Banman, Frank W. (1887-1965)

Latest revision as of 15:48, 20 July 2021

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1966 Jan 6 p. 5

Birth date: 1887 Oct 22

text of obituary:

. . .

• Funeral services for Frank W. Banman, 78, who died Dec. 28 at the home on East Fifth Street in Newton, were held Friday forenoon at the Alexanderwohl Church. Rev. Aaron Epp, Rev. Victor Sawatzky and Rev. John Thiessen officiated. Mr. Banman was a member of the Faith Church in Newton and a retired farmer and railroad worker. He leaves his widow, the former Mary Flaming, three sons, six daughters, 19 grandchildren, one great-grandchild, three half-brothers and five half-sisters. Miss Hulda Banman, missionary to the Congo, is among the surviVng daughters.

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1966 Feb 24 p. 8

text of obituary:

Frank W. Banman was born on Oct. 22, 1887, to Franz and Katherine Wiebe Banman on a farm west of the Alexanderwohl Church, Goessel, Kan. His childhood was spent in the Springfield community, where he also attended elementary school. Later he attended the Academy in Hillsboro taught by Rev. H. D. Penner. That godly man had a profound influence upon his young life, and many of the lessons and experiences from there were frequently recounted in his later life.

He was baptized on June 3, 1906, by Rev. Peter Balzer in the Alexanderwohl Mennonite Church, where he remained a faithful member until becoming a charter member of the Faith Mennonite Church in Newton on Sept. 7, 1958. He made every effort to attend services regularly.

On Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 25, 1909 he married Mary Flaming, in the bride's parental home in the Antioch community near Hillsboro, Kan. The young couple set up farming in the same neighborhood. Here all the ten children were born, on whom one son, Paul, was still-born.

From 1929 to 1931 the family lived in the state of Washington, then returned to the same farm in Kansas. In August of 1945, he gave up farming and moved to Newton. There he realized an earlier dream of working for the Santa Fe Railroad. He had great satisfaction in working there for nearly ten years before retiring.

Through the years he was not known to be sick until the fall of 1963, when his strength began failing. Three major operations were performed on him during the first half of 1964, after which he seemed to have regained much of his former health and strength. In the summer of 1965, his illness was found to have recurred.

On Thanksgiving Day of 1965, he was still able to sit up a short while during the commemoration of their 50th wedding anniversary.

His wish was to remain in his own home until the Lord should call him. He quietly passed away at noon on Dec. 28, 1965. He reached the age of 78 years, two months and six days.

Survivors include his widow Mary; three sons: Ewald F. of Denver, Arnold F. of Liberty, Mo., and Marvin F. of rural Hillsboro; six daughters: Edna (Mrs. A. W. Schmidt) of Cassoday, Kan., Clara (Mrs. R. W. Voth) of Goessel, Wanda (Mrs. Nicolas Salvatierra) of Bolivia, South America, Pauline (Mrs. G. M. Peters) of Freeman, S. D., Miss Hulda Banman of Congo, Africa, and Helena (Mrs. F. E. Holland) of St. Joseph, Mo.; also five sons-in-law, two daughters-in-law, 19 grandchildren and one great-grandchild, and three half-brothers, Peter, Herman and Arthur Pankratz; and five half-sisters, Elizabeth, Eva, Helena, Sarah, and Adelgunda.

The Mennonite obituary: 1966 Jan 18 p. 42