Reimer, Cornelius A. (1868-1947)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1947 May 15 p. 5

Birth date: 1868 Jul 6

text of obituary:

. . .

— A long-time resident of the Canton community, C. A. Reimer, passed away at the Goessel hospital on Wednesday, May 7, after being a patient there for a number of weeks. He was 78 years of age. Funeral services took place at the Goessel Mennonite church last Sunday afternoon, preceded by a brief service at the home, with Rev. P. P. Buller and Rev. C. C. Wedel in charge. he is survived by his wife and a number of children of the Goessel and Canton communities. A daughter, Mrs. D. S. Voth, resides on West Fifth street, Newton.

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Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1947 Jul 17 p. 2, 3

text of obituary:

CORNELIUS A. REIMER

Cor. A. Reimer, son of Abr. J. and Maria Janzen Reimer, was born on July 6, 1868, in the village of Steinfeld, S. Russia. He departed this life on Wednesday, May 7, 1947, at the age of 78 years, 10 months and one day. In his early age he lost his mother of which he remembers less of his own loss than the loss of his father. He has often said how his father's sorrow went to his young heart. He kept a fond place in his life for his parents, but in a very special way for his father, whom he revered greatly.

In 1877 he came to this country with his parents, who settled on a farm in Marion county, Kansas, four miles east of what is now Goessel, Kansas. Here he had a happy boyhood and here he grew up to young manhood.

His education consisted of two terms of German school in the Old Country and additional German instruction in a private home in the Goessel neighborhood by the elderly Johann Voth, who had taught in Russia. In this school he and Heinrich Voth, son of Teacher Johann Voth, formed a friendship that lasted to the day of his death. He also had a few months of English school. The school days were few and far between at that time.

Being of an active and energetic nature, he enjoyed the days of pioneering with his older brothers, as they helped their father with the farm work.

At the age of 19 he gave his heart to Jesus. Instruction in the ways of a Christian life through the catechism was a time of searching for him, but he also had a deep peace in his heart when he was baptized on May 30, 1887, by Minister Jacob Buller and received into the fellowship of the Alexanderwohl church.

He transferred his membership to the Goessel Mennonite church at the time it was organized, he being one of the charter members.

On February 19, 1889, he married Elisabeth Schroeder with whom he lived for more than 16 years until on October 31, 1905, her eyes were closed in death. To this union were born eight sons and two daughters. One son, the first, died in early infancy. On February 28, 1907, he found another loving helpmate in Susanna Voth, who took the whole family into her heart and called them her own. To this union were born three sons and two daughters, the latter twins, who died in infancy. This was a deep grief to their mother especially, as also to the whole family.

Once again the God of all wisdom saw fit to cause father to go through the waters of deep sorrow, for on April 28, 1918, this mother, too, was taken from him and his children, leaving him lonely and bereaved. They had lived together for 11 years.

On May 7, 1919, he was married to Helena H. Gaeddert, who accepted the privilege and duty of being a mother to the young children and a motherly friend to the older ones. Many and varied have been the parents' experiences together. Sunshine and shadows have followed one another, but god's grace was sufficient. On May 7 they pledged their love and lives for each other and on May 7, almost to the hour the Lord severed this union, terminating it at exactly 28 years.

Father had been ailing for a number of years, both physically and also mentally, as result of hardening of the arteries and a weakened heart. On April 15 he contracted pneumonia and was taken to the hospital where everything possible was done for him by physician and nurses, but his time had come and at 12:20 noon, May 7 the Lord called him unto himself.

He leaves to cherish him in loving remembrance his devoted wife and the following children: Cor. C., Jacob C., Martha, Dick C., John S., Rudolph C., Mary, Herman C., and Ernest, who was adopted by his Uncle John Schroeder and wife at the age of 16 days. In his family he was loved and reared to Christian living after his own mother died. Of the second union there are: Karl C., Waldo C., and Arnold C., each of them with their own families. Surviving are also 41 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren; 5 step-grandchildren. Besides these he leaves a large circle of relatives; 3 sisters, two sisters-in-law, one brother-in-law, nieces and nephews. Then there is Minnie Grissom, now Mrs. Ed O. Mitchell, who as a little eleven year old girl came to make her home with the family for five years. — The bereaved family.