Edelmann, Anna Downs (1875-1956)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1956 May 10 p. 8

Birth date: 1875 Dec 19

text of obituary:

MRS. ANNA EDELMANN

Anna Downs Edelmann was born near Denmark, Iowa Dec. 19, 1875, and died April 23, 1956, at her home northeast of Versailles, Mo., aged 80 years, four months and four days. She was a daughter of Jeremiah and Amanda Downs. She was one of a family of six children, Otis, Rophemia, Edith, Elmer and Arthur Downs, the latter of whom survives at Lake Charles, La.

She was married to William H. Edelmann on March 7, 1897, to which union were born nine children, three of whom died in infancy. Those children who survive are William Warner and Mary Ruth (Mrs. George Diener), both of Versailles; Mina Naomi (Mrs. John F. Kauffman) of Goshen, Ind.; Martha (Mrs. Gerald Dettwiler) of Ontario, Calif.; Anna Magdeline (Mrs. Harry Nice) of Sweet Home, Ore.; and Samuel Edelmann of Kalona, Iowa.

When a small girl she moved with her parents from Iowa to Shawnee, Kans. in a covered wagon. After this the family moved to Abilene, Kans. and then to Argentine near Kansas City, Kans. It was here that she was converted and became one of the first converts of the Mennonite Mission.

The family lived at various places near Kansas City. In 1912 they moved to the Pea Ridge community near Philadelphia, Mo. where they lived until 1925. The family again moved, locating this time in the Mt. Zion community near Versailles, where she spent the remainder of her life with the exception of a three years' residence with a daughter in Kansas City.

Grandmother Edelmann, as she was affectionately known, was a faithful member of the Mennonite church, living true to Christ and the church. She maintained through the years a faith in god that enabled her to endure the many trying circumstances that life brought to her. She dearly loved her family and did her best to provide for their needs, both temporal and spiritual. her presence will be missed in the home, the church and the community.

Funeral services were held at Mt. Zion church near Versailles on Thursday, April 26, with Bro. Ira Buckwalter of Palmyra, Mo. preaching the sermon, assisted by Bro. Harry Buckwalter, also of Palmyra, and the local pastor, Leroy Gingerich. Interment was in Mt. Zion cemetery.

Those from a distance who attended the funeral were: Mrs. Harry Nice, Sweet Home, Ore., Mr. and Mrs. John F. Kauffman and son Michael, Goshen, Ind., Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Edelmann and son Clayton of Kalona, Iowa, Mr. and Mrs. Harry Buckyalter [sic Buckwalter], Mr. and Mrs. Ira Buckwalter of Palmyra, Mo., Oliver, David, Maybelle and Nellie Hathaway, all of near Philadelphia. Mo.