Encircled: Stories of Mennonite Women 1606080792, 9781606080795

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Encircled

stories Of Mennonitewomen by Ruth Unrau

WIPF & STOCK·

Eugene, Oregon

Wipf and Stock Publishers 199 W 8th Ave, Suite 3 Eugene, OR 97401 Encircled Stories of Mennonite Women By Unrau, Ruth Copyright©1986 by Unrau, Ruth ISBN 13: 978-1-60608-079-5 Publication date 7/2/2008 Previously published by Faith and Life Press, 1986

Photo sources: Mennonite Library and Archives, North Newton, Kansas, pp. 16, 42, 72, 136, 206, 214, 234, 256; Huldah Stauffer, p. 8; Naomi Lehman, Berne, Indiana, p. 28; MLA and Florence Diller, Bluffton, Ohio, p. 34; Lubin Jantzen, Newton, Kansas, p. 54; Muriel Thiessen Stackley, Newton, Kansas, and Helen Coon, Deer Creek, Oklahoma, p. 62; John Gundy, Normal, Illinois, p. 84; Carl Smucker, Bluffton, Ohio, p. 94; MLA and Vernelle Waltner, North Newton, Kansas, p. 102; Lavera Hill, p. 116; The Mennonite, Newton, Kansas, pp. 116, 262; Clare Anne Hefflebower, Reedley, California, p. 126; Christine Purves, Bluffton, Ohio, p. 148; Evangeline Hiebert, North Newton, Kansas, p. 164; Richard Pannabecker, Bluffton, Ohio, p. 176; Robert Kreider, North Newton, Kansas, p. 186; Florence Fluck, Quakertown, Pennsylvania, p. 196; Daily Intelligencer, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, p. 196; Alice Loewen, North Newton, Kansas, p. 226; Margarethe Rempel, Leamington, Ontario, p. 244; Marie Janzen, Newton, Kansas, and MLA, p. 262; Hans E. Epp, Filadelfia, Paraguay, p. 274; Anna Ens, Winnipeg, p. 284; Howard Raid, Bluffton, Ohio, p. 298; Helen Friesen, Butterfield, Minnesota, p. 308; MLA and Esther Wenger, Newton, Kansas, p. 318; Lydia Penner, Amsterdam, p. 324; Rachel Kreider, Goshen, Indiana, p. 330.

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li}rsion

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he Writtr

.-i·nal ....

1. /\ }Ludy Indianc1 Vi,meer Verena Sprnng,.:r I .ehman (1828 ----l913) by ,m; Lehman 2. Siste, !, · Housek111: Hi!! Corneli ,L ,;,~r Srniss l:,-i.8-1949 J. With Open Arm,; for Children Magdalena Ncucnschwander Sprunger (1855- 19'.H) by Naomi Lehman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ......... . 1 of Bluffhi, ; ''ege 4. Gram : Emdi(: mens H:.1;,;r;, ·-·:0siman (; 1':; , i 953) .5. He:lp1,;,.,, rhe Cheycrirn..,~at.:,e Bertha Elise Kiw;inger Petter ( H\12-1967) .... 6. Knowing the P()w,:r of Prayer An;, 'Nkhe Jantze,t '1 R7":-l939) 7. Evangeiis. · Chicag< Kat';';i"C Kroeker\'··,·, 11878--F . ........ by Helen Neufold Coon ............... . 8. Bm!Jer of a Hcali11g Community .Frieda Marie Kaufman (1883 1944) ..... 9. Gcne,itb Nature Cla · , se Strubi, :: _,,dy (188. . 1)

9 15

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33

55

61

73 85

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10. Trusting During Hard Times Mary Jane Stauffer Ebersole Smucker (1886-1971) . . . . . . . 95 11. She Remembered Missions Susanna Theresa Nickel Schroeder (1888-1966) .......... 101 12. Always Curious About the World M'Della Moon (1890-1963) ........................... 115 13. Intrepid Traveler and Teacher 125 Emma Mary Ruth (1891-1965) ........................ 14. Her Father's Daughter Elva Agnes Krehbiel Leisy (1891-1982) ................. 135 15. Her Faith Could Smile Martha Lena Baumgartner Habegger (1892-1983) ........ 149 16. Bonding White and Hopi People Polingaysi Qoyawayma (Elizabeth Q. White) (1892) .. 163 17. Prayer-Her Most Important Work Sylvia Tschantz Pannabecker (1893-1979) ............... 177 18. Keeper of the Network Stella Rosella Shoemaker Kreider (1893-1977) by Robert Kreider .................................... 185 19. Gifts Given to God Florence White Fluck (1894) by Mary Lou Cummings .............................. 195 20. Making Art Respectable Lena Waltner (1895) ............................ 205 21. To India with Love Christena Harder Duerksen (1896-1984) ................ 213 22. Letting the Children Sing Ruth Krehbiel Jacobs (1897-1960) ..................... 227 23. Scholar of Life and the Human Spirit Honora Elizabeth Becker (1899-1982) .................. 235 24. Shattered but Not Destroyed Margarethe Willms Rempel (1901) ................ 243 25. Saying Yes to Need Caroline Banwar Theodore (1901-1952) ................. 255 26. Serving Where Needed Wilhelmina Kuyf (1901-1967) ......................... 261 27. Strong Woman in the Chaco Katharina Ratzlaff Epp (1902-1984) .................... 275 28. Singing the Lord's Song in Foreign Lands Anna Enns Epp (1902-1958) .......................... 285

