Schoenke, John (1896-1978)

Mennonite Brethren Herald obituary: 1978 Mar 31 p. 30

Birth date: 1896

text of obituary:

JOHN SCHOENKE

John Schoenke was born in 1896 in the village of Tiegerweide in the Ukraine, the fourth of seven children born to Jacob and Katherine Baerg Schoenke. After completing teacher training in Kharkov, he taught for one year and then served with the Red Cross and in a non-military capacity with the White Army during 1915-18. In 1919 he returned to teaching. During an evangelistic campaign in 1924, at which Rev. J. Toews was the speaker, he accepted Christ as his personal Saviour.

On May 20, 1925 John and Elizabeth Unger were married. Three months later they left for Canada, where Hespeler, Ont., eventually became their new home. In Hespeler John worked for 40 years for a textile mill, retiring in 1971. Shortly after moving to Hespeler, he was baptized and joined the Kitchener Mennonite Brethren Church. When the Hespeler Mennonite Brethren Church was established, he served faithfully as secretary, treasurer, and finally as leader from 1942 to 1953, the year in which the church dissolved. They rejoined the Kitchener church at that time. The Schoenkes celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 1975. On March 1, 1978, at the age of 82 years, Mr. Schoenke passed away. He will be particularly remembered for his love of the Scriptures. He read extensively and greatly enjoyed memorizing and reciting lengthy passages from the Bible and the classics, frequently in three languages.

He was predeceased by three brothers, two sisters, an infant son in 1928 and a son John, in 1957. He leaves to mourn his beloved wife Elizabeth; daughters Erna Minns, Helen, and Marlene (Mrs. Bill) DeFehr; a sister, (Mrs.) Katherine Penner; and four grandchildren.