Diener, Charles (1890-1992)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1992 Jul 16 p. 11

Birth date: 1890 Sep 22

Text of obituary:

CHARLES DIENER

Charles Diener was born Sept. 22, 1890, and died May 31, 1992 at the age of 101. His parents were Daniel A. and Lydia Ann (Landis) Diener, rural Canton, Kan.

He was baptized at the Spring Valley Mennonite Church and remained a member there all his life. He attended the local high school for three years. He graduated from Hesston (Kan.) College in 1914.

He was chosen by lot for ordination in 1917 and served the Spring Valley congregation for 43 years, co-pastoring with his father for 18 years and with Edward Selzer for 25 years. He was a pastor and farmer through two world wars and counseled many conscientious objectors. Twice during World War I he was tarred and feathered for his beliefs.

He married Tillie Horst in 1916. After she died, he married Magdalene Wiebe at the Children's Home in Kansas City, Kan., in 1945. Their four children are: Ida (Mrs. Rod) Huebert of Galva, Kan.; Ruby (Mrs. Gary) Moore of Newton, Kan.; Daniel Diener of Goshen, Ind.,; and Gladys (Mrs. David) King of Morton, Ill. There are eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Margaret Thaxton is a foster daughter.

He served on the Hesston College local board. He was vice-president of the district mission board for 13 years. He served on the Goessel Home and Hospital Board for 10 years, and on the finance committee of the Mennonite Hilfs Plan for 28 years. He enjoyed the fellowship of the church and his family.

Funeral services were held June 3 at Spring Valley Mennonite Church with Frank Willems and Brad Penner officiating. Burial was in Spring Valley Cemetery.

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The Mennonite obituary: 1992 Jun 23 p. 288

Editorial

A man of two kingdoms

On this misty June 3 I have just come from the funeral of 101-year-old Charles Diener. His years have everything to say about being in the world but not of the world.

His memorial service was held in Spring Valley Mennonite Church, just south of Canton. It is said to be one of the oldest Mennonite congregations in Kansas, and Charles spent his entire life as part of it, 43 years as its pastor. Before and after the service, Charles was as usual in the lobby, but this last time not in his wheelchair. His custom was to always greet everyone there, including the children, recognizing them by their voices.

After hearing the many good things said about Charles, I know that he was, as Spring Valley pastor Frank Willems said, "a man who really loved the Lord." Song leader Rod Huebert announced Charles' favorite hymns. Walter Penner said he had his priorities well sorted out—which kingdom was which.

In 1917, Charles was chosen by lot for ordination and pastored the congregation along with his father, all the while farming for a living. Myrtle Loucks Stutzman recalled the pre-tractor days: "While the horses were resting he worked on his sermon for the following Sunday." A favorite sermon topic was the "much mores" of Romans 5. (No one mentioned when in the course of the decades the congregation started paying its pastors.)

Twice during World War I Charles was tarred and feathered for his resistance to war, once for taking down a U. S. flag that was placed in the churchyard and once for refusing to buy war bonds. "He never wanted to talk about it," said his son Daniel, "except I remember him saying, 'I had to face those same men when I went to town to do business.' I sensed that he forgave those men." On the drive back to Newton after the funeral, five of us talked about how hard it is to get tar off skin.

Faithfulness and change: One-hundred-one years have made Charles Diener's congregation a microcosm of the larger, changing Mennonite rural church scene. These years have been a testing ground for priorities.

For one thing, can this congregation and all our congregations be inclusive? This morning we were a good mix of people—almost "many peoples." We certainly illustrated the growing contact between two denominations—the Mennonite Church (of which Spring Valley is a member) and the General Conference Mennonite Church. Someone mentioned Charles' acceptance of his own children attending other churches.

Another sign of change was in the music. The lid on the piano in Spring Valley Church remained shut this morning; a cappella congregational singing carried the day. But the soloists, interestingly, used both guitar and electronic accompaniment.

I would have welcomed more words on Charles' resistance to war and the personal suffering he endured from his neighbors. But silence is sometimes eloquent; I honor his. Last year I watched freedom of speech and the right to dissent evaporate in my hometown. I saw an otherwise well-mannered woman scream at a crowd of disorganized patriots: "Line up, line up. We want to be ready when those peace people come." One can only imagine what came out of the mouths of Charles' neighbors as they insulted and persecuted him.

We are approaching July 1 and 4, our respective kingdom-of-this-world Dominion and Independence days in Canada and the United States. I ponder the priorities of this most gentle and strong man, Charles Diener. I believe he, too, lover of the land that he was, would bask in the following poetic lines by Mary Rempel about the kind of fireworks she prefers for national holidays:

"Against the purple heaven fireflies explode / now near, now far, in unexpected places. / Both solo and in company / they swoop and rise — / down in the grass, above the elm, / through swings where children played an hour ago, / beside the quarter-century-old oak, / then over and beyond the neighbor's barn.

"While fireworks bursting, / they neither blast nor shriek, / cast off no residue upon the lawn, / trail no smoke nor acrid sulphur smell.

"To celebrate creation's independence / they radiate pristine and silent, living praise." Muriel T. Stackley