Vii

29. Her Husband's Partner Pauline Krehbiel Raid (1907-1984) ..................... 30. Breaking Through Her Prison of Pain Amanda Dahlenburg Friesen ( 1909-1982) by Helen Friesen ..................................... 31. Reader of the Cheyenne Scriptures Julia Yellow Horse Shoulderblade ( 1913-1973) ........... 32. Finding New Forms for Christian Witness Mar greet Stubbe ( 1926) by Lydia Penner ..................................... 33. The Modern Victorian Sara Kathryn Kreider Hartzler (1943-1982) ..............

331

Index ....................................................

341

The Writers ..............................................

351

299

307 317

325

1

The Writer's Journal

T am aske,: , ..· tb•~ Comn1,:, ,,a Educativ11 ,. 1he Genera: ,·, ference Mennonite Church to collect tne storie., nf thirty women who have rnade a significant contribution to the community and the church. I am given a k,og list of name', The women tn be included in the ccllection are no mger liv,:w This i, !s to be a ., , ,i to Full C, V1)men's a collectic" oriespuh!t~!:· in 1978. \i. r, bepartir':y ;· led by a '""rai;: om the Schowalter Foundation, 1 find a desk in the library, turn to the typewritten manuscript Rememhering by RI va Krehbiel Leisy ,incl irmnediate!y T become involveii in the iamilies, t n,. ,m111ities,am! ' , P:hes in wh, · •.nc lived. I i·., , rhusiasti.ally from L:,,J. n Bertha t,;. '!:::•,tena, im"lt:.,c,' in churd' iu:,1,: y from we womens perspective. Lhun:n nistory frum the ,vomi:n's perspective i,c: not, however, the focus of this book. Here we are simply telling :-,hnrt sh,ies of women of thL church. 1

h?llowing

· '{lliS

hat was , · '\•.· it starte( I h: · s not to . looked through the thirteen archival boxes of correspondence and diaries of oni-:,1 fthe women ,vi:,hing that she had 'Nritten about m,,re than weather and funerals. I folkn ,:1 the lead· ::iotnotes e: , ady publiqL, x1terial. 1

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Often the story of a wifo was found between the lines of the story of her husband. A kind Providence allowed me to stumble upon information. While looking for Willa, l (;ame across Caroline. While looking at the Mennonite J:-ihmen's Calendar, I came across Verena, a minister's wifo who had pounded a nail into her husband's wine barrel. I ignored some of the guidelines. Not every woman belonged to the General Conference Mennonite Church. Margreet, the Dutch pastor, has no label hecause Dutch Mennonites are not divided into conferences. A few of the women are still living, although most of these have retired. When possible, these articulate women speak for themselves. Those women who wrote down their stories have let us examine what it was like to grow up in Berne, Indiana, in the mid-1800s; in Mountain Lake, Minnesota, in the early 1900s; in Russia, during the Revolution. The stories are arranged chronologically. Note that Margarethe in Russia, Caroline in India, and Willa in Pennsylvanfa were born in the same year, within three months of each other, but with little in common except their Christian faith.

Ministers' wives Not surprisingly, more than half, twenty of the women, were wives of ministers. By tradition, the minister's wifo was expected to create a home to which her husband could retreat from the tension of his duties. She was also expected to be the spirituai kader of the women of the congregation, a model in dress and deportment, and the mother of ministers and of ministers' wives, The ,;hurch recognized her gifts of cooking, sewing, home management. nursing, and childhood education, h never asked if she had gifts for or interest in questions of doctrine or in the administration of a church, She was often told that as she coum;eicd her husband she had immense power behind the scenes. Did these ministers' wives ever yearn to preach or to be ordained? I found no v,riUen record that they did. I found no record of ordination of a ·.vom:min the General Conference Mennonite Church betv,reen that of Ann Allebach in 1911 and of the several '.A;howere ordained in the 1970s. Missionary women

But some women found an alternative to being ordained for preaching in the local church: ordination for the mission field. The nineteenth-centurymissionary, as commonly thought of during that period, was a man in a black suit preaching to awestruck natives. But

