Kauffman, Bertha Louise Maurer (1878-1952)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 3 Jul 1952 p. 9

Birth date: 1878 Oct 13

text of obituary:

MRS. BERTHA KAUFFMAN

Bertha Louise Maurer was born four miles northwest of Danvers, Illinois, on October 13, 1878, the youngest of nine children, and passed away June 15, 1952, at her Congerville, Ill. home. Her parents, Abraham and Susanne Ummel Maurer had come to America in 1869 from Neuchatel, Switzerland.

She was married Dec. 20, 1904, to David Andrew Kauffman of Congerville. They lived in the same home continuously after their marriage.

Their first son died at the age of four days. Surviving are five sons and one daughter: Eldon of Chicago, Merle of Waukegan, Mrs. Harold Satterfield of Lexington, John of Congerville, Frank of Richmond, California, and Gerdon of Congerville. There are 11 grandchildren.

Several members of her parents' family had been watchmakers in Switzerland, one having made timepieces by appointment to the king of Denmark. A cousin was premier of Belgium prior to World War 1.

Among American relatives are such families as Ummels, Ramseyers, Stuckeys, and Kohlers of the Central Conference of Mennonites, including Lloyd L. Ramseyer, president of Bluffton College.

Bertha Maurer was a personification of the courage and steadfastness among our forebears that earned a high regard for the name "Mennonite."