Bergthold, Anna Suderman (1875-1957)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1957 Mar 21 p. 1

Birth date: 1875 Dec 26

text of obituary:

RETIRED MISSIONARY TO INDIA CALLED BY DEATH AT REEDLEY

Reedley, Calif. — Funeral services were conducted at the Mennonite Brethren church here march 14 for Mrs. Anna Bergthold, 81, retired missionary to india who died at the Reedley home for aged March 11.

Mrs. Bergthold went to India as a missionary in 1898. She met Mr. Bergthold in south Indiia and they were married in 1916, continuing as missionaries under the M.B. board until 1946. Her husband preceded her in death.

Surviving are four daughters, two sons and 14 grandchildren.

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Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1957 Apr 4 p. 8

text of obituary:

Mrs. Anna Suderman Bergthold, our loving mother, daughter of Gerhard and Anna Suderman, was born on Dec. 26, 1875, at Bingham Lake, Minn. Here she spent her childhood days, and on Nov. 16, 1892, she found peace for her soul by placing her faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as her personal Saviour. That same year she with her parents moved to Cooper, Oklahoma. Here she was baptized upon the confession of her faith by Rev. Grunau and united with the Mennonite Brethren Church for fellowship.

A few years later the family moved to El Reno, near the Indian reservation, and here her first love was born for the souls of the Indian people. She did some day work among these Indians under the auspices of the Old Mennonite Church and in conformity with the regulations of the government.

In 1895 she transferred to the Deaconess Home in Chicago and labored in the well known mission station known as "Light and Hope" together with the renowned city missionary Rev. Sprunger. Here in the deaconess work she was ordained on December 7, 1896.

She received her Bible training at Moody Bible Institute as well as the Bible School of Berne, Ind. She took her nurses training at Cook County Hospital in Chicago.

On July 21, 1898, she bade farewell to her parents in El Reno, Okla., as she left for India, little realizing that she was never to see them again. She was joined by Miss Carrie Peter and they landed in Bombay, India, Dec. 11, 1989. Her first work was done under the auspices of the Christian Missionary Alliance Church at Ahmedabad, North India. In 1899, she was asked by the Mennonite Brethren Conference to join the N. N. Hieberts in establishing the first Mennonite Brethren Mission in Mulkapett. She was the first medical missionary to work with the Mennonite Brethren in India and was later to work in the first hospital established in Nagarkurnool, in 1912, by the Mennonite Brethren Conference.

On June 20, 1916, our mother joined hands in holy matrimony with our father, Daniel F. Bergthold, in the Telugu church at Ooty, Nilgiri Hills, South India. Through this act she assumed the responsibility of becoming a mother to five children who had been left motherless the year before. This new union was blessed by one son, Sammy.

After mother had served as a missionary for 47 years, our parents retired at Alhambra, Calif. Here father passed away on Oct. 25, 1948. In 1951 mother moved to the Home for the Aged at Reedley, Calif. Here she was a constant blessing to the workers as well as to others in the home. Her unselfish life and her spirit of sacrifice were a spiritual balm to all who came in contact with her. Even though her memory continued to lose in vigor, the subject of their beloved work in India never failed to bring a quick and happy response.

In the fall of 1953 she had her first stroke and became bedfast.

She had several intermittent strokes that weakened her condition. In January of this year she had another stroke which left her unable to speak. The workers in the Home gave her the best of care, and she remained a most pleasant patient to the end. On March 11, 1957, at 12:20 p.m., while two of her daughters were standing by at her bedside, she quietly slipped away to behold the glories of Heaven which she had longed to see. She reached the age of 81 years, one month and 15 days.

She was a mother in the truest sense of the word, and has left an impact upon each of our lives.

The children who remain to mourn her departure are: Viola, Mrs. John Wiebe, India; Lydia, Mrs. Charles Marple, Rowayton, Conn.; Bertha, Mrs. Herb Ikenberry, Wenatchee, Wash.; Martha, Mrs. Edward Pullman, Pleasant Hill, Calif.; Henry Bergthold, La Puente, Calif.; Sammy Bergthold, West Covina, Calif.

One brother, Abraham, whom mother took care of even before her marriage to father, passed away at the age of six months in 1916. — The Children.