THE WRITER'SJOURNAL

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more than half of those missionaries were women who complemented the man's preaching with their own work. Mennonite women were not criticized for ambitions to share in the work of their husbands, as women were in some other denominations. And single women found places on the mission field doing the same tasks as the male missionaries: teaching, preaching when needed, and healing. Isabella Thoburn, led to India by one of God's coincidences, said: We have found sickness and poverty to relieve, widows to protect, advice to be given in every possible difficulty or emergency, teachers and Bible women to be trained, houses to be built, cattle to be bought, gardens to be planted, and accounts to be kept and rendered. We have found use for every faculty, natural and acquired, that we possessed, and have coveted all that we lacked.' What woman, single or married, restless with unused abilities, could not be stirred by such a challenge? Many of the women who yearned for foreign fields prayed their children into mission work. The mission field held more status and excitement, and more opportunity for reaching people with the gospel than teaching, nursing, or maid's work at home. No stereotype confined these missionary women. Some were colorful, brash, and committed. Some were quiet, unassuming, and committed. Winifred Mathews says, "Perhaps no form of witness is more fruitful than that of the Christian home in the non-Christian world. . . . If [women missionaries] had not worked among the women while their husbands taught the men, the churches established as a result of the men's work would have lacked depth and permanence. " 2 Qualities in common Do women have to be ministers' wives or missionaries to have their stories told? Obviously not. These were all church women who found the basis for their faith in the faith of their parents and grandparents. Many of them had moving experiences of conversion and baptism. The church offered an outlet for their energies and a worthy focus for their commitment. These women had a number of other common experiences. Many of them had to deal with grief. They wrote letters full of heartbreak back to their families in Russia or Indiana or Minnesota. They lost more children by disease than today's mothers, but their grief was no less intense for each child. They were touched by terror; they saw people killed; one of 1. Janet Wilson James, ed., Women in American Religion (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1980), p. 177. 2. Dauntless Women (New York: Friendship Press, 1947), pp. 2-3.

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them was raoed. Fifteen of the twenty-three who were married became widov:';. Mh,,v \.,,., ·1ictims of the po.,,.,rlv of the C:,. at Depression. b · tragec: .. ,·as oni; , ,, ..rt, not all, of lift. Each of tL', was determined surviv .:rndthei,, ·mntsareremarhblyfr;;,,,fb:1·r··ness.Almostall:/ them ·0,: "· ,,,r::c:rsin some sense of tlH· c, , :.,:; they blazed trails for othen, t;, Surprismgly, in the midst of tragedy anct poverty, most of them display a sense of humor: Sister Frieda as she watches her staff starch the janitor's handkerchiefs and Martha as she contemplates her old age. Tb quote Frederick Buechner, "[Laughter] comes from as deep a place as tears come from, and in a way it comes from the same place."

In thea n,cr,:fH'', these women often exr,,, ,,,, ! appreciation for their teacher" ar"' ; i\Wrs. Most often, they wer,:· i uf a women's networ! They had g1at1dn1others, mothers, aums, sistefo, and friends from whoi:u they learned to handle the tragedies and celebrations ofliving. (Sometimes bit players were just as interesting as the principals in these dramas. Sara Cornelia, mother of Hillegonda, deserves her own story.) The married women in this book usually had large familie1,. Hrnvever, we cannot call them full-ifrrn: mothers. They had egg and milk and g,uden busim ·\, ..,, of ministers, th( the valent cf hotels 0 :1iocd , they e :::hguests and V> churc1,:J;~n. Some of the,, . ·rh...'-0 women never c•.iir:pl,n·,,.1•fu.t they had no one w were 1 • .,,! •·: talk to but,:,· 1·:iidren. Neighbors visikd ,. ,, :1 0111erscame by. Nor did thcv ho,:, children were negkckl'. :...:, L:ft with aunts ar,, • grandparent,. ,\ .~un:.ber of wnmen saiu they wer..,1 ... ...,~dby older siste1.,. They found their roles less sharply defined from those of their husbands than those their granddaughters were to experience. On the farm, husband and wife were often partners. "I liked to help with the harvest," Clara said. Even in family businesses, the wife often helped out, These wPmen understood the woman in Proverbs who had business sense, was a . They did not, f good P , • 1;.:er. ,,.:,s openhanded to the !"-''• · ·,r,d them< · 1hink H· terms of having 2, , ,::ide the home; but quite a numis. ,.,,:mi 1J;dcu for their creative _;.,.. Vvi!may have thought er MennPn1k v 1,i, ;, , :,.,;ng even more qui·, :ri 111(; l~•t,' ,.n Mennonite me· Buthe,1c·wc ; ..,. aandWilhelmim :;11,her.1-:.:· fChinaoverrunl. ComrL ..L.:; ..;;, S~.1~... ..:::J-directinga retit ;:.:1~;;r;cho!~l~,_.1d Bertha conduc. ing funerals on an Indian reservation.

