Burkhalter, Martha Rose (1889-1965)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1965 Oct 7 p. 10

Birth date: 1889

text of obituary:

RETIRED MISSIONARY TO INDIA DIES AT FORT WAYNE, IND.

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
The Mennonite obituary: 1965 Oct 19 p. 654