Gerber, Silas (1857-1949)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1949 Apr 28 p. 3

Birth date: 1857 Jul 4

text of obituary:

SILAS GERBER

Silas Gerber, son of Abraham and Veronica (Hostetler) Gerber, who were early settlers in this community, was born July 4, 1857, and passed away at the home of one of his daughters in Howard county, Indiana, on April 16, 1949, aged 91 years, nine months and 12 days.

The immediate cause of his death was a heart attack; although he had been failing physically, yet he was up and about. Mentally he was keen and alert. He read a great deal, being interested in prophecy.

As a young man he united with the Mennonite Church, being a member of the Howard-Miami Co. congregation continuously for seventy years or longer.

On June 30, 1878, he was married to Lucinda Penrod. They were the parents of seven children, of whom two daughters survive — Paulina Kendall and Ada Kaufman; also surviving are six grandchildren and ten great grandchildren. He outlived all his brothers and sisters. After the death of his first wife in 1913, he married Fannie Spiker, who died on Feb. 12, 1939.

Funeral services were held at the Howard-Miami church on April 18, in charge of A. G. Horner, text II Cor. 5:1, burial in the Hershberger cemetery nearby.