A fewdifferences ihere are

.:firences amo,,. !hese womer: ' \(~ff is dispa y of educa·· 1 ,, tting eve:'1oefo· · grade ei;::htat least one i . .. wing a doctorate They all seem to have had iutdlectual curiosity. Elva was the only Mennonite woman who could be called a pe:i(:e activist in her generation, writing a chapter in her father's book with a particularly c..Hing arg urm i.L for women· : mvolvemen; the: peace n1c•. :.·ment; but most of th\.iii' -.vcre quiet !XH 1fi!-ts. A few phnn,.:d into unc,)n,,,·ntional : .,reers co:.11pau:( to those t.•fthe,,'. :_;isters:~l'Pcil,I mto the rn;u; ·s ,;,..Jfldof science, Lena into art. They were even different in their regard for womanly tasks: note Willa'-, aversion to cooking and liberated Sister Frieda's f'mdncss for it Most "f i',,'c;e women Ii in an era wi; the line of au:',.ority was fl,·mly estnh!bbc 1 from G id to the husba ,d hJ the wifo. 'v!ost ,{ these women felt nourished and cherished by the1r husbands ,md fathers. J-fowever, we should not assume that all church women enjoyed a benign paternalism. There \Vas a dark side to this authoritarianism. One church 1,,ader said f

1

,i-Jn, some ttrrr.

When I uhei , :ied, I re ;:i_;.J : ow Motl I l1din tem'"'~ran::--:,even :•bstinence ;', ., :d,coholic •ii I Living in ,) , "· when ev,,, y i . •sehold ,. ade its c· • ,, v,:,..e and aJ,,·ys l, pt a keg , ',1dy for use, :,,]., fo,:nd her positiun difficult. But ouce she hamrnered a nail into the Lehman wine barrel. After most of the wine had seeped out, she told h·:r husband that the keg was leaking. ,,,:,.1,shecame ,,,,s Lsxtedly Whoe,,.~· ··•uidhaveg,,c:'½·,1,hatonce. ;)on a dee 1t by the J:••rn;, i'1 a bush, i,•.'.rn,,:ids couk: il , whit they .!1cL The H; ugi:;,:!,1g deer •.t her in ; . ,~1•' She looke,r iJ,,, k at it. 3. SarrnJel F. Pannabccke1, .f""uithin Fermen: (Ne\1vton, Kansas: Faith and Life Press, 1968)_ f!Jl 33 and 198. 4. Chronik f1

"Meat for tlie table." rhe thought. and drove a knife imo the neck of the c·,o:;·.,re animztl .,n her lat, .1(;; , Verena :"vi.(' hip whk:, .,;1' · ever set p: ; .:.:rly. It oav..:, her much pa,ii for the 1(,iilai.i,u~r of lie, liic . .n special chah vvas prepared for her which made her more comfortable at home. Howev,:r, she never missed a cornnmnion service in her church eveu though the hard ..,;:hes cause,'. ; much pain. /l sirging fan , v

Music meant much to her. In the early church m Berne, when her husband was pastor, singing was simple, but Verena loved harmony. She taught her eight children to sing parts, and in Missouri they were known far and wide a.:,;, · inging fan i y. The English ,ik for miles ::.mdcame to br ::r a-.i:m. WIKa their o,,e s" Japhet, kh 1-,, ,1e, one Pt tlw ;drls learn,,Li lo sing •..,110r.Verena V,v,1 tried her hanJ m arranging hymrn;. At her fu11_,,;1l in 1913, her more than forty grandchildren sang a hymn ':>hehad arranged. Verena Sprunger Lehman has been gone for more than seventy years. Marth 1. c:rnom ~lf:b3t is the k;;;.:-:y she left? Ck· cf her grandrl.~~1.0:ht,~rs, SjY ,1ger, wn (f· "! words in "(, ){: are L..:Y.. ,\'hose nam:.::. --~ Do not thii ......:~1at the onl) :c.::.::u~:1es blaumed in headlines af.·rnss the pag;.:s of our daily p,mers or whose prais1.~s,11esung from th,: housetops. Greater heroines 1han these are '1:J"les do Ill'. nnpr-".!r in ihe 1;,,v~1:'.'ht fr,·rnd in obc:r•,~f' nlaces, ,:v1°~no publicity b,, ~ hidden i:·,,,, •'le public :there. ihc: :MennonH.e ..,hurch and pan,onage were buut in 1627 on the middle canal. 2 In this beautiful city, H.illegonda spent a "joyful, happy, blessed childhood and early youth." Here and especially in the German city of Alton,. members of f, van der Smi· ., a family lived '\)r 300 years.

