Showaker, Hannah (1978-2003)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 2003 Jan 27 p. 1

Birth date: 1978

text of obituary:

MCCer killed in Indonesia

Another missing after flash flood

By MCC News Service

SALATIGA, Indonesia — A Mennonite Central committee worker was killed and another was missing after they were caught in a flash flood Jan. 22.

The workers were hiking in the mountains outside the city of Salatiga on the island of Java. Another worker who was with them escaped injury.

Hannah Showaker, 25, of Newville, Pa., was found dead one mile from the point where she was washed away by the flood waters.

Alana Fife, 21, of Calgary, Alta., and most recently of Winnipeg, Man., was still missing at press time.

The third worker, Daniel Warren of Shoreline, Wash., escaped injury, along with a local friend.

All three MCC workers are part of the Serving and Learning Together program for young adults. They arrived in Indonesia in August.

Showaker was a 2002 graduate of Messiah College, Grantham, Pa. In Indonesia she was teaching English at an elementary school in Banjutowo Village, java. She was a member of Carlisle (Pa.) Brethren in Christ Church. Her parents are Joan Showaker and the late don Showaker.

Fife is a 2002 graduate of the University of Winnipeg. In Indonesia she has been teaching English at an elementary school in Solo, Java. She is a member of Calvary Temple in Winnipeg. Her parents are Darryl and Cynthia Fife.

"The entire MCC family and supporting faith community are deeply shocked at the tragedy that has befallen these two families," said MCC executive director Ran Mathies. "Both Hannah Showaker and Alana Fife have been described as young women of grace and strong character who were making an impact on children in their communities in Indonesia."

MCC workers have hiked before in the area, a popular picnic spot. Warren was taking a photograph of Showaker and Fife when the water came rushing through.

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 2003 Feb 3 p. 1, 10

text of obituary:

Young MCCers were devoted to service

Indonesia flash flood claimed their lives

By Robert Rhodes

Mennonite Weekly Review

School was our, and they had hiked to a popular picnic spot in the Telemoyo mountain area on the Indonesian island of Java. The area is about 370 miles east of the capital, Jakarta, in a country famed for its lush forests and ancient Buddhist temples.

But on Jan. 22, as two Mennonite Central Committee workers stood in ankle-deep water near the Sekar Langit Falls, having their picture snapped by a colleague, tragedy was about to wash over them.

[Transcriber's note: The same two photos published on page one of the 27 Jan 2003 Mennonite Weekly Review were repeated here.]

Hannah Showaker, 24, of Newville, Pa., and Alana Fife, 21, of Winnipeg, Man., were killed when a wall of water rushed over the falls and swept them downstream.

Showaker's body was found that evening about a mile away. The next morning, rescuers found Fife's body, which had been carried nearly six miles by the torrent.

Fellow MCC worker Daniel Warren of Shoreline, Wash., was photographing Showaker and Fife when the flash flood struck. Warren escaped harm, but an Indonesian friend who had accompanied the trio was swept a short distance before scrambling ashore with minor injuries.

Showaker, a 2002 graduate of Messiah College in Grantham, Pa., and Fife, a student at the University of Winnipeg, taught English through MCC's Serving and learning Together, or SALT, program. They had been in Indonesia since August, along with Warren, another SALT worker.

When Showaker and Fife were swept away, Warren immediately summoned help. MCC officials said about 100 local residents, including worshipers from a local mosque, rushed to the scene and later helped recover the women's bodies.

Showaker, who taught in an elementary school in Java's Banyutowo Village, and fife, who taught at a grade school in solo, Java, were staying at MCC's headquarters in Salatiga during a school break. The trip to Telemoyo and the falls was one often made by other MCCers, officials said.

After the tragedy, MCC Indonesia workers planned to accompany both women's bodies back to the United States and Canada. A memorial service was held in Salatiga Jan. 25.

Eva Chermack, who directs the SALT program at MCC headquarters in Akron, Pa., said MCC staffers in Indonesia were devastated by the tragedy.

"There's been an overwhelming reaction from all places," Chermack said. "The Indonesian community there is very, very devastated."

Chermack said in dealing with the aftermath of the deaths, she was touched by one encounter in particular.

When speaking with the mother of one of the women, Chermack said instead of personal grief, she heard considerable concern expressed for the family in Indonesia who had hosted the SALT worker.

"That was the most poignant moment for me," Chermack said.

