Penner, Heinrich C. (1889-1965)

Mennonite Brethren Herald obituary: 1965 Dec 24 p. 18

Birth date: 1889 Apr 19

text of obituary:

HEINRICH C. PENNER

Heinrich C. Penner and his twin brother, Cornelius, were born on April 19, 1889, in the village of Schoenhorst, South Russia. His parents were Kornelius and Helena Penner. As a youth he recognized his lost condition and accepted Christ as his personal Saviour, subsequently following the Lord in baptism in 1909 and joining the Evangelical Mennonite Brethren Church of Sagradowka. He was married to Katharina Martens in the fall of the same year.

During the First World War he suffered great hardships when he was put to work in a prisoner of war camp in Northern Siberia. Later he was reunited with his family only to have his home and everything in it destroyed by the Machnow bandits. Yet God was gracious and spared the lives of all his family.

In 1921 he was ordained to the diaconate in which ministry he served as long as he was able. In July, 1924, he with many others migrated to Canada settling at Blumenhof, Sask., after a brief halt at Herbert. With his family he joined the small Mennonite Brethren church that formed at Blumenhof and had the joy of seeing all of his offspring, one after the other, become children of God.

In the later thirties, after suffering a serious heart attack, he moved to Yarrow, B.C. with his family, enjoying there a vigorous and happy life. In 1959 he and his wife had the privilege of celebrating their golden wedding anniversary. On October 28, 1965 after several years of failing health and two weeks of serious illness the Lord took him home. "He had finished the course and kept the faith," is the witness of his family.

He is survived by his wife, Katharina; five sons, Cornelius, Peter, Henry, Jacob, Frank and their wives; three daughters, Mrs. D. (Helen) Neumann, Mrs. W. E. (Tiena) Thiessen and Mrs. Leon (Elsie) K1ucher; and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren. One son-in-law, D. Neumann, predeceased him.