Burkhalter, Ramoth Isabel Lowe (1923-2010)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 2010 Sep 20 p. 7

Birth date: 1923 Nov 7

text of obituary:

Longtime missionary to India dies

By Kelsey Shue

Mennonite Mission Network

BERNE, Ind. — Ramoth Burkhalter, who helped young women improve their lives as a mission worker in India for 42 years, died Aug. 14. She was 86.

Burkhalter and her husband, Edward, served with the Commission on Overseas Mission, a predecessor agency to Mennonite Mission Network, from 1947 to 1989.

In India, Burkhalter's heart went out to the young women she met. She wanted to offer them life skills and a dignified way to make a living, so she founded Asha(hope) Handicrafts, which became an internationally recognized fair-trade business. There young women still learn to sew and sell their work for a fair price.

Ramoth Isabel Lowe was born Nov. 7, 1923, in Asheville, N.C., to Oscar and Mary Knox Lowe. She attended Wheaton (Ill.) College, where she completed a master's degree in Christian education and met Edward Burkhalter of Berne. They were married Aug. 29, 1945, in Asheville.

In 1947 the couple and their 4-monthold daughter, Mary Kay, left the United States aboard the Queen Mary ocean liner bound for India. The Burkhalters served in central India, forming lasting friendships with churches and communities in Korba, Saraipali and Jagdeeshpur.

Burkhalter sought to create opportunities for young leaders through education. A wise counselor, she befriended many people and drew them into the faith community. She was known for her encouragement and willingness to listen, remembers Jai Masih, a friend from India.

The Burkhalters retired to Berne in 1989, Edward died in 1993. Ramoth moved to Minneapolis in 2007 to be near her family.

She is survived by six children, Mary Kay Larson and her husband, Jonathan, of Atlanta, Beth Ann Taylor and her husband, George, of Bridgewater, Va., John Burkhalter and his wife, Barbara, of Indianapolis, Joyce Flueckiger and her husband, Chris, of Minneapolis, and Sheryl Burkhalter and her husband, Vivek, of Chicago; a brother, Oscar Lowe Jr. of Scottsdale, Ariz.; 10 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.