Penner, Jacob (1934-1972)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1972 Mar 2 p. 1

Birth date: 1934

text of obituary:

Three Children Are Victims

Fatal Attack by Morro Indians By Mrs. Frieda Kaethler Filadelfia, Paraguay

WE HAVE COME to think of the Morro Indians as harmless, but recently we were shocked by another fatal attack which occurred near Bahia Negra in the far north of Paraguay.

One of our Mennonite-born girls, Anna Fast, married a Paraguayan and they live at Bahia Negra. They had six children.

Some Morro Indians had come to Bahia Negra and came to the house of the Leiva family repeatedly, asking for food. One day four Morros who had frequented the home came again asking for food. As Mrs. Leiva went to get some manioc, a starchy root which we use as potatoes, she noticed that one of the Morros was grappling with her husband.

SHE RAN to the house to get a rifle, but was knocked down with a machete. The result was that three of the children were massacred and the husband and wife badly injured. Both survived, although when we visited at the hospital in Asuncion, the husband was still not clear mentally because of the serious concussion which he suffered. At present both of the Leivas have been dismissed from the hospital and are said to be improving.

Another tragic incident occurred in Filadelfia at the Hotel Florida. The manager, Jacob Penner, warned a Paraguayan client who had been making advances to the girls who work there. The offended Paraguayan returned at 10 p.m. with a pistol and shot down Penner as he was walking on the yard. The assailant fled while people were attending to the wounded man.

THE BULLET went through Penner's neck, injuring his spinal cord so that he is paralyzed from the waist down. He was taken to Asuncion by special plane and underwent surgery immediately, but there is little hope that he will regain use of his legs.

Penner is about 38 years old, married and the father of two children. Police have been trying in vain to find the assailant.