Bergen, Anna Koehn (1872-1964)

Revision as of 15:56, 12 November 2020

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1964 Nov 26 p. 3

Birth date: 1872 May 2

text of obituary:

Bequeathes $150,000 Estate for Missions, M. B. Institutions

Reedley, Calif. — Bequests totaling more than $150,000 comprising the bulk of the estate of Mrs. Anna Koehn Bergen, widow of Jacob P. Bergen, have been made to institutions of Mennonite Brethren Churches, it has been announced here.

Mrs. Bergen, who died Oct. 13 of this year, left $8,000 to the M. B. Biblical Seminary and $8,000 to Pacific College, both at Fresno, Calif.

The Bergen residence in Reedley has been bequeathed to the Reedley M. B. Church with the desire that it be used for foreign missions and housing for missionaries who may be visiting here. The balance of the estate located in California, valued at about $110,000 after administration costs have ben deducted, was left to the M. B. General Conference to be used in mission work.

The will also provides that one-half the proceeds from sale of farm property in Oklahoma go to the conference. The property is valued at about $32,000. The other half is to be divided between 14 nieces and nephews.

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1964 Nov 26 p. 11

text of obituary:

Anna Koehn Bergen, the daughter of Jacob and Anna Unruh Koehn, was born in Waldheim, South Russia, on May 2, 1872. At the age of five she migrated with her parents to the United States and settled on a farm near Inman, Kan. From her earliest age she worked hard to make a success of pioneer life.

She accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as her personal Saviour at the age of 17 under the ministry of Rev. Peter H. Wedel. She was baptized upon her confession of faith by Elder Abraham Schellenberg and united with the Ebenezer Mennonite Brethren Church of Buhler, Kan.

As a young lady, still single, she homesteaded 160 acres in western Kansas, building her own little one-room