen for 19 years and the
Little Eden Camp cafeteria in Onekema, Mich., for six years. She was a
charter member of Waterford Mennonite Church.
Survivors include two daughters, Grace Slaubaugh and her husband,
Marvin, of Wellman, Iowa, and Mary Ellen Lichty and her husband, Ralph,
of Oakland; two sons, Maurice Glenn Miller and his wife, Susan, of
Milwaukee, Wis., and John Stanley Miller and his wife, Rachel, of
Lawrence, Kan.; three sisters, Maggie Yoder, Mary Bontrager and Lucille
Blue, all of Goshen; four grandsons; five granddaughters; seven
great-grandsons and four great-grandaughters.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Cornelius; two brothers, John
E. and Orva Jay Yoder; and four sisters, Alta Yoder, Ida May Yoder,
Ruby Wyse and Elma Stauffer.
A memorial service was held at Waterford Mennonite Church of Goshen. A
family graveside service was held at Maple Grove Cemetery in Topeka.
Mennonite Weekly Review - November 17, 2008 - 86th Year, No. 43 - p. 13
Clemens, Marcus A.
Marcus A. Clemens, 92, of Dock
Woods Community, Lansdale, Pa., died Oct. 2, 2008. He was born to
Garrett A. and Elizabeth (Alderfer) Clemens in Franconia Township on
April 27, 1916.
He graduated from Souderton High School and Pierce College of Business
Administration in Philadelphia. He married Helen Gotwals in 1937, who
preceded him in death.
He had a long and notable career, starting in the trust department of
Union National Bank. He served in Civilian Public Service from 1945 to
1947, initially in a camp in Luray, Va., and later at the National
Service Board for Religious Objectors in Washington, D.C. He founded
and was president of Ridge Hosiery Company in Quakertown. He served as
general manager and secretary of Horace W. Longacre Inc., Franconia. He
was vice president and controller of Granite Hosiery Mills, Souderton.
He was deeply involved in nursing and retirement home administration at
Menno Haven in Chambersburg, Elm Terrace in Lansdale and at Dock Woods
Community, where he was also a board member.
His lifelong advocacy for Christian education was evidenced by his
participation as a founding member of Quakertown and Penn View
Christian schools. Christopher Dock Mennonite High School honored him
for his work on a study that resulted in the creation of the school.
He was a founding member and president of Penn Foundation for Mental
Health in Sellersville. In the 1950s he served as president of the
Franconia Mission Board. He was an active, lifelong member of the
Mennonite church, holding memberships at Franconia Mennonite, Rocky
Ridge Mennonite and Plains Mennonite churches.
Survivors include his wife, Phyllis, of Dock Woods Community; a sister,
Ada Hackman of Alberta; three sons and three daughters, Donald Clemens
and his wife, Marie, of Goshen, Ind., Orrie Clemens and his wife,
Terri, of Fort Collins, Colo., Leanne Wentorf and her husband, Dale, of
Goshen, Jane Landes and her husband, Henry, of Sellersville, Carolyn
Bontrager and her husband, Philip, of Berrien Springs, Mich., and
Richard Clemens and his wife, Jane, of Harrisonburg, Va.; 14
grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his first wife, Helen (Gotwals) Clemens; a
brother, Floyd Clemens; and a sister, Ruth Musselman.
Funeral services were held at Plains Mennonite Church of Hatfield.
Burial was in the adjoining cemetery.
Mennonite Weekly
Review - November 24, 2008 - 86th Year, No. 44 -
p. 9
Preheim, Sieglinda Waltner
Sieglinda Waltner
Preheim, 92, of Freeman, S.D., died Oct.
28, 2008. She was born May 29, 1916, to Charley and Caroline (Schrag)
Waltner
in rural Marion.
She was baptized at Salem-Zion Mennonite Church on
Sept. 10,
1933. She graduated from Freeman Academy
in 1934. After three years of teaching rural elementary school
in Turner
County, she married Otto Preheim on June 1, 1938.
