Harder, Jacob B. (1900-1975)

Mennonite Brethren Herald obituary: 1975 Feb 7 p. 29

Birth date: 1900 Sep 27

text of obituary:

JACOB B. HARDER

Jacob Bernhard Harder was born to Bernhard and Anna (Janzen) Harder in Friedensfeld, South Russia on September 27, 1900. In 1909 the family moved to the village of Chortitza in Siberia. In 1924 Jacob moved to Slavgorod, where he served as recording secretary in the Menno Verband.

He accepted Christ as his personal Savior at age 22, and was baptized and joined the Chortitza Mennonite Brethren Church on June 10, 1923. He loved music and at 18 became conductor of the church choir in the Chortitza Church, a position his father relinquished to his aspiring son. Almost immediately after his baptism in 1923, he also began his preaching ministry.

When he moved to Slavgorod in 1924, he continued to serve as choir director and minister there. This is also where he met and married his wife Kaethe on August 8, 1926. For more than 48 years they shared in the marriage relationship. God blessed them with five children, three sons and two daughters.

In 1969 they emigrated to Canada, settling first in Rosthern, Sask. for three months and then moving to B.C. After a short stay in Yarrow, they established a home on a farm in Greendale in November, 1930. The Greendale Mennonite Brethren Church, then known as Sardis, was founded in early 1931. That spring Jacob gathered a group of 16 to 20 voices and organized the church's first choir. He served the church as minister and choir director until the summer of 1974, bringing his final message on August 25. Appropriately, his last public ministry was the conducting of the mass German Choir at the Mennonite Centennial celebrations in Chilliwack on September 15, 1974.

He lived a full life, and remained content and thankful to the end. After a time of illness in 1971 , God graciously restored him to the family for another three years. He departed to be with the Lord on January 2, 1975, at the age of 74. He served the Lord joyfully and went home willingly.

The family rejoice in the memory of his full and victorious life. Left to mourn his passing are his wife, Kaethe; sons: Peter and wife Katherine, Walter and wife Betty, Alvin and wife Esther; daughters: Lillian and husband Roger Macauley, Alice; nine grandchildren; three sisters: (Mrs.) Susanna Janzen, Vancouver, B.C., Anna Harder, Greendale, B.C., (Mrs.) Tina Ewert, Chilliwack, B.C. He was predeceased by his parents, one brother John and sister Helen.