Habegger, Marden Carl (1917-2007)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 2007 Nov 12 p. 12

Birth date: 1917 Feb 21

text of obituary:

MARDEN HABEGGER

Marden Carl Habegger, 90, of Reedley, Calif., died Oct. 30, 2007, at Reedley Hospital. He was born Feb. 21, 1917, to Alfred and Barbara Habegger in Bluffton, Ohio.

He was raised in Montana, where his parents were missionaries to the Cheyenne Indians. He graduated from Bethel College in North Newton, Kan., in 1938. Here he met his future wife, Marianna Ensz. They were married Dec. 30, 1939, while he was in medical school at Northwestern University in Chicago.

He graduated from medical school in 1943 and then took an internship at Fresno County Hospital. He practiced family medicine from 1944 to 1981, when he retired from office practice. He continued active medical work in three nursing homes until full retirement in 1995 at age 78. He had a close relationship with his patients, took emergency calls at any time and made frequent house calls. He helped establish Reedley’s fambulance [sic first ambulance] service.

He served on the committee that planned Sierra View Homes and served as its first medical director. He happily spent the last 12 years of his life living at Sierra View.

He was an avid orchid grower and served as president of Central California Orchid Society. He and Marianna went to Kingston, Jamaica, in 1972, where they served for a year as volunteers in a medical clinic under Mennonite Central Committee. He worked another six weeks in a medical clinic in Haiti. He was a stalwart member of Reedley Peace Center from its inception in 2003.

Survivors include his wife of 67 years, Marianna; four children, Alfred Habegger and his wife, Nellie, of Enterprise, Ore., Martha Longoria of Santa Rosa, Valerie Habegger of Forestville and Eric Habegger of Lakeport; three sisters, Jeanne Crouthamel of Reedley, Helen Fretz of Goshen, Ind., and Esther Souder of Northridge; a brother, David Habegger of Newton, Kan.; four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by a brother, Bernard, who died in infancy, and his youngest sister, Lois Ruth Habegger.

Services were held at First Mennonite Church in Reedley.