Duerksen, Menno (1917-2005)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 2005 Jul 4 p. 8

Birth date: 1917

text of obituary:

MENNO DUERKSEN

Menno Duerksen, 88, of Germantown, Tenn., died June 20, 2005. A newspaper journalist, he wrote stories of his life, including growing up in a Mennonite farm family in western Oklahoma, in Dear God, I'm Only a Boy (Wordsworth, 1986 and 1995).

As a reporter with the Memphis Press-Scimitar, in 1968 he watched doctors at St. Joseph Hospital trying to save the life of Martin Luther King Jr. As a reporter for the United Press, he covered the Nuremberg trials of Nazi leaders after World War II. While covering the trials, he climbed a church tower to witness the hanging of prisoners in a courtyard. He covered Israel's creation in 1948, dodging bullets as he got the story.

In 1987, he wrote a book about the Memphis Belle, the first Flying Fortress to make 25 bombing runs over Europe with its original crew. More recently, he wrote for an antique car restoration magazine.

He is survived by his wife, Theresa; three stepsons, Gerriet Folkerts of Fredericksburg, Va., Heiko Folkerts of New York and Bernie Folkerts of Lebanon, Tenn.; a stepdaughter, Meta Lippold of Northport, N.Y.; a sister, Eva Mae Reimer of Granbury, Texas, 17 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his first wife, Ruth.

Services were held at Memphis Funeral Home Poplar Chapel.