Harder, Albert Melvin (1926-2003)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 2003 Jul 21 p. 8

Birth date: 1926 Nov 2

ext of obituary:

ALBERT MELVIN HARDER

Albert Melvin Harder, 76, of Mountain Lake, Minn., died June 29, 2003. He was born Nov. 2, 1926, to Jacob J. and Anna Janzen Harder in their farm home southwest of Mountain Lake.

He attended country school through eighth grade and graduated from Mountain Lake High School. He attended Mountain Lake Bible School two winters. He helped his parents on the farm until 1947, when they moved to Mountain Lake.

He was baptized and joined First Mennonite Church of Mountain Lake on May 28, 1944.

At Mountain Lake he was employed in masonry work. He went to Brook Lane Farm in Maryland, where he volunteered as a construction worker for Mennonite Central Committee, building a mental hospital. There he met Bessie Zimmerly, and they were married May 1, 1949, near Kidron, Ohio.

For the next seven years they moved between bricklaying work near Kidron, farming near Warroad, Minn., and bricklaying and farming near Mountain Lake. In 1956 they settled southeast of Mountain Lake, where they farmed for 40 years. Upon retirement, they moved into Mountain Lake.

He generously gave of his time. A few of his contributions were to local efforts such as Heritage House, Butterfield Threshermen's Association and Mountain Lake Christian Day School. In church he served as a Sunday school teacher, trustee, deacon, congregational chairman and worked with Northern District Conference, including Swan Lake Christian Camp. For MCC he chaired the local meat canninng [sic] project for 22 years, helped with Mennonite Disaster Service, the Care and Share Shop and Minn-kota Relief Sale.

Survivors include his wife of 54 years, Bessie; five children, Rebecca Aum of Mendocino, Calif., Rachel Diener and her husband, Nevin, of Harrisonburg, Va., David and his wife, Protoomporn, of Butterfield, Maryann Mbairamadji and her husband, Koffi, of Minneapolis, and Wilma Harder of Goshen, Ind.; four brothers, Jacob W., Lawrence, Leo and Walter, all of Mountain Lake; and seven grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by siblings Theresa Harder, Harry Harder and Anna Harder Nickel.