Beyeler, Edna Viola Zimmerly (1903-2005)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 2005 Mar 7 p. 11

Birth date: 1903 Jun 1

text of obituary:

EDNA ZIMMERLY BEYELER

Edna Viola Zimmerly Beyeler, 101, of Smithville, Ohio, died Feb. 7, 2005. She was born June 1, 1903, to John and Sarah Steiner Zimmerly at the family home near Orrville.

Her mother died when she was 9 years old. Her father and aunts took good care of the family of six young children. She accepted Christ in her youth and was baptized in 1917 at Crown Hill Mennonite Church near Rittman, where she was a member for the rest of her life. She graduated from Orrville High School in 1922 and attended Kent State University, where she received teacher education training. She taught school in Chippewa Township near Doylestown and at Green Township School No. 7 near Orrville.

In 1925 she married Lester Beyeler. In 1984 they moved from their farm near Wooster to Smithville.

She was a quiet, strong and loving woman who always supported her family and friends however she could. She enjoyed having guests in her home. Her other interests included reading, gardening, nature and historical records.

Survivors include five daughters, Esther Gray and her husband, Larry, of San Diego, Calif., Elizabeth Jacobs and her husband, Merle, of Smithville, Eunice Brenneman and her husband, Merle, of Arvada, Colo., Eloise Hostetler and her husband, Robert, of Erie, Pa., and Elaine Hershberger and her husband, Wayne, of Tyrone, Pa.; seven sons, Glenard Beyeler and his wife, Rita, of Phoenix, Ariz., Lowell Beyeler and his wife, Shirley, of Polk, Milton Beyeler and his wife, Jeannette, of Wooster, Robert Beyeler and his wife, Julia, of Orrville, Ivan Beyeler and his wife, Romona, of Leo, Ind., Lester Beyeler and his wife, Delores, of Navarre, and Marion Beyeler and his wife, Jane, of Orrville; 29 grandchildren and 39 great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her husband of almost 68 years, Lester, in 1993; an infant son, James, in 1932; and all her siblings, Alvin, Galen, Esther, Clarence and Orpha Zimmerly.

Funeral services were held at Crown Hill Mennonite Church. Burial was in Crown Hill Cemetery.