Berthold, Micah (1991-2009)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 2009 Apr 20 p. 1, 6

Birth date: 1991

text of obituary:

Lancaster school mourns student's death

By Celeste Kennel-Shank

Mennonite Weekly Review

Lancaster (Pa.) Mennonite School and West End Mennonite Church are mourning the death of Micah Berthold, 18.

Berthold, a senior at the high school, was in a car accident after midnight April 7. He died the next day at Lancaster General Hospital.

About 1,300 people attended Berthold's memorial service April 13 in the LMS Fine Arts Center auditorium.

"The community really came out and supported the family and the church," said Miles Yoder, LMS principal at the Lancaster campus.

Josef and Brenda Berthold, Micah Berthold's parents, "need to be commended for the way they were able to bring the balance of grieving and also hope for the future," Yoder said.

Josef Berthold, pastor of West End Mennonite Church, spoke at the memorial service. He included good memories as well as the deep loss he feels as a father, Yoder said.

Bertholld's brothers, Dominik, a sophomore at LMHS, and Jeremy, a sixth-grade student at Lancaster Mennonite Middle School, also spoke at the service.

"They really shared from their hearts, how much Micah meant to them as their older brother," Yoder said.

Rebecca Kraybill, an LMHS student who had been dating Berthold, "told a couple of lighter stories and that helped to bring a perspective on who Micah was," Yoder said. "He had a great sense of humor, and was able to reach out and make connections with people very quickly."

At LMHS, Berthold was a captain on the soccer team in the fall and a drummer in jazz band, concert band and worship band at Bible studies and in chapel.

"He was the kind of spiritual leader on campus we're going to miss," Yoder said. "He obviously had a deep commitment to God. He really cared about other people, that really came through."

Berthold had taken a service trip to South America with his father, who spoke at the memorial service about Micah's sense of unfairness that people were living in poverty.

"He really cared about the less fortunate," Yoder said.

LMS had a special chapel April 9 in remembrance of Berthold, Yoder said.

The church held a prayer vigil while Berthold was in the hospital. After his death, they had two more gatherings to pray, cry and ask questions together.

They are now looking at a variety of ways of ministering to the Berthold family, Yost said. She also hopes to bring in a counselor or speaker to talk with the church about grief.

At West End, Berthold had played drums in worship and participated in youth meetings.

"Micah brought a lot of life to our congregation," Yost said.

She remembered asking Berthold what he thought church should be like, and he said, "It should be where it doesn't matter what you look like, or what your issues are, or who you are, you should be welcome there."

Berthold was moved by people who couldn't fully enjoy life because of their physical situation, so he planned to become a physical therapist, Yost said.

"He wanted to help people do things to bring them joy," she said.

Berthold planned to go to Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Va., this fall.

Yoder's understanding was that the accident that caused Berthold's death occurred while he was driving to a friend's house to sleep after watching the NCAA basketball championship game with a group of friends at another home.

Police told the Lancaster New Era that the Volkswagen Jetta Berthold was driving collided with a GMC sport utility vehicle. The other driver had minor injuries, the New Era reported.

In addition to his parents and brothers, Berthold is survived by his paternal grandparents, Georg and Hildegard Berthold of Germany; maternal grandparents, Charles and Mildred Wert of Lancaster; maternal great-grandparents, Irvin and Edna Gingrich of New Holland, Pa.