Erb, Allen H. (1889-1975)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1975 Apr 10 p. 3

Birth date: 1889

text of obituary:

Retired Minister, Administrator Dies

Hesston, Kan. — Funeral services for Rev. Allen H. Erb, 86, retired minister and hospital administrator, were conducted Sunday afternoon, April 6, at the Whitestone Mennonite Church here. A resident of Schowalter Villa, he died April 3 at Bethel Deaconess Hospital, Newton.

The services were conducted by Jerry Weaver, the pastor, assisted by James Hershberger and Earl Buckwalter. Luke Birky of Elkhart, Ind. took part representing the Mennonite Board of Missions.

A native of this community, Rev. Erb served churches in Kansas, Nebraska, Texas, Colorado and Oregon. In 1916 he became administrator of the Mennonite Hospital and Sanitarium at La Junta, Colo., continuing in that position until 1952. From 1952 to 1959 he was administrator of the Lebanon, Ore. Community Hospital, also administered by the Mennonite Board of Missions.

Rev. Erb's marriage to Ethel Estella Cooprider took place at Hesston in 1912. They returned to Hesston in 1959 and she died in October of that year. In 1964 he married Malinda Liechty, and she survives.

Also surviving are three brothers, Tillman of Port Hueneme, Calif., Paul of Scottdale, Pa., and Jacob of Kalona, Ia.; and four sisters, Mrs. Mabel Kauffman of Hesston, Mrs. Ruth Ebersole and Mrs. Leah Yordy, both of Denver, Colo., and Mrs. Amy Yoder of Newton.

Burial was made at the West Liberty Cemetery near Inman.

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Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1975 May 1 p. 11

text of obituary:

Administrator, Pastor, Churchman

Led in Church's Medical Ministry By Paul Erb

IN THE DEATH of Allen H. Erb on April 3, 1975, at Newton, Kan. the Mennonite church lost one of its capable and faithful leaders.

His paternal grandfather, Jacob B. Erb, was a pioneer of the Mennonite settlement northwest of Newton, moving here from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania in 1881. He was ordained as deacon in the Pennsylvania congregation between Newton and Hesston.

Allen's maternal grandfather, John R. Hess, was a minister in the Hammer Creek Mennonite Church near Lititz, Pa. His father, Tillman M. Erb, was ordained as minister of the Pennsylvania Church in 1893, and as bishop in 1898. T. M. Erb was active in the beginning and the administration of churches on the prairies and was one of the founders of Hesston College.

ALLEN CARRIED ON this family precedent when he was ordained in the ministry in 1912 for service in the West Liberty congregation near Windom, Kan. Later he served in pastorates at La Junta, Colo.; Albany and Lebanon, Ore.; Glendive, Mont.; and at Bellwood, Milford, Neb.

He was ordained to the office of bishop for the Colorado churches in 1937, and served widely in the Mennonite Church as a conference and denominational administrator. This included two terms (1943-47) as moderator of Mennonite General Conference in a critical period of tension.

He was a dynamic expository preacher, always in demand as an evangelist and as a speaker in the communities where he lived. He gave himself to the administration of summer Bible schools. The last sermon he outlined, one on the resurrection, was used by Pastor Jerry Weaver for it's authors funeral sermon.

BUT THE WORK for which Allen Erb will be chiefly remembered relates to the medical program of the Mennonite Church. In 1916 he became administrator of the Mennonite Sanatorium near La Junta, Colo., a pioneer hospital for tuberculosis patients. In 1920 he also became administrator of the La Junta City Hospital when its operation was taken over by the Mennonite Board of Missions. The new Mennonite Hospital and Sanatorium in La Junta was dedicated in 1928, and he continued as administrator until 1952.

Later Allen was active in the establishment of hospitals of hospitals administered today by the Mennonite Board at the following places: Lebanon, Ore.; Greensburg, Kan.; Rocky Ford, Colo.; Glenwood Springs, Colo.; Walsenburg, Colo.; and La Jara, Colo.

IN CONNECTION with the hospital at La Junta there developed the first schools of the Mennonite Church for training registered nurses and practical nurses. Allen also was active in promoting hospital programs at Elkhart, Ind. and Cumberland, Md. which did not develop.

Erb was asked by the Mennonite Board of Missions to help in the promotion and building of a retirement center, Schowalter Villa, at Hesston, Kan. He introduced to the Mennonite constituency a new concept for the building of retirement centers, in which the residents made a capital gift as well as paying monthly fees. This principal has also been used at Greencroft, Goshen, Ind. and Landis Homes, Lititz, Pa. Erb was the first administrator at Schowalter, and was a resident there to the time of his death. His widow, Malinda Liechty Erb, continues as a resident there.

IN HIS RETIREMENT years Allen also helped in the setting up of the organization and the building of the Beth-Haven Nursing Home at Hannibal, Mo.

More than any other one person, Allen Erb could be called the Mr. Hospital of the Mennonite Church.

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1975 Jul 24 p. 5 [memoirs]