Wenger, Esther Elizabeth Boehr (1922-2016)

Date of Birth: 1922 Apr 1, Wisner, Nebraska
Date of Death: 2016 Dec 18, North Newton, Kansas

Esther Elizabeth (Boehr) Wenger, 94

April 1, 1922 ~ December 18, 2019

Esther was born April 1, 1922, in Wisner, Nebraska to Henry and Elizabeth (Wiebe) Boehr. She was baptized in 1935 at Salem Mennonite Church, and graduated from Wisner High School in 1939. Esther obtained a Secondary Teacher's Certificate at Bethel College in North Newton, Kansas, and taught school in Goessel, Kansas. In 1943, she took a summer session at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado.

Esther married Malcolm Wenger Dec. 23, 1943, in Wisner, Nebraska. They were blessed with five children and nearly 60 years of marriage.

As newlyweds, Malcolm and Esther moved to Montana and spent 22 years with the Northern Cheyenne, near Busby, Montana, serving as General Conference Mennonite missionaries. Esther was an ordained minister of the General Conference Mennonite Church.

In 1966, they moved back to Newton, where Esther was an active member, deacon and teacher at Faith Mennonite Church.

In 1978, Malcolm and Esther moved to Manitoba, Canada, where they pastored Selkirk Mennonite Church, which included Metis and native Canadians. In 1985, semi-retirement brought them back to Newton from where they served for short periods in Crow Agency, Montana, Buhle and Kykotsmovi, Arizona. They attended Shalom Mennonite Church. In 1999, they moved to Kidron Bethel Village assisted living/nursing home complex.

Esther frequently reached out to people of all ages, hosting guests, corresponding with and visiting others, with a concern for their faith. In addition to being an attentive mom and grandmother, she spent many years teaching Sunday School, directing church programs, playing piano and organ, and helping with youth camps. One of Esther's prayers was that "we will all find ways to live the love of Christ in our activities."

Esther Elizabeth (Boehr) Wenger, 94, retired missionary and church worker, died Sunday, Dec. 18, 2016 at Kidron Bethel in North Newton, Kansas.

Left to cherish her memory are three daughters: Betsy (Randall) Kaufman of Windom, Kansas, Ann Wenger of Goshen, Indiana and Grace Wenger of Newton, Kansas; sons-in-law, Ken Voth of Newton and Konrad Ege of Mt. Rainier, Maryland; three grandchildren, Cristina (Scott) Woodall of Phoenix, David (Sarah) Kaufman of Halstead and Hans Ege Wenger of Afghanistan; two great-grandchildren, Erik and Evan Kaufman; and one nephew, John (Kim) Schmidt of San Francisco, California.

In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by two daughters, Becky Voth and Martha Wenger; sister-in-law Ruth (Wenger) Schmidt, Orlando Schmidt and their son Ted Schmidt.

Services will be Thursday (Dec. 29, 2016), with a viewing from 10 to 11 a.m. at Peterson Funeral Home, burial at 2 p.m. at Eastlawn Cemetery in Zimmerdale and a memorial service at 4 p.m. at Shalom Mennonite Church in Newton, with a meal and sharing to follow.

Memorial suggestion: White River Cheyenne Mennonite Church, Busby, MT.

Sources: obituary published in the Dec. 21, 2016 The Kansan, Newton, Kansas (Find A Grave)

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MLA Personal Photos Collection

Biographical note:
Wisner, Nebraska
d/o Henry and Elizabeth (Wiebe) Boehr
m. Earl MALCOLM Wenger 1943 Dec 23, Wisner, Nebraska
Teacher -- Goessel, Kanss
Missionary -- Busby and Lame Deer, Montana 1944-1966
Homemaker, Newton, Kansas

Bethel alumni note:
Bethel College student 1939-40, 1943-44

Photo holdings:
Individual -- Teacher Placement files
With Victor and Ruth Sawatzky -- c. 1937, Wisner, Nebraska
See Earl Malcolm Wenger (1919-2003) for family photos

Sources:
Grandma online 713634
Alumni card
Esther Wenger 1993 corresp.
Juhnke, People of Mission, p. 222
Find A Grave 174321976