Showaker was a member of Carlisle (Pa.) Brethren in Christ Church, which was sponsoring her yearlong term with SALT. One of Showaker's letters from Java was included in a recent church newsletter.

Pastor Alan Robinson said Showaker and her family had been involved with the church for many years. Showaker, he said, was a quiet but devoted young woman with a strong interest in mission work and service to others. She had considered going to graduate school at Eastern Mennonite University at Harrisonburg, Va., after her return from Indonesia, Robinson said. There she wanted to study missions and then return to the service field.

Robinson got to know Showaker during a church service trip to South Carolina, where the congregation regularly helps with Habitat for Humanity projects. Robinson believes Showaker's sense of call and service came from these journeys.

Showaker's SALT term was not her first foray into overseas service. While a student at Messiah, Showaker spent the summer of 2001 in Belize with 'Target Earth International, a Christian group that combines environmental work with helping the poor in 15 countries.

"I think that had a profound impact on her," Robinson said. "God was certainly working in her life through that experience."

One of Showaker's professors at Messiah remembered her hard work and inspiring presence in the classroom.

"She had a spark, a compassion and such a work ethic — what a special person," said Anita Voelker, an education professor. "She was marvelous at teaching."

Showaker's church has established a fund in her memory to assist short-term mission workers.

Fife was a member of Calvary Temple, a Pentecostal church in Winnipeg. There, she was known for her radiant smile and unflappable way with children. The church's your group held a memorial service for Fife on Jan. 24.

Gerry Michalski, young adult pastor at the church, said Fife's friends were devastated by her death. "There have been tears, lats of tears," he said.

Michalski said Fife joined Calvary Temple in 1998 and had been active there ever since. On a memorial Web page, friends remembered Fife as outgoing, spiritually earnest and full of fire for Christ.

"She wanted to see people saved and was open to God's will for her life," one friend wrote.

Also on the church's Web site are two letters Fife sent from overseas, describing some of her experiences and the dedication of her fellow SALT workers.

Fife's former roommate, Lois Thiessen, 25, told the Calgary (Alta.) Sun: "She really was an exceptional person. She emulated a joy that really was second to none. Once you met her you would never forget her."

At Calvary, Michalski said, "she really grew in her love for kids, her heart for ministry, her heart for people, her heart for the elderly. . . . She impacted a lot of different people at a lot of different levels. You can't walk into a person who hasn't felt the loss."

Going to Indonesia, he said, and taking time off from college to do it were important decisions for Fife.

"She really felt she needed to do some hand-on," Michalski said, and the MCC school in Java offered an opportunity to hone her teaching skills.

The Jan. 24 memorial service included an audio tape Fife had made right after New Year's. On the tape, which none of her friends had listened to before the service, Fife could be heard praying for her youth group back on the cold Canadian prairie, thousands of miles from the south Pacific island where she would die just a few weeks later.

"It's a very powerful testimony," Michalski said.

Showaker's funeral was scheduled for Feb. 1 at Carlisle Brethren in Christ church.

A memorial service for Fife was to be held Jan. 29 at Stanley Knowles School in Winnipeg. The funeral was scheduled for Jan. 30 at Calvary Temple.

Showaker is survived by her mother, Joan Showaker of Newville, Pa. Fife is survived by her parents, Darryl and Cynthia Fife of Calgary, Alta., and a sister.

MCC News Service contributed to this story.

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 2003 Feb 17 p. 6

text of obituary:

Mourning, support in wake of two MCC deaths

Memorial services help Indonesian churches, families express sorrow

By Maria Linder-Hess

MCC News Service

[Transcriber's note: The same two photos published on page one of the 27 Jan 2003 Mennonite Weekly Review were repeated here.]

AKRON, Pa. — Mennonite Central Committee workers in Indonesia have felt an outpouring of support from Indonesian Mennonite churches following the Jan. 22 deaths of Alana Fife and Hannah Showaker.

The two MCC workers were visiting a scenic waterfall near Salatiga, Java, along with fellow MCC worker Daniel Warren and Thomas Sarhana Hadi, an Indonesian friend, when a flash flood swept the two women away.

As news of the tragedy spread, Indonesian Mennonites joined the search for Fife, 21, and Showaker, 24.

The two women, part of the Serving and learning Together program, were living with Indonesian host families while teaching English to primary school students.