,/J

1:

/ pretty and J:c'.-us grandmotiu: Hillegonda's grandparents were Jakob and Wilhelmine Weihe van der Smissen. During the Napoleonic wars, Wilhelmine's parents in Westphalia were forced to give lodging to soldiers of the French army who had invaded th:,i part of Gc1 i;,;rny The troop:,; were most ,k:rnanding. Vvilhelmi1;r:, to L·elp her JqrecL. went to Altop:; to earn rnom·y. There Hinrich van dc1 Smissen gav..: her a job. Ev..;11those earning;; were not enough; her parents sent word that they were in dire need. Wilhelmine sold her hair, and to cover her embarrassment, made herself a little ,vidow's c:;1r 1Hnrich's brc1'. Jakob visit.'. md asked ah,,, the little widow, and Hrnr;ch told him !I'.,· story. J'•kob w1s attrac:•'d t >er and 1entuall} tii,,y u·,!camee1,,~a:z.:d "Grandfather got a pretty, unusually efficiem pio1JS wife," Hillegonda said. Hillegonda's father, Carl Justw, was born in 1151l near Altona but :rrew up in !" · · Hchstadt \"I": 1, '.sfathen":,:•. iw •1astor of· '0 c 1• 1 ··inonite )ngregat · ,. ff was sent ar: ncle to E ,.::-:1~,,,1later to ,r. T.'.i,.versity Jf Erlangi:..a :_ ..,wdy. The L.;;Jrichstadt ch:..._!! called hir1: .:.. be their minister in l 837. Earlier, Carl Jrn;tus had told his uncle Gilbert that he loved his second -::ousin, Sar:, r'r>rnelia van rk- ~missen, wh'.i ~•1::is also the r::~.~c:of his 'ncle's w: i!'1•. uncle,,· 'h01,, ::elling C· , i(••!i-.'." impon ,! ,,fcd,Ku!Hnforwomenorb womt'n ;tudentscouldheit with the 111,ancrng.hillegonda and Wiihe11H11te iaught drawing, painting, 4 and flne needlework. Even though every measure was taken to raise money, the school had to be sold in 1878 because of th..::debt. Of the Wadsworth school's death, Hillegon,H>,etecommitment. the Le, cL 6 Kautinan, p. U:14. The Bluffton News.

GRAND Li\l.'

:F :!LUFFTOl\l((J, 1E. l:

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Mrs. Mosiman als,; took an interest in other ckpartments 01 the .ollege. S'.w 1 .:1-> ,uraged EJ:1,u.,c:11 Baehr, rk h:, .e econo1 ·: s t~.;cher, to help her si.,,c,Fc; to learn :erJoutlife ·1,va mm the fuff ::Jizabeth, at her ad\. 1-:e, 1tuLI the gm..,c. 011.kr vegeta1J1_,;,0ut of sea:-m~ 1.0m i ima 'lo that i>hecould teach her students hmv to prepare them. Perhaps because of her Sunday school class, she ,vas always a bit ht:.: ~;:irchurc: F .. rnany chu:ch h::mbers, the 11i:.:., ·ry of Mrc \1, · nan, in Bluffton as ,.:]! JS in Beatr;, .... i, her entry (;,L,, hnrch, procc,.:,1,-t erectly '.own the :sle i,, the seco· !.rnvv from the :·cint. settling du,v" in her seat, and pausing to prny. Then she nodded politely to the other worshipers; before getting ready for the service. Children, and perhaps the less pious adults, studie.J the design of her hats, for were magnifi,·,'nL Mrs. Mc.,:mrn followed 'he service · arefully :u1,:i n,,Jded her fl(N,cr i head wh'ri agreed -,•,ith u minis;.er. After .~le ..;crvice. sh(, ~npyed visiting v...~, the congrcg..iL,JlL During their first years in the church, the common cup was used f(,r communion. Because a number of the men chewed tobacco, Mrs. Mosi nian brou"'h~ :i 'Nhhe liner. m1pkin to wipe thr ;-;dp,eof the r:-u,.,hefore she drank. The,. ,_:r,·hleaders rn,.,..t1 ave obsenit ... :' ·s fastidio:·::. 1;,c 1re, for y.•i;·s a conui,,,:, ,et with.:,.!. • iual cups,. ✓.••,,, rchased. .;ithin a f

Open heart and opu1 huuse Her faith in God was: abundant. VVhcushe needed rnuncy, she prayed for /, and ot~:1: : received t· what sf f: I for, Sh, L~, 'f \Vas a ~.enerous .· -.n,. When si ',,1d noney, s! .JI' ( it, with,. ,.11·o1;)ling to ave for, r,1i:,~ Jay. Lem ivh recalls t'.at ~· ,.. Mosirr. :rJ 1:-'';her last dollar in the offering plate one Sunday, knowing that S(imehow her CNIII needs would be cared for. The hr;(']r "ouse at 2 l O Wc>~tGrove Strc>. 'Dending and misappropriation forced Dr. Mosirnan's resignation in 1935. By the time of his death in 1940, he had worked out a plaH for payment of the debts sn that the college could survive." After ;,t:, :, :iand's di::d"i :s. Mosi ,1""" ,ntinued t , tX , :dve in 1he corr1m11nr'. and to sup.For·-!he college. ,'a, i\1oser wa r(' of her c: >sest friend,,, c::, i Mrs. Mn!tires tt.~P lt.j the funt ,_~~,: ",,\,,ere the most draining. She sometimes conducted them when Peller was away. 1•

