Baumgartner, Paul Gerhard (1894-1945)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 20 Dec 1945 p. 5; 3

Birth date: 1894

text of obituary:

20 Dec 1945 p. 5

— The many friends of Paul Baumgartner, for many years an instructor in manual training in the Newton high school, will be grieved to hear of his sudden and unexpected death at the Bethel Deaconess Hospital last Sunday morning. He had been in apparent good health on Saturday and had yet made a business trip to Wichita. Sunday morning at 7:00 o'clock he was brought to the hospital in an ambulance, a very sick man as result of heart attack. At 9:00 o'clock he passed away. Outside the classroom, his life was one of many and varied interests. In respects to his outstanding service, Newton schools will be closed during the funeral hour on Thursday afternoon. The services will take place in Memorial Hall at North Newton at 2:30. Besides his deeply bereaved wife, the former Anna M. Miller, Mr. Baumgartner is survived by his aged mother, Mrs. S. S. Baumgartner, and a sister, both of Portland, Oregon. The services will be in charge of Rev. Hostetler, pastor of the Bethel College church, and Dr. E. G. Kaufman, president of Bethel College.

3 Jan 1946 p. 3

PAUL G. BAUMGARTNER

Into the Sunset

Let me die working

Still tackling plans unfinished, tasks undone!

Clean to its end, swift may my race be run,

No laggard steps, no faltering, no shirking.

Let me die working!

Paul Gerhardt Baumgartner, son of the late Rev. S. S. Baumgartner and Mary (Vogt) Baumgartner, was born in Garden township, Harvey county, Kansas, Jan. 13, 1894. Here he lived until 14 years of age, when he moved with his parents to Salem, Oregon. After one year at Willamette University, Salem, he returned to Kansas to enter Bethel College, from which he graduated in 1923.

On Aug. 12, 1918 he was united in marriage to Anna Marie Miller of Hanston, Kansas, also a student of the same college at that time.

The Bethel College campus has been their home for the past 28 years where both he and his devoted wife have endeared themselves to the hearts of the people of this locality, the Bethel College church and City of Newton.

A musician of ability, he conducted a men's chorus for a number of years, which served the churches in this area. He was the promoter of the annual Mennonite Song Festival, which has already became [sic] a tradition in this community. His service as a piano tuner and organ technician was constantly in demand.

For 23 years he has been a valued member of the teaching staff of the Newton city schools in the Industrial Arts Department. He not only touches the lives of scores of youth in his daily classes at school, but also shared with them his any and varied hobbies. He was an archer of repute in the state. He is known for his interest and work in astronomy, having constructed a mirror lens telescope by which he and his friends, young and old enjoy the beauty of the ever-changing heavens.

Recognizing his civic administrative ability the citizens of North Newton vested in him the responsibility of mayor. Due to his untiring efforts North Newton has become one of the beauty spots of central Kansas.

Conscious always of the spiritual and cultural life of his community, he was devotedly loyal to his Alma Mater. Bethel College, and his church, both of which he served constantly in various capacities.

On Sunday morning, Dec. 16, at the early age of 51 years and 11 months this active and effective life was terminated by a coronary attack. It is with difficulty that his co-workers assume the heavy and varied responsities [sic] he has had to lay down.

He will be missed most in his home by his devoted and bereaved wife, Anna, also by his mother and a sister, Mrs. Frank Penner, both of Portland, Oregon. His influence and memory will carry on indefinitely in the hearts and lives of the host of admires [sic] and friends in this community of which he has been so vital a part.

"They are not lost who reach

The summit of their climb,

The peak above the clouds

And storms. They are not lost

Who find the light of sun

And stars and God."

Funeral services were held in Bethel College Memorial Hall, Dec. 20, at 2:30 P.M. Clergymen officiating were his pastor, Rev. Lester Hostetler, and a life-long friend, D. E. G. Kaufman.

Ave Maria was played by Rupert Hohmann on the violin and the Bethel College a cappella choir directed by Prof. Walter Hohmann sang "God So Loved the World" and "Be Still My Soul." Active casket-bearers were Leo Brandt, Leonard Kreider, Menno Schmidt, J. Birch Stuart, John Weaver and Walter Haury. Honorary casket bearers were J. B. Heffelfinger, Frank Lindley, H. W. Schott, Leland Moore, A. J. Regier, J. E. Regier.

Interment was made in Greenwood cemetery under the direction of Moody's Funeral Home.

I want to express my most sincere thanks and appreciation for the many kind things my friends have done for me in my deep sorrow. -- Mrs. Paul Baumgartner