Through the SALT program, "these young people belong not only to MCC but also belong very clearly to the families and churches that host them," said Jeanne Jantzi, MCC Indonesia country co-representative. "Their host families and churches shared deeply in the tragedy and the grieving that followed."

While MCC workers mourned and worked on the logistics of sending the women's remains home, Indonesian Mennonites supported them in many ways.

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I talked with my parents over those days and tried to explain that I was by no means alone in my grieving.

— Daniel Warren

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"Dozens of people, especially church members, just dropped everything for the whole week and came to share the suffering with us," Jantzi said.

The churches provided emotional support not only to MCC workers but also to the Indonesian host families, who also were deeply stricken by the deaths. Fife, of Winnipeg, Man., lived with Pak Paulus and Ibu Ruth Hartono in Solo, Java. Showaker, of Newville, Pa., lived with Pak Saptojoadi and Ibu Darmini in Banyutowo village, Java.

Paulus Hartono and Saptojoadi are both Mennonite pastors, and Saptojoadi participated in MCC's International Visitor Exchange Program, a reciprocal program to SALT, in 1973.

Warren, of Shoreline, Wash., who was photographing Fife and Showaker when the flood struck, also found himself surrounded by support.

"I talked with my parents over those days and tried to explain that I was by no means alone in my grieving," Warren said. "More than 40 people from my church alone in Sukodono made the three-plus hour trip at various times to visit with me and attend memorial services."

More than 300 people attended a Jan. 25 memorial service in Salatiga, including MCC workers, Indonesian host families, members of host churches, friends, university students, co-workers, language teachers and church leaders. Some traveled hours to attend.

"And a steady stream of people traveled to Semarang, where the bodies were kept in a funeral home, to lay their hands on the caskets and say goodbye," Jantzi said.

Altogether, five memorial services took place in Indonesia.

Fife was cremated in Semarang before her ashes and Showaker's body were flown back to Manitoba and Pennsylvania, accompanied by MCC workers.

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 2003 Feb 17 p. 6

text of obituary:

Special memorial planned for Fife, Showaker

By Robert Rhodes

Mennonite Weekly Review

The father of a Mennonite Central Committee worker killed in Indonesia wants to help the people his daughter served, as a testament to her life and dedication to Christian mission.

Darryl Fife of Calgary, Alta., plans to travel to Indonesia in the next two months to look at options for establishing a permanent memorial there. He will meet with leaders in two Javanese communities where his daughter, Alana Fife of Winnipeg, Man., and Hannah Showaker of Newville, Pa., worked through MCC's Serving and Learning Together program.

The two young women were killed Jan. 22 in a flash flood while hiking near a waterfall in the Telemoyo mountain area of Java.

Fife, 21, a student at the University of Winnipeg, taught in a grade school in the city of Solo, Java. Showaker, 24, a 2002 graduate of Messiah College in Grantham, Pa., taught in an elementary school in Java's Banyutowo Village.

Darryl Fife said he would like to explore several possibilities for helping the children in those communities. An orphanage, school expansion or even a homeless shelter are among the prospects. The chief requirement is that they benefit children in those areas, he said.

Fife said he would leave it to community leaders on Java to determine the project and its location.

"I've been saying why give a tractor to a farmer who can't afford to buy any gas?" Fife said. Letting the communities determine what they need most, he believes, would be the best memorial for his daughter and Showaker.

As of Feb. 5, Fife said about $15,000 Canadian had been raised for the memorial fund, which is being handled by Calvary Temple in Winnipeg, a Pentecostal church where Alana Fife was an active member. About half the amount was raised at Fife's funeral at the church Jan. 31`. The Fife family is matching that total.

The fund will be left open, fife said, so that donations can be ongoing and supplemented by the family as needed.

Fife said he is consulting with MCC officials in Alberta, and with Showaker's mother, Joan, to plan the memorial. Showaker's church, Carlisle (Pa.) Brethren in Christ, established its own fund in Showaker's memory, to give financial help to short-term missionaries from the congregation.

Fife met with MCC executive director Ron Mathies in Calgary Feb. 8 to discuss the project.

"We want to be supportive . . . because Alana was an MCCer and we want to see if we can help facilitate this," Mathies said.

Donations to the fund may be sent to:

Alana Fife memorial Fund
c/0 Calvary Temple, 400 Hargrave St.

Winnipeg, MB R3B 3A8CANADA