Ediger, Agatha Regier (1881-1978)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 31 Aug 1978 p. 7

Birth date: 1881

text of obituary:

Former Missionary to Cheyennes Dies at 96

Buhler, Kan.—Agatha R. Ediger, retired missionary to the Cheyenne Indians, died Aug. 24 at the age of 96.

She and her husband Jacob went to Oklahoma under the General Conference Mennonite Church in 1907 and served as missionaries there for 40 years before retiring to Buhler. He died in 1954.

Services for Mrs. Ediger took place Aug. 28 at the Hoffnungsau Mennonite Church, rural Inman, with the participation of Lawrence Hart and Albert Gaeddert. Surviving are four sons, Gus of Appleton, Wis., Ott of Sinton, Tex., Anthony of Orange, Calif. and Donald of Overland Park, Kan.; and two daughers, Hilda Voth of Goessel, Kan. and Mrs. Ann Ruth Baehr of Garden City, N. Y.

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 21 Sept 1978 p. 11

text of obituary:

AGATHA REGIER EDIGER

Agatha Regier Ediger was born Aug. 28, 1881 in Alta Township, Harvey County, Kan., the daughter of pioneer parents, John K. and Anna Unruh Regier. Her childhood was a happy one, though filled with hard work and few luxuries. She was truly a citizen of two centuries with the capability to adjust to both the old and the new.

She attended several rural schools in the area until she was 12 years old. Later she attended Bethel Academy for two years. Her instruction included organ lessons, and she was the first organist of the Hoffnungsau Mennonite Church, rural Inman. Later she was organist in the mission church she and her husband served for 40 years.

In 1898 she was baptized by Abraham Ratzlaff and became a member of the Hoffnungsau congregation where she remained a faithful member the rest of her life.

She was married to Jacob Ediger in 1902 and in 1907 they were sent as missionaries to the Cheyenne Indians of Oklahoma. She was always willing to share herself with not only her husband and eight children, but with the many Indians who came to her for help of every kind. She shared her knowledge of child rearing; she taught them to quilt; she administered medicines and home remedies; she sang, laughed and cried with them; but most of all she lived a life of love that exemplified the love of Jesus.

They retired from their work in 1947 and returned to Buhler, Kan. where they lived together until his death in 1954. She continued active in church and community life and remained interested in everything around her. She visited her children and grandchildren wherever she could.

She became a resident of the Sunshine Home in Buhler in May 1977, and two weeks later suffered a stroke from which she never recovered. She entered the Bethel Deaconess Hospital in Newton Aug. 14, 1978 and died there Aug. 24.

She leaves six children, Gus and Willy Ediger of Appleton, Wis., Hilda and R. D. Voth of Goessel, Ott and Bethel Ediger of Sinton, Tex., Anne Ruth and Karl Baehr of Garden City, N. Y., Anthony and Dorotha Ediger of Orange, Calif., and Donald and Lois Ediger of Overland Park; a sister-in-law, Mrs. Metta Ediger of Woodward, Okla.; 14 grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her two oldest sons, Alvin and Ted.

Funeral services were held at the Hoffnungsau Mennonite Church Aug. 28, 1978 with Pastor Albert Gaeddert and Lawrence Hart of Oklahoma in charge. A vanload of Indians came from Oklahoma to take part in the service in tribute to her long work there. Burial was in the Hoffnungsau cemetery.