7. Diet:,,'el, pp. 24-3(1, fror:] an interview with tArs, Alfred Habegger 8. Dietze' ;JJ. 101ingfrom ',.,·,c, •,;im Petter tr.,"", ·;ti;J

9. Dit:tze;,

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Her writing reveals a genuine love for her Indian co-workers. She was, however, High German imbued with European culture. A fellow missionary could not remember that she ever invited Indians to her table; they were fed on the back porch with a simpler set of dishes. The Valdo Petters, a generation removed from such reserve, were closer to the Indians in social relationships. After Petter's retirement in 1935, Bertha continued to protect him in his work and did not let the Indians disturb him. She was still active in running the mission. On January 6, 1947, Mr. Petter died while fixing some breakfast for himself. "I arranged him, phoned to Busby [to the Habeggers] and waited in agony for the car to come. Hustle, bustle, phoning. Olga replied by phone. On January 11, the Cheyenne service was in the a.m. and English service in afternoon." The Indian and missionary community gathered round, and her work went on with much the same routine as before. The next fifteen years were full, but eventually a struggle developed between the mission board executive secretaries and the aging missionary woman who knew the time had come to turn over her tasks but could not bring herself to do so. The strings in her harp Much of the controversy centered around her husband's lifework. Earlier, someone on the mission board had written that "Mrs. Petter harps on the language." The correspondence confirms this statement. However, the problem of the use of the Cheyenne language was only one of several strings on Mrs. Petter's harp, but it was played as the dominant chord. In a February 1940 letter, her husband responded for her that ''she harps on the vehicle of the Gospel as every faithful minister harps every Sunday on the Gospel itself." The Petters recognized that the problem was how to provide for the future when no one was prepared to take their place. Even in his own Montana field, Petter had been deeply hurt at being bypassed as a language teacher because the other missionaries thought he made language study too difficult. Only a few Indians, including Julia Shoulderblade, were good readers. Bertha wrote to the mission board, "Alas, after almost fifty years, there is but one other [missionary] on the field in Oklahoma or in Montana who is building on the foundation so well laid .... SAD BEYOND WORDS!" Later she wrote, "Will then the extensive work of the senior missionary be relegated to museum and library shelves? Surely God had not

m,·,uE it s, ' This was her 'NOrst

: that the lifework o her hu'.band would be set 1sidt:. 1\long with this rear v✓a'., 'he hurt that came with her pe• ceptic 1 that Petter's work was not proper1y recc,g1Hzed bv his church. She c;Jmpbmed that her husb.;nd's ,,rticles were not being n1Hted in ,he church papers. ,;;lie poi1 :;;d out that two pages uf th1: conference ye,11L1ook ha,' been

ucvoteu l0 two churchmen, whuc only .; 01ere oaragraph ,vas dt:voted tn the outstanding ,,ccornpl hments of Missionary P;;tter The ,natter of their salary w,,;further evidence to thcLi of the board's lacJ:\,.,e-ey; '.roun0 •uomar, ;_1°her le ,,fYflow: '/'. ski1c as she rode sidesaddle on her white mare, Beauty. He courted her on 11.orseb::-d::. s,m'~tirnes h0lding a wh.;tcu~hrclla t" keep th '>Un cf'fher, to r:;,ir n1 ;rt, bors· :imuse :-· s1t. They were man:ed on January i5, 1903, by Reverend Hege, who ,s '.das½\, text '";,:'ma 2 1.15, ";';:.:.ask 11,eand :,,y hrn.I we, il1 servL £h1.. LolJ, Thi:: \\/JS th~ text th:..:y.1ere ::::•.:!pplyE~.:rall) .1:. the "::'..:ttofo_ their years together. Frank was called to be as:,istant minister that same ···/: .. tr. Br"(..::1usc:·:f is rr: '.s1.·;altt~!\::·~t,ht \\ .s of ··.r[callct~ ,_}nto .le::id th:: singing. After their marnage, even with the more general use of the horse and ;,;gy, •Ji·· yom11: .. mms'c, md l>,:.wife''"'· 1ld a:-rr eat c'iurch, n ,,orse back ,:ach wiih a child m arms. Life in r:1r:~1C'aiiforni~ was uttP;rlyoiffercnt frorn th;:it in Ea::-l Rm,sia ·re tr,,(, wer:c ,:) serv,:,,ts. L,;,tg in:, ·,mall i·nple l,.,nse, v:i,h he 1

58

I FNCIRCLED

husband occupied with farm, school, and church, Anna accepted most of the ,espoD",1u1lityc' c:1ring [>,,:the duldren ,:;.,J mainti,ning It::; home I !er Russian experience was good preparation for rnanaging her expanding

IH"!S!':hold The f:n1ily grc.w. Mar:; Alben, Osw:+J, and 11-hnna:11 ved diE:.ng the first seven years. The community also grew, and as land became sc:·:c,::, a m·.n:ber nrfamilkc, ,noved t(, the ',JJiJlow Cr;·ek alf~cl. The Frank Jant""cns rc.o;;ed to J. fifty-ac.,e farm with il tew rickety bcnl.!ings. Tl1ey repaired a small shack and added a room to make a small house. The San IV1m\.OS chw·,:h wat: :,:.ovedw ,he new ,J.reaw,;~,Anr;;,1':.fathc1 aad hus!nnd as mmisters.

