Epp, Nettie K. Harms (1874-1913)

Revision as of 14:50, 25 June 2015

The Mennonite obituary: 1913 Feb 20 p. 3

Birth date: 1874 Mar 30

text of obituary:

Mrs. J. B. Epp, nee Nettie K. Harms, was born March 30, 1874, in the country of Russia near the boundary line of that country and Poland. That same year, in the late fall, her parents, together with a large number of other German settlers, emigrated to America into the State of Kansas. These emigrants lived under rather poor circumstances in the early years of their sojourn there. Since her 14th year, Nettie has been away from home a great deal, earning a part of her living. Even before that age, she had been staying part of the time with other people of that German neighborhood, helping take care of the children and attending school part of the time. She showed great aptness in attending to the sick, and gradually she became known there as "the one always ready." Whenever any family around had sickness and needed help, the suggestion seemed to come of itself, "Just send for Nettie Harms."

Later on she began to feel the lack of education, and so attended the Mennonite College at Newton, Kans., for almost four years. She also taught German school for three short terms. Then the call came to her to enter the mission field among the Hopi Indians in Arizona. After two years of work there, she had about decided to take a regular two years' course for nurse, and possibly return to that same field, making the work among the sick Indians a specialty. But God had other plans for her. She did return to that field (after two months though) as the happy wife of a missionary.

Mr. and Mrs. Epp were married June 29th, 1905. They had worked together in that mission field for six years more, when Mrs. Epp was compelled to leave that high altitude of northern Arizona on account of heart disease, which she most likely had contracted from rheumatism in earlier years, though not fully realizing it until then.

They moved