Harder, Ruth Anita Burkhard (1920-1958)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1958 Jan 23 p. 5

Birth date: 1920 Jan 19

text of obituary:

Mother of Three Dies at Mt. Lake

Mountain Lake, Minn. — Funeral services were held at the First Mennonite Church here Jan. 15 for Mrs. Leo Harder,37, who died at the Bethel Hospital Jan. 12 after a long illness.

Mrs. Harder, the former Ruth Burkhard, is survived by her husband and three children, Gordon 8, Charles 7, and Lois 5; her mother, Mrs. Lydia Burkhard of Goshen, Ind., and three sisters.

Graduating from Bluffton College in 1943, Mrs. Harder taught in Ohio public schools for four years. The Burkhard family formerly resided at Fairfield, Pa.

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Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1958 Jan 30 p. 8

text of obituary:

RUTH BURKHARD HARDER

"Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (I Cor. 15:57)

On Jan 19, 1920, Ruth Anita Burkhard harder was born. On Jan. 12, 1958, she departed to be with Christ, which is far better.

Her parents, Henry and Lydia Lefever Burkhard, lived at Roseland, neb. when Ruth was born. At the age of ten she received the water of baptism, and professing Christ as her Savior became a member of His Body and of the vicible church. Since 1950 she had been a member of the First Mennonite Church of Mountain Lake, Minn.

Ruth attended the public schools of Roseland, Neb. until 1934 when with her parents she moved to Fairfield, Pa. She graduated from the Fairfield High School in 1937 and from Bluffton College at Bluffton, Ohio in 1943. For four years she taught music and English in the Fulton Centralized School at Swanton, Ohio and in the Deshler Public Schools at Deshler, Ohio.

With a keen sense of the need in our world Ruth entered Voluntary Service under the Mennonite Central Committee. For several summers the Life of Christ found expression through her in this manner. Her service experience of love to God and man came to be an indelible mark upon her life. Through her training and talent in music and teaching she later expressed this devotion to Christ in active responsibilities in the Church.

It was at Gulfport in 1946, while in Voluntary Service, that she frist [sic] met Leo Harder. The Lord had His hand on both and on Sept. 13, 1947, they were united in the bond of marriage at Fairfield, Pa. Their home was blessed with god's gift of three children: Gordon Leo, Charles Kenneth, and Lois Christine.

It was a year ago that cancer was found to be present. Fortified with Christian faith she lived this year with a wholesome and positive outlook. The depth of her Christian experience and devotion permitted her to be cheerful and buoyant. To members of the family as well as friends and neighbors her life was a clear example of the faith spoken of in Hebrews 11.

Besides her husband and children Ruth's mother, Mrs. Lydia Burkhard, and three sisters, Evelyn (Mrs. Herman Perry, Urbana, Ohio), Mary Agnes (Goshen, Ind.) and Christine (Mrs. Roland Lehman, Middleton, Wis.), all rejoice in the victory that is in the Lord Jeus Christ.

A memorial service was held at the First Mennonite Church on Jan. 15 with the pastor, Rev. Willard Wiebe, officiating. Interment took place at the Mountain Lake Cemetery.

The Mennonite obituary: 1958 Feb 18 p. 111