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Tschetter, Jacob M. (1873-1956)
Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1956 Feb 2 p. 1
Birth date: 1873 Aug 19
text of obituary:
FRACTURED HIP FATAL TO AGED MINISTER OF K. M. B. CHURCH
Freeman, S. D. — Funeral services were conducted at the Bethel K. M. B. Church on Jan. 25 for Rev. J. M. Tschetter, 82, retired minster of the K.M. B. Conference who died Jan. 21. His death was caused by complications resulting from a broken hip which he sustained shortly before Christmas.
Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1956 Feb 16 p. 3
text of obituary:
. . .
— Rev. Jacob M. Tschetter, well-known K. M. B. minister and elder who died at Huron, S. D. on Jan. 21 at the age of 82, was a pioneer missionary among the colored people of western North Carolina. He and his first wife, the former Katherine Decker, served there from 1903 to 1912. He then served as pastor of the Bethel K. M. B. Church near Carpenter, S.D. for 29 years, and continued active in church work almost to the end of his life.
Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1956 Mar 1 p. 8 text of obituary:
JACOB M. TSCHETTER
Rev. Jacob M. Tschetter, son of Jacob J. and Marie Tschetter, was born in South Russia on August 19, 1873.
When he was one year old, in 1874, his parents migrated to North America, spending their first winter in Elkhart, Ind. In the spring of 1875 they entered the Dakota Territory, going to Yankton, which was then the terminal of the only railroad into the territory. Via ox cart they went 45 miles northwest of Yankton and became part of a settlement started there that year. No towns had been founded in that area at the time.
Here Rev. Tschetter spent his boyhood and teen-age years. He attended school a few months each winter in the pioneer school house, and much of the instruction was in German. He could vividly relate how he spent the night in the schoolhouse during the famous blizzard of 1888.
As a youth he was of good moral character and deep religious convictions. In 1894 he committed his life more definitely to Christ and experienced the new birth. On July 8,1894, he was baptized and became a member of the Salem K. M. B. Church near Bridgewater, S. D., a church which had been founded by his uncle.
On Dec. 20, 1896, he was married to Katherine Decker, who fully appreciated and supported his religious convictions and helped him realize his great desire to enter Christian work. They lived with his parents for six years, and after their second son, Samuel, was born, he left his family with his parents and attended school in Cleveland, Ohio, and Sioux Falls College.
He was ordained as minister by Henry Wiebe of Hillsboro, Kansas, on Jan. 1, 1903, and then they answered the call to become missionaries to the colored people of western North Carolina, and took over an orphanage that had been founded there by the K. M. B. Conference. They left their sons, Sam and Amos, with the grandparents, and spent nine years working in that field of missionary endeavor. The experiences there were the highlights of his life, and the most satisfying.
Due to a growing family, they decided to return to South Dakota in 1912 and settled near Carpenter where he soon assumed the active leadership of the Bethel Church. This position he held for 29 consecutive years, extending to Dec. 12, 1941. In 1917 he was ordained as an elder in the Conference of the K.M.B. Church, serving as its president for some time, and on conference committees for many years.
His family was blessed with 10 children, three of whom preceded him in death. The surviving children are: Sam. M., Carpenter, S. D.; Amos, Ipswitch [sic Ipswich], S. D.; Mrs. Albert Boyd, Newark, Ohio; Mrs. John R. Hofer, Brookings, S. D., Becky Tschetter, and Adena [sic Adina] Skeen, Columbus, Ohio; Mrs. Egon Hofer, Dinuba, Calif.
The life of Rev. Tschetter was completely dedicated to his Maker and Master and was filled with satisfactions for him, yet it was not void of bitter experiences. One occurred when, as he often related, and never without some tears, his four-year-old daughter, Mary, burned to death while they were on the mission field.
The year 1931 brought to him the greatest loss of his life, a loss from which he never completely recovered, when his devoted wife, Katherine, a most gracious Christian personality, passed away. After this he lived with his son Sam, continuing his work in the church.
On Nov. 10, 1937, he married Mrs. Anna Toews of Inman, Kansas, and after a brief residence at the old home, they moved to Yale, S. D., where they resided for three years before moving to Huron. Having resigned his position as leader of the Bethel Church in 1941, he nevertheless continued his great interest in church work, and became active in the organization of the Bethesda Church in northwest Huron and shared in its work for some time. He also ministered to the African Methodist Church in West Huron as much as his strength would permit.
About five years ago his health began to fail somewhat, but he and Mrs. Tschetter lived comfortably and happily in their home. On Christmas Eve in 1953, Mrs. Tschetter suddenly died, leaving him alone for the second time.
His indomitable will and his implicit faith and trust in God enabled him to carry on. He spend [sic] much of his time visiting the sick and the aged. He had many friends who dropped in to comfort him, but his greatest friend was his Bible, which he read daily, having read it completely from cover to cover, in both English and German, during the last four years.
An internal ailment continued to vex him, and he twice submitted to major operations after his 79th birthday. On Dec. 16, 1955, he fell and broke his hip bone, and another operation was necessary from which he recovered remarkably. However his original ailment struck him again while in a rather weakened condition, and it soon became evident that the end was near.
He passed away quietly at the St. John's Hospital in Huron at 12:10 p. m. on Jan. 21. He reached the ae of 82 years, five months, and two days.
His death in mourned by his seven children; one brother, John M. Tschetter of Huron; two sisters, Mrs. Anna Entz of De Smet and Mrs. Joe B. Glanzer of Huron; two daughters-in-law; three sons-in-law; twelve grandchildren; and many friends.
Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1956 Apr 26 p. 9
text of obituary:
A TRIBUTE TO REV. JACOB M. TSCHETTER
The most striking thing about my father's life was that it was always dominated by and dedicated to the cause of religion. It is difficult to conceive how one could be more conscientiously and more completely devoted to the cause of Christ and the Church than he was. He viewed life as a crusade for God, and from earliest boyhood to his last days, he was an active soldier in that noble crusade. If I were to choose a motto for his life as I view it in retrospect, it would be, "For me to live is Christ."
The supreme loyalty of his life was to the Bible, which to him was the inspired Word of God, and he loved its pages dearly. He had firm beliefs and convictions about what the teachings of the Bible were. But in spite of these convictions, he was respect and considerable tolerance for those who differed with him on certain matters of doctrine.
The greatest joys and the deepest satisfactions of father's life came from preaching the word. To him preaching was not work or a chore; it was a passion. Every opportunity to preach was a challenge to him that he enthusiastically accepted without reluctance. And that was as true at age 65 as it was at 35. I would roughly estimate that in his life time he preached around 3,000 sermons, and he enjoyed every minute of it.
Father was a praying man. He was not ashamed to pray anytime, anywhere. He was sensitive to the richness of life, to the problems of others, and to the wonder of God.
Father had little formal education, neither was he intellectually brilliant, but that makes his life with its achievements even the more remarkable. It indicates what a human being can achieve and be if he has the will to do, and permits that will to be an implement in the hand of God.
