Nunemaker, Harvey Ebersole (1893-1972)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1972 Nov 2 p. 16

Birth date: 1893 Dec 11

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1972 Dec 21 p. 11

text of obituary:

HARVEY E. NUNEMAKER

Harvey Ebersole Nunemaker was born to Samuel M. and Frances (Ebersole) Nunemaker on Dec. 11, 1893, near Sterling, Ill.

As a young boy he attended East Science Ridge School. At age 10 he was baptized into the Science Ridge Mennonite Church, following special meetings by J. S. Shoemaker and revival meetings in Sterling led by Evangelist Billy Sunday.

He attended the Academy at Goshen and graduated from Goshen College in 1921. The following year he married Alma Ruth Hostetler of Elkhart, Ind.

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After farming the first two years of marriage, he felt the call to the ministry and served the Mennonite Church at Danvers, Ill. 1924-27. From 1927-31 he served as the first pastor of the Mennonite Church at Comins, Mich. During the years 1931-41 he served the Mennonite Church in Tiskilwa, Ill., where he also had a dairy during the depression years. From 1941-46 he served the Zion Mennonite Church of Donnellson, Iowa; 1946-53 the Silver Street Mennonite Church at Goshen, Ind.; 1953-61 the Eicher Mennonite Church at Wayland, Iowa, and1961-65 the Boynton Mennonite Church at Hopedale, Ill.

In 1965 he retired from the active ministry and he and his wife moved to Elkhart, Ind. and joined the Hively Mennonite church. He served for a time as coordinator of Hively Church, and also as parish visitor of Bethel EUB Church.

In November 1970 his wife died and the following spring he moved to Bluffton, Ohio, where both his daughters live. He joined First Mennonite Church and became active a Sunday school teacher and as program director of the senior citizens' group.

On Oct. 24, 1972 at age 78, he suffered a heart attack while moving into an apartment in the daughter's new home in Bluffton. He died that evening. Funeral services were held Oct. 26at First Mennonite Church, Bluffton, with Rev. Stanley Bohn and Rev. Wilmer Shelly officiating. Services were also held at Hively Mennonite Church, Elkhart, Ind., with Rev. Jacob Enz and Rev. A. E. Kreider officiating. Burial was in Prairie Street Cemetery in Elkhart.

Surviving Rev. Nunemaker are two daughters, Evelyn (Mrs. Howard) Krehbiel and Mary Ann (Mrs. Clarence) Kooker, both of Bluffton, O.; eight grandchildren; two brothers, Samuel of Maple Rapids, Mich. and Charles of St. Johns, Mich.; and one sister, Katie (Mrs. Milton) Hess of Sterling, Ill.

During his ministry of 41 years Rev. Nunemaker served on various conference boards and on the Bluffton College Board of Trustees. He felt his Christian responsibility very strongly, and daily lived for others. He loved people and especially enjoyed pastoral calling. He was patient, kind, and loving, a gentle and humble man who will long be remembered affectionately by those who knew him.