Epp, Amelia A. Becker (1927-2005)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 2005 Jun 27 p. 8

Birth date: 1927 Aug 8

text of obituary:

AMEDLIA A. EPP

Amelia A. Epp, 77, of Henderson, Neb., died June 7, 2005. She was born Aug. 8, 1927, to Daniel and Anna (Tieszen) Becker on a farm near Marion, S.D.

Her father died of cancer during the depth of the Depression, leaving her mother to run the farm and support a large family. The hardships of the time left Amelia with an abiding concern for the suffering of others.

She married Robert O. Epp of Henderson on Sept. 29, 1961, in the Bethesda church of rural Marion. They settled on his home farm near Henderson.

She was a master craftswoman with a keen artistic vision, and she sewed most of her own clothing. She also loved to read and closely followed events in the broader Mennonite community and wider world alike.

She was deeply principled and committed to the work of Mennonite Central Committee, the General Conference Mennonite Church and Christian Peacemaker Teams. She supported her husband's extensive travels with Witness for Peace and CPT. While he was on an extended trip to Nicaragua in 1988, the Lincoln (Neb.) Journal in an editorial called her "one of Nebraska's more informed, sensitive and quietly passionate workers to ameliorate human suffering."

Survivors include her husband, Robert O.; two children, Charles and his wife, Lora Jost, of Lawrence, Kan., and Timothy and his wife, Heidi Schmidt, of Hyattsville, Md.; a brother, Willard Becker; four sisters, Emma Schroeder, Eva Goosen, Anna Mae Rudiger and Lily Schroeder; and six grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by a brother, Herbert.

A memorial service was held at Bethesda Mennonite Church in Henderson.