Duerksen, Vernon D. (1932-1971)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1971 Apr 22 p. 3

Birth date: 1932

text of obituary:

Evangelist Killed On Way to Kansas For Special Meetings

Rev. Vernon D. Duerksen, 38, widely known evangelist and youth worker of Freeman, S. D., was fatally injured in a highway accident last Saturday noon while en route here to conduct an eight-day New Life Crusade at the newton First Mennonite Church.

He died at 12:45 a.m. Monday in a Sioux Falls, S. D. hospital. the meetings have been cancelled.

According to information received here, Rev. Duerksen was traveling alone on Highway 46 near Beresford, S. D. when his auto left the highway and turned over several times. The cause of the accident is not known here, although he had reportedly been ill recently.

The funeral will be conducted at 10:30 a.m. Thursday in Pioneer Hall at Freeman Junior College. A memorial service was to be held Wednesday morning at Grace Bible Institute, Omaha.

A native of Alsen, N. D., Rev. Duerksen was a graduate of Grace Bible Institute and since 1957 had been staff evangelist for the Institute.

Survivors include his widow, the former Marilyn Wollman, and a daughter Kimberly, 9, of the home in Freeman; his parents, Rev. and Mrs. Edward Duerksen of Freeman, and one sister, Mrs. Dellene Stucky, a missionary in Guyana.

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Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1971 Apr 29 p. 8

text of obituary:

— Going to Freeman, S.D. last week by car to attend funeral services for Rev. Vernon D. Duerksen were Rev. L. R. Amstutz of Whitewater, Rev. Harold Graber and James Thiessen of Elbing, and Alvin Harms of Newton. The latter represented the board of deacons of the Newton First Mennonite Church, where Rev. Duerksen was scheduled to conduct an eight-day New Life Crusade from April 18 to 24. He was fatally injured in a one-car accident near Beresford, S.D. shortly after leaving home for Newton and died early Monday, April 19, in a Sioux Falls hospital. The largely attended funeral was conducted in Pioneer Hall at Freeman Junior College. His pastor, Rev. Carl Carlisle of the Bethel M.B. Church near Bridgewater, officiated and the message was given by Rev. Waldo Harder, president of Grace Bible Institute, Omaha. Rev. Duerksen, who was 38, had been associated with the Institute as staff evangelist for some years. Burial was made in the cemetery of the Bethel Church.

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1971 Jun 3 p. 11
The Mennonite obituary: 1971 May 25 p. 351