Rohrer, Maynard Clayton (1923-2005)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 2005 Aug 8 p. 8

Birth date: 1923 May 4

text of obituary:

MAYNARD C. ROHRER

Maynard Clayton Rohrer, 82, of Phoenix, Ariz., died July 14, 2005, after several years of experiencing symptoms of Alzheimer's. He was born May 4, 1923, to Clayton and Martha (Knopp) Rohrer on a farm near Wadsworth, Ohio.

While attending Bible school at First Mennonite Church in Canton, Ohio, he met Awilda Miller. In 1948 they married and moved to Hartville, Ohio.

In 1958 the family spent three years in Brazil as missionaries and then returned to live in Louisville, Ohio, in 1961. He loved music and was involved in singing most of his life. He participated in choirs, quartets, was song leader at his church in Canton, and he sang in the presentation of the Messiah in the Canton Auditorium. After retirement from Jackson Bailey Electric Co. in 1988, he and Awilda moved to Phoenix in 1993. He was a gentle, kind-spirited, friendly man, always ready to greet everyone he met with a smile.

Survivors include his wife, Awilda; three daughters, Kathleen Basbagill and her husband, Fred, of Pickerington, Ohio, Sharon Zwick and her husband, Michael, of Phoenix, and Evelyn Watts and her husband, Rick, of Fountain Hills; a brother, Ivan Rohrer of Dayton, Va.; a sister, Ruth, Mumaw of Orrville, Ohio; five grandchildren and a great-granddaughter.

He was preceded in death by two sisters, Elta Kilmer and Marjorie Landis; and a brother, Melvin Rohrer.

Memorial services were held at Sunnyslope Mennonite Church in Phoenix, Ariz., where he was most recently was a member.