A cvmmw:fty cataurophe In 1910, tragedy struck the community. Five babies, all born in 1909, be;:ame i11with pciwrnyeli...:s A short tim · o,~fore :lHy car;1e dow,, with the disease, all five had been put to sleep on the same bed at a birthday p;:irty Minna. then about "even months old, was not able to ')tancl Her cor.;m Ed v111was ~r·twith,., ,,,mila:' trnndic:,p. Fortu,,ately, rti.: threr n:her

children were Jess affected. 0 were t·ctralyzc _,and lt soo:· h•,cam,~ ?viderr ~!1atbe', of Mlr 0;2 's iec::. th 1, •:he '>'",L,ij no: 1)c ablt: :1 war ,n the· iearch tor ht'.11for ~/" r,ua, /\nna and Frank were advised to take her to the Children's Hospital in San Fr···" ·isco ;;;ing " :0:cle-t " Jon t 1 '!·•plant :md v·" , 1us S" \;1cal ,,1 ,ce-· dli,1.,6done G,er se ....,al yeafo, the w.::uk!egs were fa.ally strai 5htenui. By the time she was eight. l\11:inna 'Nas able to walk with crutches. 1,,ron'·, :J!Tiva 1 .n 19 I I inade ve s1r1c chLdi.;n in 'h,;: cw,, ,ed quarters. When the Jantzen parents made plans to move tu Ca11fmmaand live nearby. Arma and Frank hunieci to builn a lar,P:etwo-story honsP-. It w,,, u)mp,e ,·din,•. !, an, 1 1 :c eldc antze; with rl ,fr daur. :er l\, ,r,,.;aret moved into the old cottage. Working as a J1'l'.;torof-: '.>mallr('ngre?·:t;,m b::-01:ghtin little rn0''K:y. To· ,,1intai, ·· gro'.!,and try mg tu cope w ii.h tht: endles1, housework. Fo, ruissici J;nies Kc,tharinc ,md Al ,,aham \,hens, ;;11.,call J reacii people for Christ came from the growing edges of the city of Chicago. Katharine neederl to close the d0or briefly each d::i.vto the voices frnm the garb«B,e men. sn.sdfig\tir,g rufF,d1s. S·,,· also:· 1·,.dedk !Utsidc ncddle close the door to the sound on the inside: her seven lively daughters

crigglinc-r,;- qu.irrcling. S"wids of w:ven daughter.~

0,, one .,artkula; day, Katharint was sran!ed frm:.1he1 quiet ti,n.., by a thunderous crash in the kitchen. This time she did leave her solitude to r ,id that ,:,e tahk 'egs :.mJ the !eg. of her four v,,,,nge~ d,;ughv,:; wen tangled together. instead of sitting around the taole as orcunary children should, they had been sitting uri it. Their wiggling had been too much for ti

J".atharine Wiens: Wt all knew that Gotl was first in her life, fathtcr second; and there was still plenty of love left her seven daughters.

Remembering her own years of growing up. she knew that children should be spankc~' for such behavior, t,10 t Katharine refrainc(L And sh.· wouldnt let he1 husband Abraham spank them eliher. She did not mind giving discipline or letting her husband lead, but she felt her role \Vas one of hringing qeietnc~s, control and cnmfort to the Jives of ~he person:; around her. Katharine's own life, however, had seldom been peaceful and serene. The fourth child of Bernhard and Katharine Ott Kroeker, she was born De·ember 12, 1878, near Henderson, Nebraska, Prior to her bi1ih, he, parents had suftered the loss of their second child v✓ho had died on thr 1878 trip from South Russia to the United States. Later, K..atharine grieved with them ·,vhen they lost a daughter and a pair of twins. Katharine was left with six brothers and sisters, and later she would have two hc1lfbrothers

