Penner, Anna G. Wiebe (1869-1949)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1949 Aug 25 p. 6

Birth date: 1869

text of obituary:

ANNA G. PENNER

Our mother's zest for living was never the same after father's death just eight months ago. Secretly, she harbored the desire to follow him with whom she had spent almost sixty years of her life.

She was born in Germany nearly eighty years ago and came to America as an orphan to live with her uncle’s family. Here, she memorized passages of Scripture, the hymns and the catechism, and was baptized a member of the Mennonite Church by Rev. J. H. Zimmerman.

On February 21, 1890, Anna G. Wiebe and William A. Penner were united in marriage and established the home in which we were taught the Christian way of life. It was not a home where you spent only the left-over hours. It was a home where all shared in work and play alike.

At a time when child delinquency was called by a different name, mother exhibited a flare for rearing her three boys and one daughter with authority. When she and father moved to Beatrice from their farm at Hoag, Nebr., they brought along a Jersey cow, a driving horse, and a yard full of chickens. Small wonder that mother suffered from migraine during her active years.

Always given to hospitality, our parents grew fonder with the years of visitors who might drop in for a chat and cup of coffee.

It is a sudden change in our lives to see her vacant chair. But, blessed be the Name of the Lord, who called her home after an illness of only four short days of suffering.

May the pleasant memories of her life linger with us always. — The Family

The Mennonite obituary: 1949 Sep 13 p. 6