Voth, Selma J. Graber (1903-2002)

Newton Kansan obituary: 2002 Sep 17 p. 2

Birth date: 1903 Jan 10

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 2002 Nov 11 p. 12

text of obituary:

SELMA J. GRABER VOTH

Selma J. Graber Voth, 99, of Memorial Home in Moundridge, Kan., died Sept. 11, 2002. She was born Jan. 10, 1903, to John Joseph and Katherine (Waltner) Graber on a farm near Freeman, S.D.

She was baptized at Salem-Zion Mennonite Church of Freeman, where she served as an organist.

Her mother died of liver cancer when she was 17. Six years later her father was hospitalized with a blood infection, and she spent several days with him before he died.

She attended country school and Freeman Academy. She taught country school for several years and gave private piano lessons. She then earned a degree in piano at Bethel College in North Newton, Kan. While there she worked in the Bethel College library.

At Bethel she met Paul D. Voth, whom she married June 12, 1930, in Freeman. They moved to Chicago, where he was in graduate school at the University of Chicago while she worked until the birth of her two daughters.

When her children became older, she devoted volunteer time in the Girl Scouts and was a member of Friends in Council, a play-reading group. She was an active participant at Hyde Park Baptist Church, where she was a member.

She enjoyed bridge and always had a vegetable garden, even when they resided in a city. During their time in Chicago many relatives, students and friends were their guests.

After her husband's retirement at the University of Chicago, they moved to DeKalb, Ill., where they joined the DeKalb Friends Meeting. In 1980-81, they built and moved into a solar home near Moundridge and became active members of Eden Mennonite Church. She made friends easily, was politically astute and widely read. She enjoyed intellectual exchange of ideas on a wide range of topics. She enjoyed listening to classical music, was a wonderful cook and excellent homemaker. Her poise and sense of humor allowed her to be equally at ease in all types of social settings. Survivors include two daughters, Felice Goering and her husband, Clyde, and Pamela Dahlberg and her husband, Albert; eight grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Paul, in 1992; seven sisters; two brothers; and a great-grandson.