Claassen, Catharina Thiessen (1883-1975)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1975 Mar 6 p. 8

Birth date: 1883 Sep 21

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1975 Apr 10 p. 11

text of obituary:

MRS. CATHARINA CLAASSEN

Catharina Claassen, nee Thiessen, was born at Beatrice, Neb. on Sept. 21, 1883, to Henry and Agnetha (Epp) Thiessen, and died March 1, 1975, at the age of 91 at the Peabody Memorial Nursing Home, Peabody, Kan.

Om her youth she attended the Morgan School and the Emmaus German School. She was baptized on Oct. 28, 1900 by Rev. Edward Claassen and became a member of the Emmaus Mennonite Church, Whitewater, Kan., of which she remained a faithful member until her death.

She was married to Ed Claassen Jr. on Dec. 18, 1902, and they settled on a farm one and a half miles south of Whitewater, where they lived until January 1972. To this union were born 13 children.

Those who remain to cherish her memory are her husband, of the Peabody Memorial Nursing Home; the children, Catharina and Edwin Schroeder of Paso Robles, Calif., Agnes, residing at the Peabody Nursing Home (who faithfully cared for the parents), Marie and Roy Stucky of Rt. 3, Newton, Kan., Ed L. and Hester of North Newton, Kan., Henry T. and Elsie of Whitewater, Walter W. and Marie of Burns, Kan., David H. and Viola of East Peoria, Ill., Orlando M. and Florence of Whitewater, Louis J. and Ruth of Paso Robles, Calif., Curt A. and Olga of Whitewater (on furlough from India), Daniel E. and Dora of Whitewater, Donald S. and Verbena of Whitewater, Melvin R. and Martha of Mt. Lake, Minn. (on furlough from Zaire); 41 grandchildren and 56 great-grandchildren; one brother, Jake Thiessen of Whitewater, and one sister, Mrs. Agnes (Alfred) Wiebe of Reedley, Calif.

Mother enjoyed good health until January 1973 when she entered Bethel hospital and then was transferred to Peabody Memorial Nursing Home for medical and nursing care.

She was a loving mother who never lost her temper, but still maintained discipline in the home and admonished us to walk in the ways of the Lord. We always knew mother was praying for us.

Mother is the first of the immediate family to go on to her Heavenly Home. her death ended 72 years and two months of married life. — The Family.