Keener, Walter D. (1892-1963)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1963 Aug 8 p. 3

Birth date: 1892

text of obituary:

Highway Accidents Claim Lives of Three Lancaster County Residents

Smoketown, Pa. — Two highway accidents late last month claimed the lives of a well-known Elizabethtown couple and a 28-year-old farmer of Route 2, Quarryville.

Killed in a head-on collision July 29 on Route 422 midway between Myerstown and Lebanon in Lebanon County were Mr. and Mrs. Walter D. Keener of Elizabethtown, as well as a couple riding in th other car. Cause of the crash is unknown, as there were no witnesses. It occurred on a straight stretch of three-lane highway in clear weather.

Mr. Keener, 71, was deacon of the Elizabethtown Mennonite Church. His wife was the former Ada Longenecker, 69. their 10 children include a son, Rev. Walter L. Keener, Jr., minister of the Elizabethtown church, and a daughter Barbara, who with her husband Harold Reed is serving as a missionary in Somalia under the Eastern Board. Other survivors include 59 grandchildren.

Double funeral services for the couple were arranged for Saturday afternoon at the Elizabethtown church, with interment in the Erisman cemetery.

D. Ferrell Harnish, farmer of the Quarryville community, died of internal injuries a few hours after his motor scooter hit a bridge abutment and threw him to the highway. A passing motorist found him lying near the scooter.

Survivors include his wife, the former Miriam Neff; his parents, Mr. and Mrs. David Harnish; a brother, Glenn Evan; and a sister Marilyn. the young man and his wife lived at his parental farm home.

Funeral services were held at the Mechanics Grove Mennonite Church where he was a member and served as Sunday school superintendent.