Suderman, John M. (1876-1964)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1964 Nov 12 p. 5

Birth date: 1876

text of obituary:

NEWTON and VICINITY

A number of deaths have occurred in this area in recent days. Rev. John M. Suderman, 88, died early Tuesday at Bethel Deaconess Hospital after a long illness. A native of Russia, he came to this country in 1878. Rev. Suderman at one time served on the Bethel College faculty. He was a former administrator of the Bethel Hospital, and was the founder of the Mennonite Book Store here. He is survived by two sons, five grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, three sisters and one brother. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Friday in the Bethel College Church of which he was a member. Rev. Russell Mast, the pastor will officiate.

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1964 Mar 11 p. 11

REV. JOHN M. SUDERMAN

John M. Suderman was born in South Russia, in the village of Pastwa, on Feb. 19, 1876, to John J. and Maria Buhler Suderman. That same year his parents emigrated to America, settling on a farm four miles south and about five miles west of the present town of Moundridge, Kan.

In 1885 his parent sold the farm and moved to Lehigh, Kan., where his father opened a hardware and furniture business. Here J. M. grew to manhood and received his grade school education. For several years, his teacher was H. D. Penner, who later established the Mennonite Preparatory School in Hillsboro. J. M. also decided to enter the teaching profession, and after another year of training at a small college in Salina, he received his teacher's certificate and for two years taught a district school not far from Lehigh.

Bethel College opened its doors in the fall of 1893, and for the school year 1894- 95 he quit teaching and continued his education at Bethel. After this he taught district school for another two years, and for the year 1897-98 again enrolled at Bethel.

However, the salaries paid to teachers were so small at that time that it was impossible to provide a home and support a family. So in the fall of 1898 he took a course in business training at Wichita, and at the beginning of the new year accepted a position as bookkeeper with a lumber and hardware concern.

While at Bethel he became acquainted with Clara Eymann, a daughter of D. T. Eymann of Moundridge. They were married on May 20, 1900. J. M. was offered an opportunity to become a partner in a hardware business operated by two of his brother-in-law in Moundridge, and before the year 1900 had come to a close the young couple sold their home in Lehigh and moved to Moundridge. In the spring of 1903 Mrs. Suderman's parents moved to California settling at Upland. A year later her brothers Jacob and August and their families also went to California, and together with their parents, decided to make their home in Reedley, Calif., being the first Mennonites to locate in that part of the state.

The young couple moved to Reedley in January of 1905, where J. M. again served as bookkeeper in the lumber business with the Eymann brothers. Earlier while J. M. was at Bethel a close friendship was formed between himself and P. A. Penner who was at that time preparing to go to India as a missionary. J. M. also became convinced that the Lord wanted him to take up full-time Christian service. In 1908, this conviction asserted itself even stronger than before. So, both J. M. and Mrs. Suderman gave up their business career and started to carry out their conviction in the fall of 1908. They embarked on an educational tour of five years.

Their first field of work was in their former home church at Moundridge, Kan. Both Mr. and Mrs. Suderman had been converted and baptized and joined the Mennonite church at the age of 14, she uniting with the Garden Township church, six miles south of Moundridge, and he joined the Mennonite church at Lehigh. After they were married and moved to Moundridge they both transferred their membership to the West Zion Church. And it was this church which extended a call to him to serve as its pastor.

This ministry began in January 1914 and continued until the fall of 1921, when he joined the teaching staff at Bethel College. He continued to teach in the Bible department on both the academy and the college level for five years. In the spring of 1926 his health had begun to fail and he was obliged to resign.

His health improved, and in the spring of 1929, a call was extended to him to serve as superintendent of the Bethel Deaconess Home and Hospital, in which capacity he served for three years.

In the spring of 1933 he became pastor of the Buhler Mennonite Church, and continued until the fall of 1938, when he suffered a moderately heavy heart attack. Since he could not continue in the ministry for some time, he accepted an offer from the Board of Publication of the General Conference to serve as manager of an office which the Board had decided to establish at Newton. By the middle of January of 1939 his condition had improved sufficiently for him to begin work in his new position.

The office was opened in a suitable room in the Herald building, and arrangements were made to transfer all printing of the General Conference periodical from Berne, Ind. to Newton, and contracts for this work were divided between the Herald Publishing co. and the Bethel College Press. In this new position Rev. Suderman worked from 1939 to 1948 when he decided to retire.

After a lingering illness of several years Mrs. Suderman was called to her heavenly home in August 1950, just a few months after they had observed their golden anniversary. The Lord provided another able and faithful life companion for him again during the following year in the person of Marna L. Galle, a daughter of Rev. Wm. Galle, whose successor Rev. Suderman had become when he accepted the call in 1914 to serve as pastor of the West Zion Church in Moundridge. They were privileged to share life's joys and sorrows together for a period of only 13 years and nine months, plus a few days.

Rev. Suderman was called to his eternal reward on Nov. 10, 1964. In all he spent 40 years in full-time Christian service.

He leaves to mourn his departure, his widow, Marna, his two sons, Wilfred and Arthur and their families, one brother, three sisters, many relatives and friends.