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Harder, Ernst (1922-1995)
Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1995 Nov 2 p. 15
Birth date: 1922 Jan 23
Text of obituary:
Retired Missionary, Pastor Dies at 73 in North Newton
By GCMC News Service
NORTH NEWTON, Kan. — Ernst Harder, 73, a retired General Conference Mennonite missionary and pastor, died Oct. 25 at his home.
He and his wife, Ruth, served with the Commission on Overseas Mission from 1956 to 1976. During this time he was a teacher and president of the Mennonite Biblical Seminary at Montevideo, Uruguay. The Harders also lived in Germany and Paraguay.
Harder also was a pastor. He was the first secretary of Hispanic ministries for the Commission on Home Ministries, a position he held for three and a half years beginning in 1979.
Harder was born in the Ukraine. He received a bachelor of arts degree from Bethel College, North Newton, and a master of divinity degree from Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Chicago. He was a member of Bethel College Mennonite Church.
He is survived by his wife, Ruth; two daughters, Trudy Lakin and Margie Wiens, both of Hesston; two sons, Richard of Wichita and Robert of Plano, Texas; a sister, Eva Rempel of British Columbia; a brother, Peter of Aregua, Paraguay; and eight grandchildren. Two sons and a brother preceded him in death.
Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1995 Nov 16 p. 11
Text of obituary:
ERNST HARDER
Ernst Harder was born Jan. 23, 1922, in the Molotschna Mennonite Colony in the Ukraine. In 1924 his family fled to Germany, and in 1935 they moved to Paraguay. In 1939 Ernst traveled to the United States to study, graduating from Bethel College, North Newton, Kan., in 1945. He did postgraduate work at several universities and at Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Chicago.
On Aug. 23, 1946, Ernst married Ruth Ewert at Johannestal Mennonite Church north of Hillsboro, Kan. They had six children. They spent three and a half years in Paraguay resettling Mennonite refugees and helped found a Mennonite church in Asuncion, Paraguay (1944-49). Returning to North America, Ernst pastored the Mennonite church in Pulaski, Iowa (1951-54) and was chaplain at Bethel Deaconess Hospital in Newton, Kan. (1954-56). From 1956-58 the Harders served with Mennonite Central Committee in Frankfurt, Germany. Starting in 1958 he taught Mennonite history and ethics and was later named president of Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Montevideo, Uruguay.
In 1975 the family moved to Kansas, where Ernst was pastor of Lehigh Mennonite Church (1976-77), visitation pastor at Bethel College Mennonite Church (1977-79) and professor of peace studies at Bethel College (1978). From 1979 to 1985 he pastored Dallas Mennonite Fellowship in Texas. In 1985 he became program manager for mediation at the Dallas County Juvenile Department. In 1992 they retired in North Newton. In 1994 Ernst was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in his stomach. He died at home on Oct. 25, 1995.
Ernst is survived by his wife, Ruth; two daughters, Trudy Lakin and husband Ned, and Margie Wiens and husband Ernst, all of Hesston, Kan.; two sons, Richard and wife Rosie of Wichita, Kan., and Robert and wife Cindy of Dallas; eight grandchildren; a brother, Peter Harder of Aregua, Paraguay; a sister, Eva Rempel of Abbotsford, B. C.; and an adopted sister, Susa Schaeffler of Bellingham, Wash. He was preceded in death by two sons, Karl in 1954 and Ronald in 1968; and a brother, Abraham.
The Mennonite obituary: 1995 Nov 28 p. 12
Text of obituary:
A house of many windows: a tribute to Ernst Harder, 1922-1995
Robert Kreider
Few cross the stage of life who have encountered such a richly varied range of experiences as Ernst Harder. He was a citizen of four nations, at home in four languages (Low German, High German, English and Spanish), who knew the highs and lows of life's journey, tragedy and triumph, joy and sadness.
The prophet Malachi speaks of the Lord of Hosts opening the windows of heaven and pouring down blessings. Ernst was a house of many windows. He also was a pilgrim like Abram and Sara, "who by faith . . . set out, not knowing where they were going." Ernst traveled by faith through many lands, among many peoples, and wherever he went he was at home.
Ernst Harder was born Jan. 23, 1922, in the Molotschna Mennonite Colony in southern Ukraine. His family fled from the Ukraine in 1924 to Germany, where they lived for 11 years. In 1935 they moved to Paraguay, where Ernst graduated from high school in Filadelfia, Fernheim. In 1938, Ernst was the first young person to leave the colony and travel to the United States to study. He attended Freeman (S. D.) Academy and Bluffton (Ohio) College before graduating from Bethel College, North Newton, Kan., in 1945.