Pulling the plow Kathanne's fathc:1 was ar ··,rdained i'vfrnnonite rn 1 rnster ol the Peters· chu1d1 which late1 grew l11tothe Evangelical Mennonite B1en1ren. h1 addition, he was an evangelist, teacher, and farmer. He ministered to small gro:.,p:: d" Mem:;;,ni~-~swho '.1H•lsettled :i; r,,iorad,;, T-··xas, and Nr:brask,, Th;•• , urk as a ,,1·,uch leacc• 'Ni:'$, in add::tion to tLe ·';:rm woLc ·he mean.: of suppmting his family. Everyone worked. Even six-year-old Katharine, wearing boy's trousers. helped pull the plow. 1 893, L_ ·. mily fL• ,,·'.to Ge,,,. Colorz:..1,,.rlut the·"''· '. of rai· res,: :din porn :·ops, and .:wy of th,. :;m1ilies (;.;::ame prc,.d1e;,. Prior to th•' k 1 of this fifth ,:(!, she had P" , ,l earnestly i, a "' m. -.'✓ her', during ,,,.'r f' egnancy, ,h,.-: xame la,gc: th,m usual; was certain that God had am;wered her prayers. Nevertheless, Helene, all fourteen pounds of her arrived, and Katharine's faith in God was visibly ssth c;treer frorn a group of mm!--who allowed her to help with the kindergarten i. M: ·, ,, Bart,.,, "Sister r, ;. I·, Kaufi · Build,~, f lnstiti ,; ,, .., and I res''"' 1 paper ,-1~::\1el cc·1•·~·._

196t

,: .!4 in 1

1

\ 1iennc-,,>~ ;,jbrar:

;d:- ..

Archi

,•o.;1

Nortl

~~>-\--1ton 1

,.;Q·,is,

,1ildr,:;1 Tl1tj.:kindv,omen. Lut.eran,u,dCa1\cHc, enthusiasm for the vocation of deaconess. 2 11 10m

l•;tsti,;rdF

la's

Haage;. to Hais.ead

The fa.',ily er,C:gratr;; to H;-,:stead, Kansa:,, in 1392. 'f'riedr, \Vas a iva..:10usd:nld anJ made friends on ..he traih and on the boat She enjoyed visiting with everyone even older wornen Her friendship with thf' chief cook un ":he boat garn::d advantages for ,h,::en!ir! faE,iiy. Two years after the move to Halstead, her mother died. At the age of ,·foven •/,e fowvJ her ',table .:1:imesh.i.ttered. Her ;isters marr,ed soon >tfter and her father lived with her oldest sister. In her desolation, she turned to Cririst \ mesH1.geof· Gmfoc and sL, wa~ challet:ged by Christ's sauifke. Sne protessed her faith and received catechism instruction from Christian Krehbiel her pastor at Halstead. She was bapti?ed in June 1897.' Jdm Kaufman ::;ubscr.ibcd to three secular ncwsvapers. Prom tnem, Frieda learned about the deaconess work of other denominations. She had , :) ide;, .hat sccieonc c,.;as(r; ubatinb the. d,~a of dea,-·; ness .ier w,rhin the Mennonite community. 1

uuvid Vres·,,,,ed a p: per ..,,;voc;=,i'",gd, :i, oncss work to a meeting of tne General Conference Mennonite Churcn. fo ! Q98, th'='Gof""~elc0!"!murit:' built Bethf';•1cd ,. xkers ~0 or:..:nite 1.. Goel~ kepL Audya~ll, the 1:1rob~;;"1,r-:-dng ;:.~~he could find rm deacone:.s work. "His thoughts were not concerned with . c:(abli·ding {; uress1 1nl Ilk .~mg; '.:'.VO( 1\!0n ,,; ,ong ,,,,. Me Hi:were ordai,,:cd on 1he sa;1K:day, Sister • continued from her grandmother's time. Unless they were dirty, vagnu,ts were served in the dining room. John said: She always had a soft spot in her heart for all people. She was a real example for me, Anyone who needed something was always blessed by making the aeed known tu her. She had to sehd at least a dollar to anv organization that requested funds. She always helped anyone she t.nught rnd a n.:ed. Sh~ gavr away cmre product and c: ;med g.)Od~; than most people used. Anyone who visited her never left without ,urnethiL,g. She :orresponcku with rc1anypeop}c arou:1d the world. Her list at Christmas was beyond belief-and everyone got a multipage ktra. We spent virtuaiiy every Sunday at lJrandma's. She always had dinner for many peopJ Any visit0rs at chPrch wt>realw:;iyshwited. 1 Lamcli to know man:, distrn.:t conforence pastor;; around her whle. And such scrumptious meals, always. But she never ate a great 1uantit·/ herself 0

•

One '1f •he treats ?t the Gundy heme \v;:t~ice Cf'.::amand Cfora v,a~ _gencwus -.v1~hthe cream. The piano was so full of pictures of children in the church and of her

ow. (unity 1hat C'hrra d dared 'hat si:c. woui ..l have.,'i get ,,r.othe., pian0 ,,, hold all the pictures. When Clara wrote a note to the parents of new bab >',, sht ofte1c ,,aclo:,-d mor: .:y.

Hilda : ..·,,yer i:,. :alk g:,.c, June•

Clara's ninety years. 3 Frorn ~n interv?A,win ltp"H l 9H4

1 975

,,, ;: e Mr.,,,i,Ns Ho;,;, for,, r,, ,gram l:1:;hligh:, .,,

George would have liked to have had a daughter. The church had a projecl of bringing chiidren fnwi Chicag(,. ·'fresh-,xi, l