Basinger, Elmer (1882-1958)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1958 Jul 24 p. 6

Birth date: 1882 Jun 14, Ohio
Date of Death: 1958 July 13, Iowa

text of obituary:

Services at Wayland For Retired Minister

REV. ELMER BASINGER WAS FORMER PASTOR OF WAYLAND MENN. CHURCH

WAYLAND, Iowa. — A large number of friends and former associates attended funeral services at the Wayland Mennonite church on July 15 for Rev. Elmer Basinger, 76, retired General Conference minister and former pastor of the Wayland congregation. Death came July 13 in Memorial Hospital, Mt. Pleasant, after several years of failing health.

A native of Pandora, Ohio, Rev. Basinger was a graduate of Bluffton College and Witmarsum Seminary, and took graduate work at the Garrett Biblical Institute, Evanston, Ill.

After some years of public school teaching, he became assistant pastor of the Ebenezer church near Bluffton. His long ministry included pastorates at Freeman, S. D., Donnellson, Iowa, Winton, Calif. and Summerfield, Ill. as well as Wayland. While at Freeman he also taught at Freeman Junior College.

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Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1958 Jul 24 p. 8

text of obituary:

ELMER BASINGER

Rev. Elmer Basinger, son of Theophilus and Anna Amstutz Basinger, was born near Pandora, Ohio,on June 14,1882. His long and fruitful labors as a school instructor and minister of the Gospel came to a close on Sunday morning, July 13, 1958, when he answered the final summons of his Creator at the Henry County Memorial Hospital in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, where he had been hospitalized since Thursday, July 10. Failing health during the past two years, especially in the last year, had necessitated a gradual relinquishing of normal duties.

He grew to manhood in his parental home near Pandora, where he early showed more than usual interest in the academic realm. In 1900 he graduated from Pandora high school with highest honors. After teaching in the schools of that area from 1900 to 1909 he heard the call of the Master to enter the high calling of the gospel ministry and immediately set out to prepare himself for this task.

He attended Bethel College, Newton, Kan.; Findlay College, Findlay, O.; and Bluffton College, Bluffton, Ohio, where he was given his A. B. degree in 1915.

He obtained his Bachelor of Divinity degree following completion of graduate work at Witmarsum Seminary, Bluffton, Ohio, in 1917. He took further work as a graduate student at Garrett Biblical Institute, Evanston, Ill., in 1923.

This fine preparation earned him the distinction of serving many of the well-known churches in the General Conference Mennonite Church. While a student at Bluffton College he served as assistant pastor at the Swiss Mennonite (Ebenezer) Church near Bluffton from 1912 to 1917. His pastorates after that included two terms at the Bethany Mennonite church, Freeman, S. D., 1918-20 and1924-7; two terms at the Zion Mennonite church, Donnellson, Iowa,1920-24 and 1948-51; Wayland Mennonite church, Wayland, Iowa, 1927-36; First Mennonite church, Summerfield, Ill., 1936-48; and a supply pastorate at Bethel Mennonite church, Winton, Calif., 1951-52. While serving in Freeman, S. D., from 1924-27 he was also an instructor at Freeman Junior College.

While serving these Mennonite congregations in various places, he also served his denomination in other ways. He was president of the Northern District Conference in 1919, served a term as secretary of the Middle District Conference, and was on the Witmarsum Seminary board of trustees from the time of that board's founding.

At other places and times he held lesser but equally important offices which were a part of the church's mission for proclaiming the good news. He prefaced his retirement with a European tour in 1952, during which time he attended the World Conference of Mennonites in Switzerland. His Swiss ancestry made this a much-appreciated sequel to his active labors.

In addition to his faithful service to the Lord, he was a loving father in a home which was inaugurated by his marriage to Caroline Schumacher on May 5, 1907, at Bluffton, Ohio. to this union were born four daughters and two sons, all of whom survive.

His life was saddened when on Feb. 12, 1951, his life companion passed to her reward. However, his life was blessed with the helpful support of Grace Graber, with whom he was united in marriage on March 29, 1953. Since their marriage they made their home in Trenton, rural Mt. Pleasant, Ia. Here he pursued his gardening avocation with very fine results. He also assisted the Wayland Mennonite church pastor in a multitude of ways as the need arose. In these activities he utilized the waning strength of a life poured out on behalf of his Master and the Church for nearly 50 years.

He is survived by the widow of the home, Mrs. Grace Basinger, rural Mt. Pleasant; the six children: Mrs. Laverne (Gwendolyn) Geiger, Washington Grove, Maryland; Laverne, Quincy, Ill.; Mrs. Edward (Lynette) Hirstein, Golconda, Ill.; Mrs. Ralph (Grace) Ruth, Tulsa, Okla.; Rev. Carl O., Keokuk, Iowa; Mrs. Edward (Joyce) Fiedler, Morton, Ill.; and nine grandchildren. Five sisters also survive: Mrs. Amos (Lucinda) Suter, Bluffton, Ohio; Mrs. James (Elvina) Scheidt, Toledo, O.; Mrs. Della Marsh, Lima, Ohio; Mrs. W. M. Brabham, Santa Barbara, Calif.;and Mrs. Eugene (Viola) Knight, Mt. Blanchard, Ohio. Many friends whom he loved and served in all the parishes where he labored also regret his departure but are eternally grateful for his ministrations to their spiritual welfare while God granted him life.

Preceding him were his father and mother; his firs wife Mrs. Caroline Schumacher Basinger; one brother, Aldine; and one sister, Mrs. Wm. (Lydia) Irvine.

Funeral services were conducted at the Wayland Mennonite Church, Wayland, Iowa, on Tuesday afternoon, July 15, 1958, with Rev. L. A. Habegger, pastor of the deceased, in charge. Interment was in Zion Mennonite cemetery, Donnellson, Iowa, with Rev. Harold Thiessen, pastor of Zion Mennonite Church, in charge.

The Mennonite obituary: 1958 Aug 5 p. 477

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MLA Personal Photos Collection

Biographical note:
Pandora, Ohio
Son of Theophilus and Anna (Amstutz) Basinger
Married Caroline Schumacher 1907 May 5, Bluffton, Ohio
Married Grace Nina Graber 1953 March 29
Minister and denominational leader -- Iowa, Illinois, S. Dakota, California, Ohio

Bethel alumni note:
Bethel College student 1903-1904
Bluffton College A.B. 1915
Witmarsun Seminary, Bluffton, Ohio, B. Div. 1917

Photo holdings:
With wife and 5 children -- Wayland, Iowa

Sources:
Alumni card
MWR 1958 Aug 5, p. 477
Who's Who ... Menn.
Grandma Online profile 780469
Find A Grave 117748223