Willms, G. H. (1900-1974)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1974 May 9 p. 3

Birth date: 1900 Sep 14

text of obituary:

Located in Newton Since 1923

Publisher, Civic Leader Dies

G. H. Willms, long-time Newton publisher and civic leader leader, died early Friday, May 3, at Bethel Deaconess Hospital after an illness of two weeks. He was 73.

The widely attended funeral service was held Monday afternoon at the First Mennonite Church of Newton, with the pastor, Dr. Albert H. Epp, officiating. Interment was in Greenwood Cemetery.

Mr. Willms was born Sept. 14, 1900 in South Russia, the son of Rev. H. H. and Aganetha Willms. He was baptized at Landskrone in the Molotschna colony on Pentecost of 1921. After public school education, he entered the School of Commerce, both in Alexanderkrone and Gnadenfeld. Later he also attended the Teachers Institute at Halbstadt.

HIS EDUCATION was interrupted by the political situation in Russia. As one of the first of the great wave of Mennonites forced to leave Russia because of the Bolshevik revolution, he arrived in Kansas in January 1923.

On the way, in Constantinople, Turkey, he was married to Anna Dick, to whom he had been engaged and who was also leaving Russia at that time. She and a daughter, Herta, survive of the home.

Other survivors include two sisters, Miss Katie Willms and Mrs. Agnes Koop; and three brothers, A. H., P. H., and J. H. Willms, all of Ontario, Canada.

IN OCTOBER 1923 Mr. Willms located in Newton, where he became associated with the Herald Publishing Co., of which he later became president and manager. This company published the German paper "Der Herold," of which he was assistant editor, 1923-35, and editor, 1935-41.

In 1946 he organized the Herald Book and Printing Co. and served as its president. Under his direction, this firm printed a number of nationally circulated Christian papers and magazines.

He had a long association with the National Association of Evangelicals and regularly attended the annual sessions. At the 1973 convention in Portland Ore., the NAE honored him by naming him "Layman of the Year."

MR. WILLMS was a member of the First Mennonite Church of Newton, where he had served in various leadership positions. He was a charter member of the Newton, Kiwanis Club, a member of the board of directors of the Railroad Savings and Loan, Salvation Army and the Hesston Foundation. He also served as president and was a member of the Board of Directors of Bethel Deaconess Hospital Assn., for nine years, and was a former director of the Newton Chamber of Commerce.