The family tended a grain and cattle farm seven
miles
southeast of Freeman. In addition to caring for her children, garden,
chickens
and milk cow, she dedicated time to her local church, Salem Mennonite.
There
she served as librarian, Sunday school teacher and Women’s Mission
Society
president. She was a faithful member of the Freeman Junior College and
Academy
Auxiliary, including a term as president.
Many guests and travelers were welcomed to her and
Otto’s
table. She enjoyed visiting and
cheering confined or aged friends and family, writing distant mission
workers
and keeping a detailed weekly correspondence with her children who had
settled
far away. Her enduring faith, love of the Bible, music, poetry, reading
and the
church were evident in these letters. In the 1960s she accepted an
assignment
as editor of the Northern District Mennonite Conference bimonthly
newsletter,
The Northern Light. She faithfully carried out and enjoyed this duty
for 25
years.
In 2002, she suffered three debilitating strokes
and moved
with her husband, Otto, to Oakview Terrace in Freeman. Her patient,
kind and
caring nature was evident to all.
Survivors include her husband of
70 years, Otto; four children, Ronald and
Lois (Thieszen) Preheim of Aurora, Neb., Lyle and Lois (Janzen) Preheim
of
Freeman, Gayle and Jana (Fischer) Preheim of Monument, Colo., and
Noreen and
Ken Gingerich of Iowa City, Iowa; seven grandchildren and four
great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by a brother, Dell; a
sister,
Viola; five brothers-in-law and three sisters-in-law.
Her memorial service was held at Salem Mennonite
Church of
rural Freeman.
-------------------
Kauffman, Gwen F. Kauffman
Gwendlyn Faith
Kauffman, 66, died Oct. 25, 2008, at Trinity
Medical Center in Minot, N.D. She was
born April 23, 1942, to Reuben and Sadie (Miller) Kauffman in
Kalispell, Mont.
She spent her high school years in Kalispell.
After high
school she spent two-and-a-half years as a nanny in Minot. In 1964 she
attended
Eastern Mennonite College in Harrisonburg, Va. After her schooling she
worked
at Lancaster (Pa.) County General Hospital as a nurse’s aide.
In September 1965, she married Paul R. Kauffman in
Kalispell.
They spent their first months of
marriage living near Condon before attending a
term of Bible
school in Kitchener, Ont. In spring 1966 they returned to North Dakota,
living
in Minot and Surrey. In June 1983, they moved to Wolford. In addition
to being
a homemaker, she drove special education students for Wolford Public
School. In
recent years she worked at the Connection, a telemarketing company in
Rugby and
later at Midwest Telemark until fall 2008, when she became ill.
She was a member of Lakeview Mennonite Church,
where she was
involved in the WMSC as secretary/ treasurer. She was also literature
secretary
for the North Central Conference WMSC. She spent many years playing
piano in
church. She enjoyed quilting, reading, music, taking care of her flower
gardens
and spending time with her grandchildren.
Survivors include her husband, Paul; her mother,
Sadie;
eight children, Deanna Benavedis and her husband, Denin, of
Harrisonburg, Va.,
Arne Kauffman and his wife, Lisa, of Philadelphia, Leon Kauffman and
his wife,
Jenny, of Langhorn, Pa., Joel Kauffman and his wife, Andrea, of West
Liberty,
Ohio, Myron Kauffman and his wife, Marsha, of Greencastle, Pa., Laura
Yoder and
her husband, Kim, of Wolford, Carl Kauffman and his wife, Kristen, of
Keezletown, Va., and Sara Kauffman of Wolford; four siblings, Lowell
Kauffman
of Missoula, Mont., Nathan Kauffman of Condon, Mont., Myrene Iverson of
Long
Lake, Minn., Carol Kauffman of Lebanon, Pa.; and 19 grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by an infant brother,
Jere Verlin
Kauffman; and an infant grandson, Adam Emmanuel Kauffman.
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