Burkhalter, Martha Rose (1889-1965)

Revision as of 14:18, 16 March 2021

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1965 Oct 7 p. 10

Birth date: 1889 Oct 12

text of obituary:

Miss Martha Burkhalter of Berne, Ind., long-time missionary to India under the General Conference Mennonite Church, died Monday evening according to word received by the Board of Missions office here.

Death came at Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne where she had been critically ill for several weeks. She would have reached her 76th birthday on Oct. 12.

Miss Burkhalter served on the India field for more than 41 years, having retired in 1959.

Funeral services are to be held at 10 a.m. Friday at the First Mennonite Church of Berne.

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1965 Oct 14 p. 7

text of obituary:

India Missionary Led Active Life

Berne, Ind. — A long, full life of service in the cause of missions came to a close with the passing of Miss Martha Burkhalter, 75, of Berne, who died Oct. 4 at Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne.

The largely attended funeral services were conducted Friday forenoon at the First Mennonite Church here with the pastor, Rev. Gordon Neuenschwander, in charge.

Miss Burkhalter spent more than 41 years as a missionary-teacher in India under the General Conference Mennonite Church. She went to the field in 1917 as a replacement for Annie Funk, pioneer worker who died in the sinking of the Titanic in 1913.

For many years she was in charge of the Funk Memorial School at Janjgir, and later taught at the Janjgir Bible School and at Union Biblical Seminary,, Yeotmal. She was known for her energy and her vivid, dramatic method of teaching.

[There is a photo of Martha Burkhalter in the printed obituary.]

Since retiring from the field in 1959, she had continued active in deputation work in the United States and Canada. She also made several return trips to India. One of them was to accompany her adopted daughter Dilasie back to India after the latter's period of study in this country. The other was to attend Dilasie's wedding.

Miss Burkhalter was born near here, attended the local schools, Bluffton College, and took a missionary course at Moody Bible Institute. She received the A. B. degree from Bluffton College in 1916 and the B.R.E. degree from New York Biblical Seminary in 1934.

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1965 Dec 23 p. 8

text of obituary:

Martha Rose Burkhalter, daughter of Peter and maria Lugihbill Burkhalter, was born in Monroe Township, Indiana, on Oct. 12, 1889 and the Berne community was always her home, even though she spent more than half of her life in India.

In young womanhood she accepted Jesus Christ as her Saviour and Lord. She made a public profession of her faith on April 12, 1905 and was baptized by Dr. J. W. Kliewer, becoming a member of the First Mennonite Church. She has been a faithful member of the church and much interested in its activities.

After graduation from high school she continued her education, during which time she felt the call of God upon her life for missionary service. She graduated from Blufffton College, and studied one year at Moody Bible Institute, Chicago. She also graduated from the Union Biblical Seminary in New York, where she took graduate work during her furloughs.

Miss Martha was asked by the mission board to replace Miss Annie C. Funk who perished on the ill-fated Titanic. She answered the call, arrived on the India mission field in 1917 and served long and faithfully in educational work, supervisor of boarding schools, medical and women's work, and evangelistic work. She served as supervisor of the Annie C. Funk Memorial Girls' School for many years until she was asked to head the Janjgir Bible School. During her last term she served as faculty member of the Union Biblical Seminary at Yeotmal, India.

Even after her retirement from the field in 1959, her heart has been with the work there and she made two return trips to India. In the book, "Fellowship in the Gospel," which commemorated the 50th anniversary of our mission work in India, this testimoney [sic] by Martha was given in the chapter on Missionary Personnel: "I have found a Friend in Jesus., He is everything to me. . . . I have seen Him become just as precious to many hundreds of men, women, and children in India who love him just as much as I do."

Martha's sister, Caroline, served for many years in Indian missionary work in Arizona. Another sister Levina was a city missionary in Los Angeles. Her brother Noah died in India during his first term of service, and a nephew Edward Burkhalter also served with her and is now in India under the General conference Mission Board.

Earlier this year her health began to fail. She was able to attend the Central District Conference in Normal, Ill. in April, and the General Conference and Missionary Orientation in Estes Park, Colo. in July but after that her condition became more serious and early in August she was hospitalized. On Monday evening, Oct. 4, the Lord took her Home to Himself to enter into her well-earned eternal rest. Her age was 75 years, 11 months, and 22 days.

Those who survive her home-going are her adopted daughter, Mrs. Dilasie Ramial Baherjee, Nagra Baille, India; one brother Menno of Berne; three sisters, Lydia (Mrs. George Baumgartner) of Fort Wayne, Mrs. Caroline Zook of Los Angeles, Calif., and Mary (Mrs. Herbert F. Sprunger), Berne in addition to the parents she was preceded in death by two brothers, Amos and Noah; and five sistrs [sic], Helena who died in infancy, Mrs. Susan Sprunger, Mrs. Sarah Ann Sprunger, Levina, and Mrs. Rachel Regier.

Memorial services for Martha were held in the villages in India, on the mission stations, at the India Mennonite Conference at Champa and at the Biblical Seminary at Yeotmal where fittingly a missionary conference was under say. Her funeral was conducted at the First Mennonite Church of Berne on Oct. 8 with her pastor, Rev. Gordon Neuenschwander, in charge.

The Mennonite obituary: 1965 Oct 19 p. 654