As a German national in the United States during World War II, his commitment to conscientious objection to war was challenged on numerous occasions, but because of his basic religious convictions he was allowed to continue his studies.
Post-graduate work included studies at the Mennonite Biblical Seminary, then in Chicago, at universities in both Heidelberg and Frankfurt am Main in Germany, at the University of Mexico and at Notre Dame University, South Bend, Ind.
On Aug. 23, 1946, Ernst married Ruth Ewert in the Johannestal Mennonite Church north of Hillsboro, Kan. They welcomed six children into their family. Four survive: two daughters, Trudy and Margaret; two sons, Richard and Robert. Two sons preceded Ernst in death: Karl on April 7, 1954, and Ronald on Dec. 25, 1968. Ernst was "Opa" to eight grandchildren.
The church and its missions: Ernst was baptized as a 13-year-old in the Kaiserslautern Mennonite Church in Germany. When he left Paraguay to come to the United States to study, he felt that God was calling him to become a missionary among the Indians of the Chaco. After several years of studying and pastoral ministry, however, he was invited to accept a teaching position at the Mennonite seminary in Montevideo, Uruguay. Throughout his life, Ernst had a warm spot in his heart for the church and its missions, both here in the United States and around the world.
Ernst and Ruth spent 3 1/2 years in Paraguay resettling Mennonite refugees and helped found a Mennonite Church in Asuncion, Paraguay (1944-49). Upon their return to North America, Ernst pastored the Pulaski (Iowa) Mennonite Church (1951-54) and worked as chaplain at the Bethel Deaconess Hospital in Newton, Kan. (1954-56). In 1956 the Harders accepted a two-year term with Mennonite Central Committee in Frankfurt, Germany. Starting in 1958, Ernst taught Mennonite history and ethics and was later named president of the Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Montevideo, Uruguay. He was also the General Conference representative to the South American churches from 1958 to 1968.
In 1975 the family relocated to Kansas, where Ernst was pastor of the Lehigh Mennonite Church (1976-77), visitation pastor at Bethel College Mennonite Church (1977-79), and professor of peace studies at Bethel College (1978). In 1979 Ernst was called to pastor the Dallas (Texas) Mennonite Fellowship (now called Peace Mennonite Church) 179-1985. In 1985 he accepted the position of program manager for mediation at the Dallas County Juvenile Department working with young offenders in conflict resolution, and in that way making a difference in the juvenile justice system. In 1992 the Harders retired in North Newton.
In December 1994, Ernst was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in his stomach. He struggled through two operations and several months of chemotherapy. This past summer he was well enough to travel to a family reunion in Manitoba and to visit Dallas. His conditioned worsened after the second operation in early September, and he died at his home in the care of his fmaily on Oct. 25.
This last year Ernst struggled with the imponderables and mysteries of health and illness, life an death, time and eternity—ever positive, yielded, trusting, appreciative, hopeful. Hope, like a golden thread, ran through his life. Ernst's house is a house of many windows—windows for us, looking in, and windows for Ernst, lookking out.
Ernst used to sit on the deck of his home, warmed by the sunshine of an autumn afternoon. Prompted at times by Ruth with a word or a name, Ernst told stories from his life, interweaving threads of the Anabaptist-Mennonite story he knew and loves so well.
In his travels among churches he had a singular way of sharing his story, the story of his Mennonite people, gathering up the new stories of an expanded peoplehood and braiding all these together with the Christ story—the story of Jesus, whom he first knew in the home of refugee parents in flight. This Christ was at his side to his last days, when he was a beloved pastor, mediator, husband, father, grandfather, friend and pilgrim on a journey of faith—he of the lineage of Abram and Sara.
Robert Kreider lives in North Newton, Kan.
The Mennonite obituary: 1995 Nov 28 p. 19
Text of obituary:
Ernst Harder died Oct. 25 at age 73. He and his wife, Ruth, served with the Commission on Overseas Mission in Uruguay 1958-1975 as teacher and president of Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Montevideo. He was the first secretary for Hispanic ministries for the Commission on Home Ministries (1979-1982). He pastored several General Conference churches (see Profile, page 12). Harder was a member of Bethel College Church, North Newton, Kan.
