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Bergthold, D. F. (1876-1948)
Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1948 Nov 4 p. 4
Birth date: 1876
text of obituary:
Alhambra, Calif. — Funeral services were held here on Oct. 29 for Rev. D. F. Bergthold, retired missionary to India who passed away suddenly at his home Monday, Oct 25, while visiting with members of his family. He and Mrs. Bergthold returned from India several years ago after serving in the M. B. mission for 44 years. He was 72 years of age.
Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 18 Nov. p. 1, 5
text of obituary:
Memorial Service At Tabor College For Departed Missionary
Hillsboro, Kans. — Prof. J. H. Lohrenz of the Department of Missions delivered a memorial message during the chapel service at Tabor College on November 10 in the memory of Rev. D. F. Bergthold, veteran missionary of the Mennonite Brethren conference, who passed away at his home in Alhambra, California, on October 25.
Rev. Bergthold was a missionary to India who served for a period of forty-one and a half years on that field. Prof. Lohrenz has been intimately connected with the deceased on the mission field as a worker and as a friend for more than 20 years.
Rev. Bergthold, after preparation at the Moody Bible School in Chicago, McPherson College in McPherson, Kansas, and the Evangelical Theological College of Dallas, Texas, went to India as a pioneer mission worker at the Nagarkurnool station, to which place he felt definitely called of the Lord when he made the statement: "Here I must stay and do my life work." A man of firm conviction and a man of prayer, he was a preacher of note who loved and mastered the Telegu language.
He was a successful teacher in the mission school at Nagarkurnool, where the trained native Christians received the name of becoming 'little Bergtholds.' He did much to build a strong indigenous church and urged that the churches be self-supporting.
The first printing press of the Mennonite Brethren Conference in India was secured by him and he directed the publication of the first issues of "The Harvest Field" and a paper for Telegu Christians.