Reimer, Bernhard B. (1865-1956)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1956 Oct 4 p. 6

Birth date: 1865 Mar 5

text of obituary:

. . .

— Mrs. P. D. Gaeddert has received word of the death of her uncle, B. B. Reimer of Reedley, Calif., who died Monday afternoon at the age of 92. Funeral services were to be held at the Reedley M.B. Church on Thursday forenoon. Mr. Reimer was among the early school teachers in Marion County, Kansas.

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Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1956 Nov 1 p. 8

text of obituary:

B. B. REIMER

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Our father, Bernhard B. Reimer, was born in the village of Klehfield, South Russia in February 1865. With the change in calendar his birthdate changed to March 5. His mother, Anna, was the daughter of Jacob Friesen, the village blacksmith, who because of his size and strength was known as "Big Friesen." The Reimer family lived with the mother's parents for a while in the village of Blumstein. When father had reached school age they lived with his other grandparents the Peter Reimers in the village of Konteniousfeld. Here he got his first four years of schooling. In June, 1877, when he was 11 years old, the great trek to the promised land of America began.

The family consisting of 12 persons arrived in Burrton, Kansas, and were met by earlier immigrant relatives and settled on a farm in McPherson County. There were just $24 left after all the moving expenses and young and old had to work hard to earn a living and get established in the new land.

He attended a school 11 miles north of Newton, Kansas, conducted in the home of Peter Richert, who had come with a different group of immigrants from the same villages. While living in the attic rooms of this home with a number of boys, including some of the big sons of Richert, he was attracted to a rather slight and frail young woman, the only daughter of the house. Later he continued his higher education by attending the Halstead Academy. He was a member of the first graduating class and for many years the only surviving member of this class. After a few years this school was oved to Newton, Kansas and adopted the name of Bethel College.

He became a teacher in a country school close to his home, but he was still interested in the girl he had met in the Richert home so the acquaintanceship was renewed and it resulted in a love-match that has lasted through more than 66 years of marriage and devoted companionship. Lena Richert became his June bride in 1890. For 13 years he was a teacher and did some farming during the long vacation months. This never quite suited him and he was not a successful farmer. He was always deeply religious and was a member of the Alexanderwohl Mennonite church. The spiritual welfare of his young students concerned him greatly and every year most of them were led to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

When the little settlement of Goessel was established he moved his family there and was the postmaster, the druggist, and later the grocery store owner. The tornado of 1906 flattended [sic] his store building, wiped out his barns and tore his house apart.

Politics always interested him. The civic duties were as sacred to him even as his other work, so when he was given an opportunity to work in the county courthouse in Marion, Kansas, he moved there. In a short time he was elected county clerk and served several terms. during this time his only daughter was added to the family of five sons.

When the work in the courthouse ended, his brother-in-law, Dr. Peter Richert, urged him to come to California, and he decided to move. For a while the family lived in Caruthers, then in Fowler, and in a year or so, a 20 acre tract was purchased in the Sanger riverbottoms. At this time he and mother were immersed in the Kings River and received as members of the Reedley Mennonite Brethren Church.

His inaptitude for farming became evident to him once more and he moved to his last home in Reedley in 1923. For several years he served as bookkeeper in various places, and then secured a commission as a Public Notary. He greatly enjoyed notarizing legal documents and preparing gift deeds and birth certificates.

Our father was a man of prayer and devotion. In the years when he could do little else, he daily interceded with God for his children, his friends, his church, his neighbors, and his country. He could be heard praying almost any time of day. The Bibles he read several times a day had to be larger and larger as his eyesight dimmed. He and mother repeatedly read the bible from cover to cover and he talked to God as an intimate friend.

Hundreds of the saved will greet him as god's instrument in their salvation. Nothing was more important to him than his Sunday School and church. Asa younger man he taught Sunday school classes, conducted young people's meetings, worked with any denomination that taught salvation through Jesus Christ. With one of his nieces, Miss Susie Richert, he founded the Japanese Sunday school in Reedley. He also served as youth leader for many years in the Reedley M. B. church. For years he was a member of the Board of Trustees of the General Conference of the Mennonite Brethren.

He leaves to rejoice in his relief from the burdens of 91 years and eight months, besides a host of friends, his wife, Lena; his sons Gustav and Otto of Reedley, Paul of San Mateo, Arthur of Inglewood, R. Joe of Watsonville; one daughter, Mrs. J. C. Kliewer; and two sisters, Miss Justina Reimer and Mrs. Agnes Giesbrecht of Reedley. His departure is the first break in the immediate family circle in more than six decades.

He was seriously ill only about two weeks and was most anxious to take this journey for which he had so long prepared. On Monday afternoon, October 1, he entered his eternal Home through the gateway only the blessed can see.