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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.

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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.

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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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Used with permission by the Archives of the Mennonite Church, Goshen, INDIANA
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